April 17, 2025 • 33 mins
Mohammad Al Shehhi: The Emirati Who Quit His Day Job To Start A Wrestling Revolution
What happens when a young Emirati decides to ditch his conventional career path and dive headfirst into the high-flying world of professional wrestling? This week on EventNewsDXB, we're talking to Mohammed Al Shehhi, known to fans as "Shaheen" (Arabic for falcon), who traded 9-5 and office politics for suplexes and theatrical combat.
Mohammad opens up about how he went against the expectations of both family and society and embarked on a remarkable double life: corporate professional by day, aspiring wrestler by night.
His persistence paid off. Three years after founding WrestleFest DXB, Mohammed has transformed humble beginnings (the first show had just five audience members) into Dubai's most unique sporting spectacle with regular sold-out events.
Podcast Rundown
1️⃣ Mohammed's Journey into Wrestling
2️⃣ Living a Double Life
3️⃣ Building a Wrestling Promotion
4️⃣ Creating a Community-Driven Event
5️⃣ WWE Connections and Future Aspirations
6️⃣ Television Dreams and Next Steps
Production Credits:
Presented by: Ian Carless
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producers: Ian Carless & Joe Morrison
Produced by: EventNewsDXB & W4 Podcast Studio
Support us!
It takes time and effort to put the EventNewsDXB podcast together and we hope it's worth something to you. If it is, please consider supporting us to keep the podcasts coming. Contact us for details.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ian Carless (00:00):
Welcome to Event News DXB.
Before we begin, I've got aquick favour to ask.
There's one simple way that youcan support our podcast, and
that's by hitting that follow orsubscribe button on the app
you're listening to the podcaston right now.
It really does make a hugedifference in helping us get the
podcast out there to as manypeople as possible, so please
(00:20):
give us a hand and click thatbutton now.
Thanks a bunch.
You're listening to the EventNews DXB podcast.
Your behind-the-scenes lookinto the world of events in
(00:41):
Dubai, the UAE and the MENAregion.
I'm Ian Carlos and each weekI'll bring you the latest news,
industry trends and insiderstories from the people shaping
one of the world's most dynamicevent markets.
This week on Event News DXB,we're talking to a local Emirati
who's responsible fororganising one of Dubai's most
unique series of events In 2023,.
(01:04):
Mohammed Alshehi quit hisoffice job to pursue his dream
of becoming the UAE's firstprofessional wrestler.
That's right beneath theinternational glitz and glamour,
Dubai has an up-and-comingwrestling scene.
At the helm is the man nowknown to Dubai wrestling fans as
Shaheen, which means falcon inArabic.
Fast forward two and a halfyears and, after heading to
(01:26):
Japan to learn his craft,Mohamed returned and founded
WrestleFest DXB.
The WWE-styled wrestling eventsare now an established fixture
on the sports and entertainmentcalendar, regularly pulling in
sell-out crowds at their venuein Al-Quds, Mo.
Welcome to the podcast.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (01:43):
Thank you for having me.
It's an absolute pleasure.
Ian Carless (01:46):
Now for those listeners that don't know, you
run WrestleFest DXB.
That's right, you're a localEmirati.
I'm going to go out on a limbhere.
Not very much of a limb, butwhat I am going to say is I
think if you'd said there's alocal ever arty running a
wrestling venture in dubai Ithink a lot of people on the
(02:08):
outside world, the western world, go, might say you what it's
crazy I I always strive tofollow the the offbeat track
absolutely.
Tell us, then, let's, let'sstart the beginning.
What began your journey intowrestling?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (02:19):
I would say it's all started with an event,
the.
The wwe, which is the biggestpro wrestling organization, came
into the UAE.
They hosted an event back in2018, 2019.
Ian Carless (02:30):
Yeah.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (02:31):
And at the time I had gone with my friend
and we were completely mindblown by the event.
That's the kind of thing thatwe only watch on TV and for us
to get to experience that livein person.
