At 2018’s Greatest Royal Royal, the wrestling world was introduced to Mansoor, who’d make history as the promotion’s first Saudi Superstar. While Mansoor would be showcased at WWE’s massive events in Saudi Arabia including wins over Cesaro and Dolph Ziggler, he had his eye on joining AEW while working for the larger promotion.
On AEW Unrestricted, Mansoor admitted that he and Mason Madden had their eyes on joining AEW while with WWE and compared the in-your-face blockbuster dynamic of Hollywood director Michael Bay to the more nuanced style of David Lynch.
“If WWE is like a Michael Bay movie, I see AEW as a David Lynch movie. There was always something so alluring, There was always an element of that outsider intrigue… we were like ‘God I feel like if we were over there [in AEW] we would be doing something really special.'”
It wouldn’t be until this year that Mansoor and Madden finally made their dreams of appearing for AEW a reality by appearing on the July 27, edition of AEW Collision in a losing effort to FTR. Mansoor has since racked up five matches for AEW though boasts a rather unfortunate 1-4 win/loss record.
Though Mansoor isn’t quite in World Championship contention just yet, he and Madden are getting the chance to shine in both AEW and Ring of Honor. His comments reflect the very different nature of WWE and AEW and why some wrestlers prefer one company to the other. While some prefer the larger spectacle that WWE can provide, others prefer the most concentrated efforts on pro wrestling as a craft found in AEW.
Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest on the MxM Collection as they continue to make waves outside of WWE.
