Ariya Daivari Receives Death Threats Over Greatest Royal Rumble Segment

To the antiquated or the ignorant, professional wrestling can seem very real. Turns out, Saudi Arabia may be both as they used a classic wrestling trope to justify death threats.

Ariya Daivari and his brother, Shawn, made a heel cameo at last Friday’s Greatest Royal Rumble. In the hosting city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia the Daivaris made a villainous entrance accompanied by their native Iranian flag. As the boos rang out, the Daivaris entered the ring to belittle a young foursome of Saudis who had just been announced as WWE hopefuls.

Per designs, these budding wrestlers ripped the Daivaris to shreds to the crowd’s delight and the segment ended on the exact note WWE was seeking.

However, to some fans, a few bodyslams and a clothesline were not enough punishment for the Iranian brothers.

“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. The foreign bad guy schtick still works in American, but never to the point of inciting violence,” he wrote.

Given how conservatively the Saudi’s announced themselves in the weeks prior to the Greatest Royal Rumble, a jingoistic segment may not have been the most tactful of choices. However, the foreign bad guy schtick is one of the oldest plays in WWE‘s binder, and that act hasn’t resulted in death threats (that needed to be addressed) in quite some time.

This ugliness marks yet another revelation about the archaic Saudi culture. In the weeks preceding the Greatest Royal Rumble, WWE caught heat for doing business ina county the so openly oppresses women. WWE adored to the Saud’s culture and opted to keep women out of the massive show, something that drew the ire of many wrestling fans.

However, during the show, an advertisement that features Alexa Bliss and a cat-suited Carmella ran on the monstrous LED boards causing the Saudi Arabian GSA to release a public apology for the mere appearance of women during the show.

This left a foul stench over an already odorous event, and now that death threats have been invoked over a fictional segment, WWE fan may be ready to forget about Saudi Arabia for some time.