[Shadia Bseiso, who was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. as its first female performer from the Arab world, gestures during an interview with Reuters in Dubai. (REUTERS/Satish Kumar)]
Dubai: Shadia Bseiso started as presenter on WWE’s (World Wrestling Entertainment) first Arabic show. But in her very first casting role she shared her passion for wrestling and training Jiu Jitsu in such an impressive manner that WWE sent an email with an invite.
“January last year, I was casting to be a presenter on WWE’s first Arabic show. As I was doing the casting I just found myself talking about how much I loved training Jiu Jitsu and how I enjoy competing in tournaments, and after my first casting I received an email from WWE inviting me to the athlete tryouts", Shadia Bseiso said while talking to Al Arabiya.
"It was surreal. I wasn’t sure if I could even take part,” Shadia, a Jordanian versed in jiu-jitsu, said.
As excited as she is personally to embark on this new journey away from the world of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu and into the squared circle, the magnitude of what her signing means for women across the region is not lost on Bseiso.
“I’m honestly honored to be the first Arab woman from the Middle East to be signed by WWE. It’s an honor and a privilege, but at the same time, it’s a big responsibility.
"I feel like there will be a lot of expectations and I’m going to do my absolute best to train really hard, get as good as possible, so I can one day be in a WWE ring, represent the Middle East, and make them proud", she said.
Women’s pro wrestling as a whole has had a remarkable surge in the last half-decade. Both in WWE and out, there has never been a more exciting time for women in the sport.
Set to move to Orlando and begin her training in January, Bseiso knows one thing for sure—that she will continue to proudly represent the women of the Middle East on a global stage.
“I want to be myself, and I grew up in the Middle East, I’m from Jordan, so that’s definitely going to be part of my character and my story. I feel like that’s one of the things that I can add.”
“I want to have the entrance music have elements of Arabic music—that’s our culture. I would absolutely love to represent.
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