205 Live Superstar, Ariya Daivari, has released an apology for his segment during the Greatest Royal Rumble on Friday. Ariya Daivari, along with his brother, Shawn Daivari, appeared in a segment featuring 4 WWE prospects from Saudi Arabia.
Daivari recently took to his social media accounts to remind fans he is only portraying a character on television.
— Ariya Daivari (@AriyaDaivariWWE) May 1, 2018
For those unaware, Iran and Saudi Arabia have a contentious relationship with one another. The rift between the two countries is related to interpretations of Islam, competition for oil exportation, and relationships with Western countries.
Shawn Daivari (34), returned to WWE at the Greatest Royal Rumble event on Friday. He is the older brother of Ariya, who has been competing on 205 Live and WWE’s cruiserweight division since 2016.
Unfortunately, Ariya Daivari also revealed he has received death threats as a result of the segment in Saudi Arabia.
Unfortunately some people took offense to this despite it being pure entertainment. Some threats were made against my life. I wanted to put this statement out to clarify where I as a person stand compared to my t.v. character. https://t.co/NJbnlMnn28
— Ariya Daivari (@AriyaDaivariWWE) May 1, 2018
Ariya Daivari on 205 Live
It’s not clear if Shawn Daivari will be making a full-time return to WWE or not. He currently runs a wrestling school in Minnesota along with former WWE wrestler, Ken Anderson (FKA Ken Kennedy).
The 29-year-old Ariya Daivari wrestled on the idependent scene for 10 years before signing with WWE in 2016. He had been used as enhancement talent on WWE programming in 2013 but wasn’t signed after attending a tryout. The company signed him in time to compete in the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic, however. He was eliminated in the 1st round by Ho Ho Lun, a Hong Kong based wrestler who has since returned home to care for his sick mother.
Daivari was briefly associated with Enzo Amore’s “Zo Train” during his time as Cruiserweight Champion. For the most part, however, Daivari has played a low card heel on the show under the gimmick of a wealthy Arabian aristocrat.
In addition to Shawn Daivari returning to WWE recently, his old ally, Muhammad Hassan, also made a return. Hassan wrestled his first pro match in over 13 years this weekend.
