Wikipedia

Mansoor (wrestler)

This article is about the wrestler. For other uses, see Mansur (disambiguation).

Mansoor Abdul Aziz Mohamed Abdul Aziz Al-Shehail[5] (Arabic: منصور عبد العزيز محمد عبد العزيز الشهيل; born 28 October 1995), known mononymously as Mansoor, is a Saudi-American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as one-half of MxM Collection alongside Mason Madden. He also wrestles for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) and on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he is the first Saudi wrestler to have competed in WWE.[6]

Mansoor
Mansoor in 2024
Birth nameMansoor Abdul Aziz Mohamed Abdul Aziz Al-Shehail[1][2][3]
Born (1995-10-28) 28 October 1995 (age 29)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Mansoor
mån.sôör
Mansoor Al-Shehail
Manny Faberino
Big Money Manny
Billed height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[4]
Billed weight216 lb (98 kg)[4]
Billed fromRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
Trained byStoner Brothers
WWE Performance Center
Dory Funk Jr.
DebutJanuary 15, 2015

Early life

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Mansoor Al-Shehail was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 28 October 1995[7] to an American mother and a Saudi father. At the age of 11, he moved to the United States where he grew up in California.[8] Al-Shehail was a fan of professional wrestling from a young age, and was surrounded by friends whom he shared this passion with, often by playing wrestling video games.

Al-Shehail struggled with his mixed Saudi-American heritage as a child, saying "My mother is American, but there were times growing up that I was treated like I was too Saudi to be American, but also too American to be Saudi. Identity-wise, it's something that I've always had to juggle with, but in terms of wrestling it was a huge advantage as they have wrestling schools all across the US so I was able to learn from a young age."[9]

Professional wrestling career

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Independent circuit (2015–2018)

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Mansoor Al-Shehail was initially trained by the Stoner Brothers and Dory Funk Jr.[10] In his early career, he worked under the names Manny Faberino and Big Money Manny on the independent circuit for various promotions including Hoodslam, All Pro Wrestling, Stoner Brothers University, Best of the West Wrestling, and Gold Rush Pro Wrestling.[citation needed] During this period, he won East Bay Pro Wrestling's main championship once, which he vacated upon signing with WWE.[11]

WWE (2018–2023)

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Early beginnings (2018–2022)

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Al-Shehail was one of eight participants WWE scouted during a tryout in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ahead of 2018's Greatest Royal Rumble, WWE's first major event in Saudi Arabia, and was offered additional training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.[12] He was featured in a segment during the event, where he and his fellow recruits partook in a physical altercation with Shawn Daivari and Ariya Daivari.[13] Al-Shehail, under his "Manny Faberino" ring name, made his WWE debut at an NXT live event on 6 September 2018, losing to Luke Menzies.[14] He made his television debut on the 6 February 2019 episode of NXT as a face, and going by the ring name Mansoor, where he was defeated by Jaxson Ryker.[15] Al-Shehail also provided the voice of Cole Quinn, one of the main characters in WWE 2K19's MyCareer mode, which he would reprise in WWE 2K20 the following year.[16]

He appeared on WWE events on Saudi Arabia, like winning a 51-man Battle Royal at Super ShowDown,[17] defeating Cesaro at Crown Jewel,[18] and Dolph Ziggler at Super ShowDown.[19] Following this, Mansoor became a regular on 205 Live and Main Event, developing a winning streak.[20][21][22][23]

On the 3 May episode of Raw, Mansoor was assigned to the Raw brand,[24][25] and made his in-ring debut the same night, losing to United States Champion Sheamus by disqualification due to interference from Humberto Carrillo, and ending his winning streak.[26] According to Mansoor, his winning streak was a "creative order" and he felt frustrated.[27] In June, Mansoor began a storyline with Mustafa Ali, who tried to convince him that the rest of WWE superstars were "backstabbers", "would do anything just to get ahead", and "cheaters",[28] leading to a match on the 5 July episode of Raw, where Mansoor suffered his first pinfall loss.[29]

