Sports | Sunday 22 April, 2018 12:20 pm |

Love, dignity, respect, the world community and jazz. Not necessarily what you’d expect to hear from a man paid to compete in a ring, but then WWE’s Big E isn’t like most.

 

For the athlete, one part of the tag-team The New Day, can’t wait to bring their brand of positivity to Saudi Arabia and compete in the Greatest Royal Rumble on April 27 in Jeddah, with tens of thousands of tickets already sold online at wwe.sa to excited fans.

 

And fans should know, Big E takes the fun of WWE seriously, very seriously.

 

“People will forget what you do for them but they will never forget the way you made them feel.

 

“Positivity a big part of what we do in the New Day and so we’re super excited to be coming to Saudi Arabia and we want to leave a good impression. We want to be memorable, we want people talking about us. We’ve tried to separate ourselves from the rest of the pack.

 

“There’s a lot of extremely talented guys who can do great things inside the ring and outside but I don’t think anyone in Saudi has seen anything like the New Day. Even though you are going to see 50 athletes in this Greatest Royal Rumble I feel we are going to stand out.

 

“Our goal is to put a smile on people’s faces and to entertain, if we make people laugh and chuckle for a moment then that’s the very core of what WWE is about.”

 

The Greatest Royal Rumble marks the start of a 10-year partnership between WWE and the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia. Samoa Joe will compete in an Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match against Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor and The Miz in one of an incredible seven Championship matches at the Greatest Royal Rumble event. 

 

WWE fans will also see John Cena vs Triple H, The Undertaker vs. Rusev and Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a Steel Cage Universal Championship match.

 

Earlier this week WWE announced that two more Championship matches including the Raw Tag Team Championship match: Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt  versus Sheamus  and Cesaro, and the United States Championship match: Jeff Hardy versus Jinder Mahal with Sunil Singh.

 

“It’s going to be an incredible show, the largest Royal Rumble ever and having The Undertaker there, wow, I’m looking forward to watching that one myself,” said the Big E.

 

“Everyone will be travelling to Saudi and wanting to steal the show. Obviously winning is important but I feel the true mastery of the craft is to be great at what you do in the ring but to entertain also. So, we can be both positive and have the fun and yet be very serious about what we do in the ring too.”

 

Tickets are selling fast online at WWE.SA, and are also from retaillocationsincluding the General Sports Authority offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Damman, Red Sea Mall, Mall of Arabia, Alsalam Mall, and a special WWE/GSA outdoor booth at Jeddah Corniche. Tickets will also be on-sale at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium beginning Wednesday, April 25.

 

While fans in Saudi Arabia may have watched WWE on television for decades, Big E said that the live experience at the King Abdullah stadium will be so much more and is a must watch.

 

“We as performers love being part of the live event, there’s nothing like being up close and personal with your favourite WWE superstars. The great thing is they are always different, the energy of the crowd changes, the way you interact with people will be different, every show is its own entity, has its own energy.

 

“It’s like what I learned about jazz as a kid, that improvisational feel, that’s the best part of being a performer. If the crowd gives you a certain feel and reacts in a certain way you’ll respond to that. 

 

“When you have a great crowd, an interactive crowd, a new crowd like in Saudi Arabia, it gives you that energy so I definitely encourage people to come out and see us, because we definitely never done anything like this before in WWE.

 

“WWE is for everyone, for men, for women, for boys, for girls, for young and for old. You can find someone on that card to entertain you, someone you can connect with, we have such a diverse collection of athletes reflecting different sizes and different abilities and ages.”

 

Big E’s determination to perform, to entertain is only matched by his excitement at meeting new fans in a new country.

 

“It’s my first time in Saudi Arabia and we are excited to be able to take in some of the culture. If I had not been in WWE I would have never imagined I could be travelling the world and seeing places such as Saudi Arabia. 

 

“We love to see things for ourselves, meet people and interact with them. I’m hoping it is the start of a relationship between Saudi Arabia and WWE, that people feel they saw a great show and the come back year after year.

 

“You know, the more I travel the more I think everyone should travel because it opens your mind, we spend too much time in our own cities, states, countries and don’t get to see or understand how other people live. And, as different as people are they are equally a lot the same, everyone wants to be treated with respect, with dignity and with love. 

 

“And as corny as that message may sound it’s really cool to be able to travel and see ‘oh you are a lot more like me than I thought’. Their cultures may be different, their language might be different but we are all still people with the sense of community.”