Mansoor Abdul Aziz Al-Shehail, Manny or Mansoor as the WWE Universe knows him is the first ever Saudi Arabian professional wrestler to have signed with WWE. He now competes on SmackDown under the moniker of mån.sôör for the bizarre Maximum Male Models stable.
He is certainly a bright, young and interesting talent with a promising future and deserves some buzz. Therefore, here are 5 Things you should know about Mansoor
1. Independent circuit experience
mäxîmûm mälé mödęls pic.twitter.com/lXygDwGg8p
Advertisement— mån.sôör (@KSAMANNY) July 2, 2022
Mansoor already had a wealth of experience in the indies before stepping foot in WWE. He was trained by veterans the Stoner Brothers and Dory Funk Jr. and was performing under pseudonyms Manny Faberino and Big Money Manny for many independent promotions like Hoodslam, All Pro Wrestling, Stoner Brothers University, Best of the West Wrestling, and Gold Rush Pro Wrestling.
He had even won the East Bay Pro Wrestling’s main championship which he relinquished after getting drafted to NXT.
2. The wrestling heroes for Mansoor
eat up, we’re serving 😈 pic.twitter.com/vqbjUMs2MF
— MAXXINE DUPRI (@maxxinedupri) August 20, 2022
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Mansoor is an average sized wrestler at 6 feet and about 200 pounds therefore he idolizes wrestlers who are around his size. He looked up to Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, and Christian but his absolute hero was Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson).
Growing up he didn’t believe he had what it takes to be a top WWE Superstar. But when he saw a man of Bryan’s size win the WWE championship, he got inspired to try out and be a WWE superstar. He was even contemplating on taking a backstage role with WWE but it was Daniel Bryan’s rise to the top that made him chase his dreams.
3. What does Mansoor think about Women’s wrestling?
who’s hauter than top dollar? literally anyone 💅🏾 pic.twitter.com/Y9ArxSq3VF
— ma.çé (@MACEtheWRESTLER) August 20, 2022
Coming from a country like Saudi Arabia where women’s rights are very limited, Mansoor gets thrown curve balls in the form of questions about women’s wrestling.
He has however always given positive replies in this regard. He says that after the Greatest Royal Rumble barriers have been broken and sooner or later Saudi women may get an opportunity to perform as well. His niece and his own sisters are all big wrestling fans and look up to female wrestlers, he says.
4. Hollywood Connection of Mansoor
THEN – NOW @KSAMANNY 📸🔥#Realudovic #WWENXT #WWERAW #Smackdown pic.twitter.com/Y7iVZyYdgj
Advertisement— LUDO 🇫🇷🎗 (@realudovic) August 19, 2022
Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf with other artists launched a political live streaming installation, He Will Not Divide Us, in 2017.
Mansoor with a group of friends had participated in it and it showed his fun personality with him donning an eye patch and singing a theme from a video game. He even showed his acting chops in front of LaBeouf when he enacted a scene from the Dark Knight Rises.
5. The Match that hooked him onto wrestling
Are @AngelGarzaWwe and @humberto_wwe going to be the newest members of Maximum Male Models?@MaxDupri @maxxinedupri @KSAMANNY @MACEtheWRESTLER #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/mTStDNxbQa
— WWE (@WWE) August 13, 2022
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It was that grueling Ironman match between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar at WWE SmackDown in 2003 that got him to fall head over heels in love with wrestling.
He happened to watch it accidentally and was mesmerized. Even though his interest faded for a while due to personal issues, he got back to following WWE with his elder brother and it led him to train and finally make his way to WWE.
