'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Sami Zayn is an integral part of the WWE roster. He features in most events and pay-per-views, except those held in Saudi Arabia. This is not because WWE doesn't have storylines for him, but because Sami chooses to avoid the country.
Why does Sami Zayn not go to Saudi Arabia for WWE events?
According to the WWE Superstar, it's due to the strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria. Zayn is of Syrian descent, and that makes it problematic for him to appear.
Some reports have suggested that Sami Zayn is banned from Saudi Arabia. But it's more of a case of WWE understanding the sensitive situation. Zayn spoke with Blindboy Podcast in 2020 to discuss the shows and his stand on them:
"WWE did a thing, a partnership sort of or signed some sort of deal to put on these shows in Saudi Arabia for I don’t know, what, 10 years or something like that. And I just wasn’t invited to go and I never really dug into it too much because I wasn’t keen on going to begin with, but I would like to discuss that... You know, it became very popular, very easy to say, ‘Well you shouldn’t go to this country because they do these awful things,’ and I understand it and I agree. And if I was asked to perform in Israel, I wouldn’t, right? But at the same time, I perform in the United States. And I live in the United States. So there’s that sort of dissonance to get your head around a little bit. So I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t know how I feel about all of that," Sami Zayn said. (h/t WrestleZone)
Because of the strained relations and Sami's lack of desire to perform there, we will probably never see Sami Zayn perform at WWE's Saudi Arabia shows.
How does help Sami Zayn the people of Syria?
In the summer of 2007, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion set-up a fund called Sami for Syria. The fund is in association with the Syrian American Medical Society to provide life-saving medical care to conflict-affected populations in Syria. As of this writing, the fund has raised over $200,000 from 1958 donors.
Sami Zayn has done some incredible work for the country in which almost 80% live in poverty, according to the United Nations. He is a beacon of hope and does as much as he can to help the people of Syria.