As part of the 2021 Draft, Mansoor was drafted to the SmackDown brand.[30] On the 11 October episode of Raw, Mansoor was attacked by Ali in the backstage after they lost to The Hurt Business, ending the alliance between the two; Ali would challenge him to a match at Crown Jewel later that night.[31] At the event, Mansoor defeated Ali.[32] This was Mansoor's last appearance in Saudi Arabia, since Vince McMahon told him that the Saudi Arabian government didn't want him competing in the country anymore.[33]

Maximum Male Models (2022–2023)

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See also: Maximum Male Models

On 22 April 2022, in a dark segment on SmackDown, Mansoor turned heel for the first time in his career when he was announced as the newest member of LA Knight's stable, Knight Model Management alongside Mace.[34] On the July 1 episode of SmackDown, Knight, now known as Max Dupri, announced Mace and Mansoor, under the tweaked names ma.çé and mån.sôör, as his new tag team, Maximum Male Models.[35] Maximum Male Models later welcomed Maxxine Dupri, Max's (kayfabe) sister, to manage the team. Maximum Male Models joined the Raw brand on February 6, 2023, and remained on Raw following the 2023 Draft.[36][37] After weeks of spending time with Otis of the Alpha Academy, Maxxine left Maximum Male Models to join Alpha Academy on the May 15 episode of Raw when she cheered on Otis and Chad Gable eliminating ma.çé and mån.sôör in the Intercontinental Championship number one contenders' battle royal match.[38][39] After months of inactivity, ma.çé and mån.sôör were both released from their WWE contracts on September 21.[40]

Return to the independent circuit (2023–present)

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See also: MxM

Al-Shehail, reverting to his previous ring name Mansoor, made a surprise appearance at Deadlock Pro-Wrestling (DPW) 2nd Anniversary taping on 10 December 2023 as part of the tag team MxM alongside Mason D. Madden (formerly known as Dio Maddin, Mace and ma.çé in WWE).[41][42] DPW announced that MxM would make their debut at DPW Live 4 on 20 January 2024.[43]

On 11 December 2023, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) announced that Mansoor would make his debut at Look At Me on 26 January 2024.[44]

On 18 April 2024, Mansoor (along with Madden) made his Soft Ground Wrestling debut confronting Lord White.[45]

All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2024–present)

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See also: MxM Collection

Mansoor and Madden, as MxM Collection, made their Ring of Honor (ROH) debut on the 4 July 2024 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling in a pre-taped vignette.[46] On July 10, it was reported that MxM Collection had signed a deal with ROH and its sister promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW).[47] MxM Collection made their ROH in-ring debut at Death Before Dishonor: Zero Hour on July 26, defeating Spanish Announce Project (Angélico and Serpentico).[48] MxM Collection made their AEW debut on the July 27 episode of AEW Collision, in a losing effort against FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood).[49]

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2024–present)

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On 24 July 2024, Mansoor was announced as a participant in the 2024 Grand Prix.[50] On August 16, 2024, Mansoor X made his debut at the CMLL Super Viernes at the Arena México teaming with Rocky Romero losing against Niebla Roja and Ángel de Oro.[51] On August 17, 2024, Mansoor teamed with Rocky Romero and Robbie X defeated Titán, Templario and Flip Gordon at the Arena Coliseo.[52] On August 18, 2024, Mansoor teamed with Robbie X and Flip Gordon losing against Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada and Angel de Oro at the Arena México.[53] On August 19, 2024, Mansoor teamed with Ikuro Kwon and Akira losing against Los Predadores! (Volador Jr., Magnus and Rugido) at the Arena Puebla.[54] On August 23, 2024 at the CMLL Grand Prix Internacional 2024 he was eliminated by Mascara Dorada.[55]

Personal life

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In 2017, American actor Shia LaBeouf, Finnish artist Nastja Säde Rönkkö, and British artist Luke Turner launched a political livestreaming installation, He Will Not Divide Us, which Al-Shehail and a group of friends participated in. During his time on stream, he became known as Punished Jesus or Jihadi Jesus by fans, and most notably donned an eyepatch and sang "Snake Eater", the opening theme to the 2004 video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater,[56] and re-enacted the opening scene to the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises.[57]

On 27 April 2021, Al-Shehail married his girlfriend Mia Carey.[58] He also has a child.

