WWE currently is holding its first-ever set of tryouts in Dubai, and the list of 34 individuals at the tryout includes a former MMA fighter and a former professional baseball player.
WWE issued a press release connected to the tryout, stating that participants that hailed from 18 different countries had converged on Dubai for the four-day tryout camp, being held at the Dubai Opera House.
Participants include three trainees out of the school run by former WWE star The Great Khali. Two of those products, Gurvinder Singh and Sukwinder Grewal, stand 6-11 and 7-foot, respectively.
Other tryout participants mentioned in the WWE release include:
* Rinku Singh of India, a baseball pitcher who won India’s 2008 reality TV show, “The Million Dollar Arm.” Currently a free agent, Singh was previously signed to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he is the subject of the Disney movie “Million Dollar Arm.”
* Saurav Gurjar, a 6-foot-8, 298-pound wrestler and actor from Mumbai, India, who played the role of “Bheem” in the Hindi-language mythological TV drama “Mahabharat.”
* Bashir Malla, a 245-pound MMA fighter from Dubai who has also competed in American football and amateur bodybuilding.
* Kateryna Kashtanova, an Ukranian black belt in judo who currently resides in Dubai
The tryout also had a female presence. Squared Circle Sirens reported that fitness model/personal trainer Lana Evanson, Shadia Bseiso, Gabi Stockler, Siham Kissir and Crossfit athlete Mahboube Farasat all were participating in the four-day event.
“WWE recognizes the size and passion of our audience around the Middle East and India," Canyon Ceman, WWE’s Vice President of Talent Development, said in the release regarding the tryouts. “WWE has over 40 million Facebook followers in the Middle East and North Africa, with 18 million in Egypt alone. We are committed to hiring the best and most charismatic athletes from around the region to super-serve this large and growing fan base with local future WWE Superstars.”
The WWE posted this video of the tryouts to its Twitter account:
WWE recently has been working to expand its international audience, one reason cited for the recent push for Jinder Mahal on Smackdown.
