Why WWE Is keeping Mansoor's Winning Streak Up
Mansoor's WWE winning streak is reportedly being done to keep WWE's partners in Saudi Arabia happy.
Mansoor has won 49 matches in a row as of this week, including singles and multi-man matches. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the streak is being kept up to appease WWE's benefactors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It is interesting that WWE never acknowledges the streak on their main TV shows, and haven't put it on RAW or SmackDown with the idea of trying to push Mansoor as a legitimate international star.
The winning streak went to 49 wins with this week's Main Event win over Akira Tozawa.
The last match Mansoor competed in without a win was a Battle Royal at the August 24, 2019 NXT live event in Tampa, which was won by current RAW Tag Team Champions Omos. The night before in Sanford he lost to T-BAR (Dominik Dijakovic) at a live event, and the week before that he suffered his last TV loss to Damian Priest on NXT.
Mansoor, born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, signed with the company in 2018 and became the first-ever Saudi wrestler to have competed in WWE. He was signed with 7 other wrestlers after a tryout ahead of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble event in the Kingdom. He would make his WWE NXT debut in September 2018, losing to Luke Menzies at a live event. His NXT TV debut came in February 2019 with a loss to Jaxson Ryker. His biggest wins came in 2019 when he won the 51-Man Battle Royal at Super ShowDown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and then when he defeated Cesaro at Crown Jewel in his hometown of Riyadh.
Mansoor made his WWE 205 Live debut in November 2019 with a win over The Brian Kendrick, and then defeated current SmackDown Tag Team Champion Dolph Ziggler at Super ShowDown 2020 in his hometown. He has been a regular on Main Event and 205 Live since then.
There is no official word on when WWE will return to the Kingdom, but it was just reported this week that a return is "very much on the table" for later this year.
Stay tuned for more.