The interest of the Arab world in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has been steadily increasing in the last two decades. Special TV shows were created to cover the wrestling matches on many Arabic channels and have become very popular in the region. That interest went further when several WWE specialised channels began airing on the Egyptian satellite Nilesat. That interest though was like a one-way love affair. The WWE who went on tours around the world never set foot in an Arab country throughout all these years. But they finally decided to visit their Arab fans last year starting with a tour in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. That tour was the start of a new relationship between the Arab people and the world's biggest professional wrestling company. Building on their goal to build themselves a new market in the Arab World, WWE officials decided to go on another tour a few months later, this time to the Egyptian capital. In Cairo, the WWE held three live events of their second biggest show, Smackdown, at Cairo Stadium. Although the WWE superstars performed in front of a half empty arena, the company seemed to have successfully marketed its merchandise. The newly established interest from the WWE in the Arab world did not stop there as they returned again to Abu Dhabi last month on a new tour. This time WWE went with a star-studded Raw roster, the top weekly programme of WWE. The list of superstars who participated in this year's WWE tour in Abu Dhabi included the WWE champion Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziegler, The Miz and The Shield. That wasn't all; there was one more surprise for Arabs -- a new Arab wrestler, Sami Zayn, beating it in the ring for the first time in WWE history. The UAE public had the chance to get a close look at this new rising talent in the WWE. However, the surprise wasn't really when Zayn made it into the ring. Zayn's Arabic was used before that in making a promo for the tour in the region's native language. Zayn is a 29-year-old Canadian wrestler of Syrian descent. He joined the WWE this year after a wrestling career that started nearly a decade ago. The six footer wrestled for several companies throughout his career. He made the most impact wresting for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), an independent wrestling company, where he held its world championship two times and World tag team championship five times. He has also been crowned World Television Champion and World Tag Team Champion while wrestling for the Ring of Honor Company (ROH). Zayn has held several names throughout his wrestling career. One was his real name, Rami Sebei. The other names were El Generico and El Local plus his current. Zayn made his debut at the WWE when he showed up for the first time on their developmental territory NXT Wrestling on 13 February. He made his first in-ring debut later on the 7 March. His first televised appearance was on the NXT show on 22 May defeating two former champions in Curt Hawkins and Antonio Cesaro in two separate matches. Zayn, with his current persona, is thus building more popularity for the sport in the Arab world for the company. Another attempt by the WWE to make news easier for Arabs was to establish a new version of the company's famous website WWE.com in Arabic. WWE-Arabia, which has the URL arabia.wwe.com, offers details and information about WWE shows, superstars, and even charity work. News on the website is updated daily as it offers Arab viewers videos and photos from WWE events plus editorial pieces analysing what happens in these events. The website also leaves a place for the viewers' comments on the published videos. One video that got 135 comments on WWE-Arabia was a video of Zayn speaking a few Arabic words on NXT. Another tool that Arab viewers can use to give in their feedback to the company is by answering a poll on the front page that changes regularly. The WWE latest tours to the Arab world, the appearance of Zayn, and the newly established Arabic website, all are strong indications of the interest the WWE has in the region. That interest seems to be increasing, as if the company has found a gold mine in this part of the world.