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ "Mansoor Al-Shehail". Cage Match.
  2. ^ "Mansoor Wins the Wwe Super Showdown 50 Man Battle Royal". YouTube. 5 July 2019.
  3. ^ All Elite Wrestling (22 September 2024). "MXM gets so deep Hey! (EW) 9/22/24". YouTube. Retrieved 22 September 2024. At the 2:07 mark, Mansoor reveals his full name
  4. ^ a b "Mansoor". WWE.
  5. ^ All Elite Wrestling (22 September 2024). "MXM gets so deep Hey! (EW) 9/22/24". YouTube. Retrieved 22 September 2024. At the 2:07 mark, Mansoor reveals his full name
  6. ^ "Exclusive interview: NXT newcomer Mansoor recounts his unlikely journey to WWE". WWE.
  7. ^ "Mansoor Al-Shehail's profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  8. ^ Staff Writer (29 October 2019). "Mansoor Is Ready To Lead The Saudi Wrestling Charge at Jewel In the Crown". GQ Middle East. QQ. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  9. ^ Staff Writer (10 September 2019). ""I truly do believe one day we will see women performing in Saudi Arabia in a WWE ring"". Esquire Middle East. Esquire. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  10. ^ Maglio, Tony (7 June 2019). "Saudi Wrestler Mansoor Wins WWE Super Showdown Battle Royal". TheWrap. Los Angeles: The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  11. ^ a b "EBPW Championship". Cage Match.
  12. ^ "Eight tryout participants selected to receive additional training in Saudi Arabia". WWE.com. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Ariya & Shawn Daivari get taken out by Saudi Arabian athletes". WWE.
  14. ^ "411MANIA". NXT Live Event Results 9.06.18: Aichner vs. Mendoza Main Events.
  15. ^ "Jaxson Ryker def. Mansoor". WWE.
  16. ^ "Male and Female MyPLAYERs Join Forces in WWE 2K20 MyCAREER". WWE2K. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  17. ^ a b P., Leon (8 June 2019). "There Were Actually 51 Competitors in the Super ShowDown Battle Royal, Complete List". PWInsider. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  18. ^ "WWE Crown Jewel 2019 results". WWE. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Full WWE Super ShowDown 2020 results, videos, galleries and exclusives". WWE. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  20. ^ Cook, Ryan (6 November 2020). "WWE 205 Live Results for 11/6/20 Mansoor vs Ashante Thee Adonis". Fightful. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  21. ^ Cook, Ryan (23 October 2020). "WWE 205 Live Results for 10/23/20 Mansoor vs The Brian Kendrick". Fightful. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  22. ^ Cook, Ryan (1 January 2021). "WWE 205 Live Results for 1/1/21 Mansoor vs Jake Atlas". Fightful. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  23. ^ Middleton, Marc (23 April 2021). "Why WWE Is Keeping Mansoor's Winning Streak Up". Fightful. Retrieved 3 May 2021. Mansoor has won 49 matches in a row as of this week, including singles and multi-man matches.
  24. ^ Defelice, Robert (3 May 2021). "Mansoor Signs WWE Raw Contract". Fightful. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  25. ^ Cook, Ryan (3 May 2021). "WWE RAW Results & Live Coverage for 5/3/21 RAW Tag Team Championship Match, Lashley in Action". Fightful. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  26. ^ Coulson, Josh (4 May 2021). "What Does The Ending To Mansoor's Raw Debut Mean For His Winning Streak?". The Sportster. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Mansoor se sintió frustrado por su racha de victorias en WWE". 6 November 2023.
  28. ^ Defelice, Robert (31 May 2021). "Mustafa Ali Returns To Monday Night Raw On Memorial Day, Warns Mansoor That Nobody Is To Be Trusted". Fightful. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  29. ^ Cook, Ryan (5 July 2021). "WWE RAW Results for 7/5/21 New Day vs Bobby Lashley & MVP". Fightful. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  30. ^ "See all the results from the 2021 Draft".
  31. ^ Powell, Jason (11 October 2021). "10/11 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks, WWE Champion Big E and Drew McIntyre meet face to face, King of the Ring and Queen's Crown opening round matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  32. ^ Powell, Jason (21 October 2021). "WWE Crown Jewel results: Powell's live review of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women's Championship, Big E vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship, Edge vs. Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match, Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley in a No Holds Barred match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  33. ^ "Mansoor explica por qué no fue una pieza importante en los últimos shows de WWE en Arabia Saudí". 4 January 2024.