You get to experience theenergy of the crowd, the music,
the lights, the atmosphere thewhole experience in one package.
I think that event on its ownhad left such an impression on
(02:53):
me that not only did I want torun these events, but also I
wanted to become a performermyself.
Ian Carless (02:59):
But that's what I was going to say.
I mean, lots of people go toevents, don't they?
I mean, you know, I go toconcerts, but it doesn't mean I
want to be the next guy fromguns and roses does it.
You know, I don't suddenly runout and take a course in how to
be a front man for a super band.
You actually did.
You.
You went away and, as you said,you decided that not only do I
want to watch these things, butI want to be.
I want to be that guy in thering exactly and exactly.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (03:20):
that's uh.
From the business aspect ofthings, I noticed that there's a
gap and that there's a fan base.
There's a community that isstriving to be engaged.
We're all hungry for thesekinds of events and I wanted to
be the person that people get towatch perform on those events.
Ian Carless (03:37):
Right, so not just being a promoter, then, because
I mean most people would havejust said, okay, yeah, forget
being thrown around a ring by abunch of people.
Because I mean you know, look,I mean obviously this is an
audio podcast, but if I tell youthat when I'm sat across Mo
right now, you're what?
Five, seven, something likethat, I don't know how many
pounds, but you're pretty lean,it's all muscle, I mean you're
not, you're not giant haystacks,you're not.
(04:06):
You know the rock, or you'renot.
You know triple h, yeah.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (04:08):
So again, it's just like I'm just
fascinated by what made youactually want to get in the ring
.
I would say, as you mentioned,there's a stereotype when it
comes to wrestlers yeah, yougotta be big, you gotta be
jacked, you gotta be a certainheight.
Yeah, but over here in dubai wehave such a, I would say, a
cosmopolitan roster.
Yeah, people who are young,people who are old, people who
are big people, people who arebig, people who are small, all
kinds of people from differentparts of the community get to be
(04:29):
part of this event, after longand grueling hours of training,
of course.
Ian Carless (04:35):
But yeah, that's it .
So what was your first stepthen?
How did you go about makingthat transition from fan to
wrestler?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (04:41):
I would say I had traveled to the uk okay
and that's where I uhparticipated in the first pro
wrestling academy, firstexperience for myself.
To, you know, dip my toes intothat kind of thing and uh it's.
It's kind of crazy to see howthe scene has evolved so much
locally just because of oneperson traveling abroad, getting
(05:05):
to soak in all the experiencesfrom different wrestlers,
international wrestlers,experienced coaches, it was.
It was very funny for me to tobe in that environment to begin
with, because you're talking toa person who was groomed to
become a lawyer, a banker, apoliceman, a military officer,
(05:26):
and going on from thatenvironment to being thrown
around really got to instilldiscipline in me.
Ian Carless (05:36):
Well, I was going to ask that.
I mean, you brought it up.
Was it a tough sell for yourfamily?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (05:41):
It was in the beginning because, as I
mentioned, there's a certainlevel of expectation.
Ian Carless (05:47):
how did you, how did you win them over?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (05:50):
I would say five long years of doing
wrestling and pursuing an officejob at the same time.
It wasn't hard, it wasn't easy.
My bad it's it's.
I lived the clark kent life tobe able to, to be able to
provide for my family, to beable to help out with all the
financial matters at home.
But when it came to wrestling,that was my escape, that was my
(06:11):
passion, that was the place Ifelt home at.
So five years of doing that, ofclocking out of the office at 6,
7 pm, still fighting my demons,to go to the gym, to finish at
9 pm, go to wrestle and thencoach people all until 11 pm and
then go back home and repeat.
(06:32):
So I was living a double life.
But it all paid off at the endof those five years, when I got
the opportunity to trainoverseas at the number one pro
wrestling academy in the states,I got an official invite.
That was the moment my mom saidyou know what?
Maybe this is your calling, youcan quit your job.
I could care less.
