Sami Zayn Trends Amid Fear Over WWE-Saudi Arabia Rumors

WWE’s rumored sale to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has thrust its biggest star into the spotlight. No, not the returning Vince McMahon, but rather Sami Zayn.

After a wild day that saw Stephanie McMahon resign hours before blockbuster reports of a WWE sale to Saudi Arabia, wrestling twitter is in a frenzy. It wasted no time in its doomsday analysis of WWE’s polarizing move.

“Sami Zayn. We all love you. To all the LGBT wrestlers, we love you. Y’all deserve better than this,” read one tweet which also showed support for LGBTQ wrestlers.

“Poor Sami Zayn and also RIP WWE women’s wrestling. This is terrible news,” read another tweet. WWE held its first women’s match in Saudi Arabia in 2019 when Natalya took on Lacey Evans. Women who compete in the country must wear alternate ring gear to cover up their entire bodies.

Due to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) laundry list of human rights violations, WWE faced fierce backlash for signing a 10-year partnership with Saudi Arabia in 2018. The backlash only intensified amidst the horrific murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. With tensions subsiding in time for the next Saudi show, and WWE continuing to reap the eight-figure benefits of Saudi shows, WWE has now gone all in on its relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Backlash be damned.

This has not stopped fans from rallying around Sami Zayn, who has become a popular talking point in the wrestling community. Many are fearful that the top star will be on the outside looking in of WWE’s deal with Saudi. Those fears are justified, as Zayn has never competed at a Saudi Arabia show due to being of Syrian descent. Kevin Owens, Zayn’s real-life best friend, declined to attend Saudi shows out of solidarity.

Fan concerns over Syrian WWE Superstars, women and the LGBTQ community—among others—will continue to permeate throughout the wrestling community in light of the WWE-Saudi Arabia sale rumors.

It’s unknown what type of political dynamic WWE’s reported sale will create, if any. WWE is hardly the first American company Saudi Arabia has invested in. In fact, KSA has close to $8 billion of investments in U.S. companies, and none seem severely impacted by KSA’s controversial policies.

Sami Zayn’s popularity will only increase as a result of WWE’s biggest news story in history, that’s for certain. His future with WWE, however, feels far less certain. Whether Zayn stays put, business as usual, is removed from WWE television or leaves the company in protest, anything seems possible in what has been a wild 2023.