WWE recently completed their tryouts in Saudi Arabia, and ended with eight winners.
The tryouts are being held in conjunction with WWE’s April 28 Greatest Royal Rumble event and provided local athletes an opportunity to experience WWE training under Performance Center Head Coach Matt Bloom.
Visited the 4th day of #KSATryouts today. This week was a huge success due to the hard work of @WWE Talent Development, @WWEPerformCtr coaches and @WWENXT talent. #WWEGRR pic.twitter.com/u2MDgDHy3A
— Triple H (@TripleH) April 21, 2018
In a news release, the company announced the winners, who all come from a variety of athletic backgrounds.
- Hussain Aldagal, a 6-foot-3, 215-pounder with a background in volleyball and bodybuilding
- Mansoor Al-Shehail, a 6-foot, 175-pounder who has trained under WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk Jr.
- Faisal Kurdi, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound MMA fighter, amateur grappler and Muay Thai boxer
- Nasser Bawazer, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound champion in boxing, MMA and aikido
- Khalid Alhothali, a competitor in bodybuilding, as well as combat sports, including boxing and jiu-jitsu
- Abdullah Almagrabi, a 225-pound karate champion and boxing trainer
- Faisal Allabboudy, a 23-year-old whose athletic background includes competitive swimming, boxing and bodybuilding
- Asaad Alshareef, a 23-year-old Greco Roman and freestyle wrestler who has also trained in various martial arts
WWE announced the eight athletes would continue to receive training leading up to the Royal Rumble event and one of those athletes will be a part of the Greatest Royal Rumble event on April 28. However, WWE didn’t specify as to whether the athlete will be in the Royal Rumble match or just have a role on the show.
WWE is looking to expand their operations around the world and having training for athletes in countries where they are holding events is a good way to familiarize themselves with talent who are from the area. It doesn’t appear the eight winners have much – if any at all – wrestling experience, but their athletic backgrounds give them a good foundation they can build off of whether they get signed by WWE or decide to pursue their own wrestling career.
Fans won’t probably see many of these athletes in NXT, New Japan Pro Wrestling or the independents – there’s a chance some of them won’t go into pro wrestling. If these athletes do have a good experience, they will relay that to their friends and peers who may have pro wrestling aspirations.
While North America, Japan and Europe are known for being wrestling hotbeds have produced great wrestlers, there could be a hidden gem of talent or two in countries like Saudi Arabia. WWE is smart for holding tryouts because other promotions aren’t looking into those areas for talent at this time.
The Greatest Royal Rumble will air on the WWE Network on April 28. All of the WWE’s main roster men’s championships will be on the line. There will also be a singles match between John Cena and Triple H, as well as a casket match between The Undertaker and Rusev..
Below are the wrestlers who are confirmed for the Royal Rumble match.
- Daniel Bryan
- Big Show
- Braun Strowman
- Kurt Angle
- Apollo Crews
- Titus O’Neil
- Elias
- Goldust
- Mojo Rawley
- Dolph Ziggler
- Baron Corbin
- Chad Gable
- Big E
- Kofi Kingston
- Xavier Woods
- Shelton Benjamin
- Chris Jericho
- Sin Cara
