Sami Zayn Wears Thobe To Ring For WWE Night Of Champions, Intros Himself In Arabic

For many years, Sami Zayn had been unable to attend WWE events in Saudi Arabia due to his Syrian heritage. However, in his and Kevin Owens' long-awaited return to the country at WWE Night of Champions, Zayn, a Muslim, walked to the ring proudly wearing a thobe as the audience sang along to his theme music. The traditional Arabian garb prompted a thunderous ovation from the crowd, one that Sami soaked in as he walked to the ring.

Sami continued to celebrate his return to Saudi Arabia right before his main event match alongside Owens against Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa began. In response to Paul Heyman's typical introduction of Reigns and Sikoa, Zayn answered with his own personalized ring introduction, taking the microphone and introducing himself and Owens in Arabic. This drew yet another huge response from the Jeddah crowd, who were firmly behind the reigning champions for the duration of the match.

Zayn's return to Saudi Arabia was not only meaningful for his performance on WWE Night of Champions itself, but for what he did days before the event. Zayn was able to make his pilgrimage to Mecca in the days leading up to the Premium Live Event — he's the second WWE star this year to publicize their pilgrimage, with Mustafa Ali documenting his own umrah last month in the midst of Ramadan.

As for the match itself, Zayn and Owens successfully defended their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships against Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns. While their victory came with the shocking assistance of Jimmy Uso, the tag team champions sent the crowd home happy by winning yet another PLE main event.