WWE has signed Saudi Arabian arm wrestler and powerlifter Fahd Tuwaiq, whose real name is Fahad Sahli, ahead of Saturday’s Royal Rumble in Riyadh.
Turki Alalshikh, Saudi Arabia’s chairman of the General
Entertainment Authority, made the announcement on X (Twitter) on Tuesday.
“Our guy that we support in WWE, Fahad Sahli,” the caption for the government official’s X post read. “May Allah grant you success, and I’ve been your fan from now on.”
The post featured a video of Tuwaiq briefly discussing his background and his journey to WWE. In the video, he is seen arriving to an airport in Saudi Arabia before the footage cuts to Tuwaiq at WWE’s performance center in Florida.
“I am Fahd Tuwaiq, the first Saudi super heavyweight joined to WWE,” he says in the video. “And I want to change the world, and WWE will be my stage to do it.”
Tuwaiq continued, “I came from the north of the kingdom, the city of NEOM. Because I’m champion with arm wrestling and powerlifting, I have been at the performance center. This is a top place if you want to be a professional wrestler.”
He ended his message by stating his goals for WWE: “Every war is calculated, and the action is ready. In my traditional language, ‘As the elders used to say, a tongue that responds…and hands that act.’ I want to make my country proud, and I will do so in WWE.”
The announcement of Tuwaiq’s signing comes just days before WWE returns to Saudi Arabia for Smackdown on Friday and the Royal Rumble on Saturday.
There’s been no word on if Tuwaiq will wrestle at either event, but an appearance seems almost certain. If nothing else, Tuwaiq will certainly be preparing for WrestleMania 43, which will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027.
