8 Things You Didn't Know About WWE's Mansoor
3. His Wrestling Idols
Anyone worrying that a no-hope worker will soon be forced down our collective throats on the basis of WWE's diplomatic (economic) relations with a foreign regime, worry not: not only is it unlikely we'll see Mansoor on TV again until November, but he also models his ring work on some of the very best.
The NXT trainee cites Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels and, er, Christian as three of the biggest influences on his style - guys he considers "true all-rounders in the ring". But he reserves his biggest compliment for Daniel Bryan. When he fell back in love with wrestling, Mansoor knew he needed to be in the business - he just never imagined it could be as a wrestler. He considered interning in Stamford, thinking "maybe I could be a production guy." That all changed when he sat down to watch SummerSlam 2013 with his sisters, during which Bryan won WWE Championship (for all of half a minute).
"It's [...] the night I realised the only thing keeping me from being a wrestler was myself," recounts Mansoor. Turns out he was right.