Hello ladies and gentlemen Byron Saxton here in Jeddah.
And I am standing by with the first Saudi Arabian superstar in WWE history and
the man that tomorrow night will be competing at Super ShowDown and
what will be the largest battle royal in WWE history.
This is Mansoor, how you doing man?
>> Good Byran, how are you?
>> I'm excellent, so we have a lot to talk about, a lot to delve into, but
I also know that also have a very special message that you'd like to deliver to
the people of Saudi Arabia, >> That's
right
[FOREIGN] >> So
I'm just, I was thinking about this interview and I can't imagine all
the thoughts going through your mind right now just the paint this picture.
April 27 of last year, you walked into King Abdul Sport City Stadium,
it was the greatest Royal Rumble and you were introduced as a prospect for WWE.
Fast forward, you are in WWE, you signed with NXT, you're an active competitor and
now you are 24 hours away from walking into that same
stadium and competing in the largest battle royal in WWE history.
How are you feeling?
>> It's kind of surreal, actually it's not kind of surreal it's really surreal.
It's been a crazy journey from the tryout here and
then coming full circle to actually being in a show.
In a WWE ring and not just there to speak to the crowd but to actually compete and
not only compete but in the biggest battle royal in WWE history.
I mean the thing about that is it's hard to stand out, but I'm gonna make sure I do
because this is an opportunity I've been looking forward to since I started here.
Cuz NXT is amazing and being on TV, NXT television is like a dream come true,
especially for someone like me who in high school watched NXT and
dreamed about being on Takeover and I still have that dream.
But to be in the ring in Jedda in my home country, in front of 60,000 people,
all hoping, dreaming that maybe I could win that match.
Maybe to have a Saudi superstar win that match when a historic match like that,
that means the whole world to me.
>> Let's circle back to NXT cuz this year has been a whirlwind for you.
>> Yeah it's has been crazy >> Because you signed a contract with NXT
you had to relocate to Orlando,
Florida, you're now training at the WWE Performance Center.
You've had a couple matches on NXT.
What is all that been like?
I mean, this completely life changing moment for you.
>> It's been the lowest of lows and the highest of highs,
I mean my first NXT match against Jackson Ryker,
like I told you in the other interview, I just got absolutely demolished.
And that was like after that match I had ice on me and
I was thinking, is this what I wanna do in NXT?
Do I wanna be a guy who gets trotted along sometimes and gets eaten alive?
But i wanna get better, do I wanna be a person who even though I have a smaller
stature, can I be someone who learned so much technical ability and gained so
much skill that he's able to outmaneuver people.
I wanted to be a person where every time I went out there on NXT television,
the audience can say,
he got better that's a human soul that's like a different person.
And I think that shows in how I wrestled Jackson, and Dyjackovic and
finally Sean Maluta where I got my first victory, and it's going to be one of many.
>> I can tell you're very passionate about what you do,
you're very passionate about your craft.
Tell me, just growing up, what attracted you to sports entertainment?
>> To me, sports entertainment it's like nothing else in the world.
People always compare it to stuff like superhero movies and Kung Fu movies but
that's the beauty of it is that there really isn't anything like it whatsoever.
It's a complete, and total blend of sport and art and
everything that I love about anything.
That's the thing about WWE and
sports entertainment is that, when my dad says I don't get it, you know what I mean?
When my father says, what are you doing out there in your underwear like fighting
people, and I say, come to a show and watch.
And he sits there among 60,000 people last year, and he sees what it really is and
he goes, I get it.
That's the magic I wanna give to everybody in the entire world.
>> Let's talk more about that,
what kind of reaction have you gotten from your friends and
your family now that you are on the verge of such an incredible opportunity?
>> Imagine when you're a kid and you say you wanna be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
when you grow up and then like 20 years later,
they find out you actually became a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
That's the reaction that people have, I was the kind in high school,
who wore a Macho Man outfit to Halloween, and I went up to assembly and said,
ooh yeah, we're gonna have cupcakes in room 6b.
>> That's actually a really good impersonation.
>> Thank you I don't want to brag, but everybody has pretty decent Macho Man,
yeah I mean that was me and everybody thought like, man like he really loves it.
And I think that people thought one day I'd get there,
I thought one day I'd get here but just not this soon like, just not this soon.
I think everybody was taken aback about by how quickly
I was able to achieve my dream and be in the WWE.
>> So has it dawned on you, all right,
you're gonna be in the largest battle royal in WWE history.
There's 49 other superstars you're gonna contend with and
superstars like Braum Strowman, Matt Hardy, The Miz.
Have you thought about what it's gonna be like when you're in that ring
looking at guys like that, who you're gonna have to potentially eliminate?
>> Two points to that, one, you've got your guys like Braun Strowman who could
probably eat me in one bite, I understand that but it's been done before.
Guys like Rey Mysterio have overcome the odds,
Shawn Michaels have overcome the odds and sure, it was Royal Rumbles,
but I can take those strategies and apply them to this match as well.
On the other hand you have guys like The Miz, and
to an even greater extent Matt Hardy, who I watched on TV growing up as a kid.
I got to see the arc of their careers and to share a ring with them,
I mean, having to throw them out is gonna be pretty weird.
>> Lastly, when you evaluate everything,
I know you've done a lot of media interviews, your friends and
family are gonna be there, the atmosphere is gonna be crazy.
What's gonna be the prime motivator for you tomorrow night?
>> I want every Saudi man, woman, boy, and
girl to see another Saudi's arm raised at the end of a match.
That's what I want because when I was a kid,
I never got to see that, I never even got to see that presence at all.
But for a child that may have an inkling of doubt, that because of who he is or
where he comes from, that he doesn't get to be here.
To see a person like him who probably looks like me,
because a lot of Saudi kids have a bowl cut.
And I had a bowl cut like you wouldn't even believe,
literally a bowl over my head and cut around it.
For a kid to see a guy who looked and looks like him,
have their arm raised at the end of a match, not just any match but the biggest
battle royal in WWE history that's got to mean something and I think it will.
>> Mansoor, good luck.
>> Thank you.