2 Ups And 4 Downs From WWE 205 Live (December 13 2016)

2. Middle Eastern Wrestlers: AUTOMATIC HEELS

During the aforementioned backstage interview, Ariya Daivari interrupted Jack Gallagher and started speaking in Persian. He didn’t speak in a gentle brogue; he angrily framed the language as if he was speaking not to Gallagher but rather a camera filming some ungodly random video. Seemingly possessed by some demonic tongue, the message was clear: ARABS ARE BAD.

Daivari’s ethnic heritage automatically designated the Minnesota native as a villain.

WWE then decided to trot out another middle eastern wrestler, Mustafa Ali. Billed from Pakistan, WWE went full-on Muhammad Hassan with him. Ali was once part of a stable named ‘Team Taliban’ on the Independent circuit - a stigma he’d hoped to extricate himself from upon arriving in the big time.

As Ali made his entrance, the camera panned to a ringside fan giving him the thumbs down. This acted as a neat segue to Ali’s pre-taped promo. “As soon as you hear my name, you’ve already made up your mind about me,” he opined. While not strictly untrue, it is impossible to envisage WWE playing the long, redemptive game with Ali. Instead of conditioning their audience to hate him and justify his radicalisation, why not just position him in the babyface role? Wouldn’t that be more progressive, more newsworthy?

Besides which, they already have one pseudo-terrorist on the show!