  34. ^ Rubio Ato, Antonio (23 April 2022). "El nuevo stable de L.A. Knight en WWE presenta un nuevo miembro". Solo Wrestling (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  35. ^ Rose, Bryan (1 July 2022). "Max Dupri reveals Maximum Male Models on WWE SmackDown". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  36. ^ Chelsea Green is unsatisfied with how she has been treated: Raw, Feb. 6, 2023, 6 February 2023
  37. ^ Aguilar, Matthew (2 May 2023). "Every Pick of the 2023 WWE Draft". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  38. ^ Quinlan, Olivia (15 May 2023). "WWE Raw Results (05/15) - Cody Rhodes Answers Brock Lesnar's Challenge, We Hear From Becky Lynch And More". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  39. ^ Alpha Academy eliminate the Maximum Male Models, 18 May 2023, retrieved 20 June 2023
  40. ^ Yanofsky, Daniel (21 September 2023). "WWE releases and roster cuts 2023: Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali, Elias headline full list after TKO Group takeover". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  41. ^ Tessier, Colin (10 December 2023). "Mace And Mansoor Make Surprise Appearance At DPW 2nd Anniversary | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  42. ^ Tessier, Colin (11 December 2023). "Mace And Mansoor Make First Post-WWE Appearance At DPW 2nd Anniversary". Wrestlezone. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  43. ^ @deadlockpro (18 December 2023). "🚨 DPW L4 UPDATE 🚨 MXM make their in-ring DPW debut against WEST COAST WRECKING CREW in a tag team grudge bout on January 20th in Raleigh! DPW LIVE 4 🗓️ 01/20 | Raleigh, NC 🎟 http://dpwtix.com" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 December 2023 – via Twitter.
  44. ^ Tessier, Colin (11 December 2023). "Mansoor To Make GCW Debut At GCW Look At Me | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  45. ^ "411MANIA". Mace & Mansoor Make Debut For Soft Ground Wrestling In Uganda. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  46. ^ Defelice, Robert (4 July 2024). "MxM Collection (Mason Madden And Mansoor) Arrive In Ring Of Honor With Vignette On 7/4/24 ROH | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  47. ^ "411MANIA". MxM Reportedly Signed With AEW & ROH. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  48. ^ Powell, Jason (26 July 2024). "ROH Death Before Dishonor results: Vetter's review of Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH Championship, Athena vs. Queen Aminata for the ROH Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  49. ^ Mrosko, Geno (27 July 2024). "AEW Collision & Battle of the Belts 11 results, live blog". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  50. ^ "Listos todos los integrantes del Grand Prix 2024 del CMLL". 25 July 2024.
  51. ^ https://x.com/CMLL_OFICIAL/status/1824663405116236060 [bare URL]
  52. ^ https://x.com/CMLL_OFICIAL/status/1825184146387267658 [bare URL]
  53. ^ https://x.com/CMLL_OFICIAL/status/1825341041626448165 [bare URL]
  54. ^ https://x.com/CMLL_OFICIAL/status/1825739460102832557 [bare URL]
  55. ^ https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=400665 [bare URL]
  56. ^ punished jesus sings snake eater at he will not divide us stream (but its in sync). YouTube. Maccaroni. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  57. ^ HWNDU- Jesus reenacts big guy scene and Jackie 4chan is freed. YouTube. floppy_. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  58. ^ "Mansoor announces marriage on social media". WWE. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  59. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2021". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  60. ^ Jaymond P (24 February 2023). "2022 Wrestling Observer Awards Results". WrestlePurists. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  61. ^ Meltzer, Dave (February 2023). "February 2023 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Results of the 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  62. ^ Bristout, Ralph (7 June 2019). "Mansoor won the first-ever 50-Man Battle Royal". WWE.com. Stamford, Connecticut: WWE. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
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