5 WWE Superstars of Arab descent
WWE has superstars from all around the globe, including a few who are of Arab descent.
In the early 1990s, the company signed Iraqi wrestler General Adnan to join forces with Sgt. Slaughter. Since then, several Arabs and others of Arab descent have joined WWE.
Throughout the past few years, WWE has expanded its market in the Arab World. The company also held a few tryouts in countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The tryouts resulted in the signing of a few names, including Mohamed Fahim from Egypt, Nasser Al Ruwayeh from Kuwait, and Shadia Besiso from Jordan, who became the first-ever Arab woman to work for WWE.
Although the three mentioned athletes recently left WWE, others have made it to the main shows. Over the past two decades, a few wrestlers of Arab descent have competed on Monday Night RAW and SmackDown. Some of them even held Championships.
Here are five WWE Superstars of Arab descent.
#5. WWE Superstar Aliyah
Aliyah's real name is Nhooph Al-Areebi. She has revealed that she is half Syrian and half Iraqi. However, she was born in Toronto and is a Canadian citizen.
Although Aliyah considers herself "pretty Canadian," she grew up connected to her Arab roots. At home, she spoke both English and Arabic with her parents and had a chance to visit the Middle East.
The 26-year-old WWE Superstar also grew up in a conservative environment.
"I have a typical Arabic family. We’re very conservative. I grew up in Canada, but I’m a first-generation Canadian. My parents are from the Middle East. We had strict rules. There were certain things I couldn’t wear, no boyfriends, strict curfews. They were hard on me about school. I had to get good grades," She told WWE.com.
Aliyah admitted her parents were not pleased when she first started wrestling. However, they later changed their minds after seeing her success. The WWE Superstar has a close relationship with her family.
Being of Arab descent, Aliyah hopes to inspire other females from the Arab world to follow in her footsteps.
"I hope to be an inspiration to all Arabic females and young girls. It’s definitely the road less traveled," she added in her WWE.com interview.
According to reports, Aliyah recently left NXT to join Monday Night RAW. Nonetheless, the 26-year-old is yet to compete on the Red Brand. Instead, the WWE Superstar has wrestled in a few dark matches on SmackDown over the past few weeks.