WWE returns to Saudi Arabia next week as Super ShowDown gets ready to rock Riyadh once again.
Hometown hero Mansoor will be on the card, against an as yet unknown opponent, following recent successes in the Kingdom in both the largest Battle Royal in history, and in singles competition against Cesaro.
WWE is also looking for the next local talent to follow in Mansoor’s footsteps, with up to 50 athletes being invited to tryouts in Riyadh in early June.
Sport360 caught up with Mansoor, and with all this in mind got the young talent to build his perfect WWE Superstar.
Here’s the results and his reasoning……
Aerial Ability
Mansoor: I would say Ricochet – and this has nothing to do with the fact he is going to be on Super ShowDown wrestling Brock Lesnar for the title. Ricochet is hands down the best aerial wrestler in the world today – he does things I couldn’t even imagine. He has that creativity that really pushes the boundaries of what a superstar can do.
Technical Wrestling
Mansoor: You have to go with the absolute best in the history of the business – Kurt Angle. The man is an Olympic gold medalist, it doesn’t get any better than that. He is probably the biggest success story of someone coming from collegiate and amateur wrestling. This is a man who worked through so much pain and adversity to win the Olympics and be the best in the world, and then come over to WWE and win championships and also show he has amazing charisma that puts him in the conversation for greatest of all-time in general, not just grappling ability.
Power
Mansoor: Brock Lesnar does things I wasn’t sure you could do to other men – like effortlessly throwing people around, the number of German suplexes, F5s, belly-to-belly suplexes – it’s amazing. Braun Strowman is up there, and obviously Mark Henry, but I would say Lesnar because he is so explosive with his power. It is one thing to pick someone up, it is another to be able to throw them with the viciousness and speed that he does.
Ring craft
Mansoor: Randy Orton is amazing at ‘the little things’. He can just *look*. He will hit a powerslam, stand up, and just look over to the crowd and they will just explode. He doesn’t even pose, he just casts his gaze over to that part of the crowd and they go nuts, and that’s such a cool thing. It is so subtle, and so hard to teach but Randy Orton is a master of it.
Heart
Mansoor: This is something you can’t really teach, it’s just something you develop after years and years of battling out demons or challenges, and those things that get in the way of you getting where you want to be. I would probably say Rey Mysterio. I think him, and Eddie Guerrero, if he were alive today, would be emblematic of that, guys who have overcome so much and battles giants and ultimately come out on top in the end. That can really take you far.
Speed
Mansoor: Speed is an interesting one, and I’m actually not really sure. A guy like Dolph Ziggler is really underrated in that department. I think him and Kofi Kingston, John Morrison came up and had a style that was fast paced, high intensity, high velocity action. So those three guys I would put up for that category.
Entrance
Mansoor: For my thinking, the best entrance of all-time is The Undertaker – there is no competing with his entrance. People paid money just to see his entrance – that in itself is a spectacle that is unrivalled. He makes the most of every little thing too – like taking off his hat, that’s a huge moment, bringing his hands up to raise the lights, his eyes rolling – the whole entrance is like its own little story with chapters and that’s really amazing.
Mic skills
Mansoor: You’re not going to get anyone who is better than The Rock. His ability to control a crowd is completely unrivalled. I would say also, someone who is right up there is Paul Heyman. He is someone who could go out there and talk to the crowd for 20 minutes and he would effortlessly do that. He has an innate ability to speak and orate in a way that captures a crowd in a way that is different to The Rock. They can both captivate a crowd and that’s why I respect them so much.
Wrestling gear/look
Mansoor: This is a really underrated aspect of wrestling, not a lot of people talk about it because they don’t want to make out it’s a fashion show, but it is really important. If you are looking for an iconic look you have to go for John Cena and his jean shorts. Nobody had ever done that before. One of the important things about wrestling is doing things that are unique to you and when you see those things in real life you think of that superstar, and John Cena has done a really great job of that. Any time I go to a store and see jean shorts, I think John Cena – good for him, he made it work.
Finisher
Mansoor: You want your finishing move to be something you can do to anyone – from Rey Mysterio to the Big Show. I have to give the edge to the RKO because it has become such a viral thing, and even people who don’t know wrestling know what the RKO is. The RKO outta nowhere. So I think in way it has become even more well-known, and even more iconic in the general population than the Stone Cold Stunner, which I have a special place in my heart for.
Tickets for WWE Super ShowDown which takes place Thursday, February 27 at the Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh are available now via www.TicketMX.com. Ticket prices start at 25 SAR.
Also, the official WWE recruitment website at www.wweperformancecenter.com is available in Arabic. Tailored to athletes who are interested in pursuing a career in sports-entertainment, the website features information about the WWE recruitment process and provides a detailed look at what day-to-day life is like for members of the WWE Performance Center roster.
