WWE Superstar missed Greatest Royal Rumble for political reason?

Bengaluru, April 30: Before the Greatest Royal Rumble, WWE had brought out an initial list of those superstars who will compete in this match. From the WWE Raw roster, we saw Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn being advertised for this. These two are the bonafide heels of the roster and there’s no way that the company would want them to miss the event.

But, in reality, one of them was cut off the list on the night of the event. Sami Zayn was not seen participating in this particular match leaving his best friend, high-and-dry in the match. Most of the fans were surprised to not see him in the prestigious battle royal. There’s a sensitive issue owing to which WWE was forced to remove him.

According to the reports of Brad Sheperd of Bodyslam.net, Sami Zayn is Syrian Muslim. There are certain rifts with the Saudi Arabia people against those Muslims belonging to Syria. WWE understands the sentiment of the local public and did not want to hurt them. Hence, the superstar, now a native of Canada was not seen performing on the show.

Some rumours did suggest that WWE made this appearance at Greatest Royal Rumble optional to the superstars. Hence, Sami Zayn might have opted not to go to the event. However, later PWInsider.com, dismissed those talks by stating that the officials let him know that he was not needed for the extravaganza just like the women superstars.

WWE always pays respect to the local cultures of the host country and this time, too, there was no difference. Addressing this issue, an official statement was posted,

“WWE is committed to embracing individuals from all backgrounds while respecting local customs and cultural differences around the world.”



Meanwhile, a storyline perspective was created to keep the 'underdog from the underground’ off the Greatest Royal Rumble match. A backstage footage was revealed where he confirmed that his body gave up after getting beat up on last week’s WWE Raw.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens competed against the team of Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman. The two faces literally bulldozed their way to a victory and this is what the heel duo were seen talking about. The backstage video was posted on WWE’s Youtube channel to convince the fans about his absence.