Sami Zayn says there were “completely fabricated” assumptions made about his trip to Saudi Arabia

During an appearance on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Sami Zayn talked about traveling to Saudi Arabia for the 2023 WWE Night of Champions PLE…

“It was a really, really, really kind of a heavy trip, to be honest. There was a lot that went into it. First of all, the fact that I haven’t been there in a few years, and that there’s been so much speculation as to why I’m not going and what’s the political reasoning, this and that. I won’t get into all of it, but I’ll tell you 99.9% of what you’ve read online about his subject, completely fabricated, people assuming things and then running with those assumptions and adding on to them. It’s wild. I think it’s anytime they can’t get a concrete answer, that’s kind of what tends to happen. I think that’s like human nature, almost.”

“It’s been years since I’ve been back to the Middle East. I think the last time I was there was 20, maybe 16, in Dubai, possibly, so it’s been a little while. Of course, as you saw on the Premium Live Event, all this to say, I’m Arabic, I’m Muslim, all this stuff, and that’s like my part of the world. I understand those people. Those are my people. When I went there, I got to go to Mecca, which was just a surreal experience. I also saw my uncles that I hadn’t seen in 25 years. I have cousins that I haven’t seen in 25 years. I met my great uncle that I didn’t even know existed. So it was pretty heavy in a lot of ways. It had a lot of weight. Then the actual event itself and the reception from the audience, it’s kind of what I’ve been waiting for, for a while, in a way, because again, I always felt like I would have been the natural representative for those shows and I just wasn’t. So it was good to finally be put in that position and in a main event spot opposite Roman and Solo and the story that’s kind of been carrying the company for a minute now. So I don’t know, it felt like it all kind of just came together perfectly. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to go back. It was perfect.” (quotes courtesy of WrestlingNews.co)