For me it was a hard pill toswallow.
(06:54):
I was just looking at my momthinking like hello, is that my
mom?
Is that exactly?
Was she possessed?
What's going on, but it's very,very rewarding to feel that all
those five years of balancingoffice job and training at the
same time finally paid off.
Ian Carless (07:12):
So you went to that first event and I'm curious
just to know sort of how yourmind was working at the time.
I mean, you've mentioned younot only wanted to get in the
ring but you specifically wantedto organize events.
So then obviously you know thetraining is one aspect of it.
How then did you go around, goabout putting the building
blocks in place to actuallystart the events?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (07:33):
Okay.
So for those who don't know,when it comes to training pro
wrestling, there's a thingcalled an academy event, right,
that's where people who workedhard finally get to showcase
their talents, and with theseacademy events, they tend to be
filmed.
Some family and friends come in, some friends of friends come
in, and my first experience wasonly in front of five people.
(07:55):
And then the next show we'vehad 10, and then the next show
we've had 15, and the next showwe've had 20, and then it went
all the way up to 70, up to 100,right, and I saw exponential
growth and I realized, okay,there's an opportunity here,
there's something that we cantap into.
Yeah, that is when we finallydecided to export our academy
(08:16):
shows, to create a promotion andfinally find the right place
for it which was at warehouse 4,to accommodate to such a large
number of people coming in.
Ian Carless (08:26):
Yeah, I have to say I remember distinctly the first
time, I think the first eventthat you did in Warehouse 4.
And I remember I don't knowwhether it was yourself that
were booked in the event and Isaw, you know, I saw WrestleFest
, dxb and I thought what onearth is all that about?
And, out of curiosity, camedown that first night and was
absolutely blown away.
(08:46):
I mean, I think any look, Ithink you'll be the first one to
acknowledge since those earlydays, the standard has got much,
much better, et cetera, etcetera.
But I think if you were goingto be distracted, say, by a
little bit of lack of finesse inthat initial event, it was
completely overcome by theaudience.
I think that's what blew me awaymore than anything was just
(09:08):
seeing, and it wasn't a hugecrowd, it was maybe 70, 80
people, like you said, somethinglike that, maybe a few more.
But the energy of the crowd andthe fact that they knew who all
the wrestlers were.
They'd had all the chants, youknow, they knew everybody's,
like nicknames and everything,and you know, and everybody's
going hit the ref, hit the ref,you know, and everybody's going
hit the ref, hit the ref, youknow, and all the other chants
that go with it.
I think that's what blew meaway.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (09:38):
I don't actually have a question on the
back of that, other than to sayI think my expectations were
somewhat, you know, probablydown there, but they were
exceeded beyond anything that Icould imagine.
And every other event I thinkthe fans get to prove to us why
we want to continue.
Yeah, Whether I think the fansget to prove to us why we want
to continue.
Whether we get only 50 orwhether we get 200 people, it's
the energy that keeps us going.
It's their enthusiasm, theirchants, the craziness that they
bring, the rowdiness from bothparents and kids and people who
come in there for their firstdates.
I don't know who does that, butif you're listening to this,
(10:01):
they bring in their first datesover there and then they get to.
You know they're hooked to theevent and they come every other
event and it's just wild to seepeople getting married because
of that.
We've had a couple get marriedand their first date was at
WrestleFest DXV.
Listen.
Ian Carless (10:15):
I think they're onto something there, if you can
go on a first date and survivethat and either one of you is
happy with the other one afterthat then you're onto something
right.
So look, I mean on a seriousnote, I think most events,
whether they're sporting orotherwise, there's usually
obviously an element of financeto it and payoff.
(10:36):
But I imagine in your case thatwould have been extremely
difficult at the beginning andyou were probably relying a lot
on goodwill of others.
Can you talk to us a bit aboutthat, about those, certainly
those early events, because Iknow you know you do have a big
team of wrestlers now and also ateam of people who, just who
come in and help.
Don't they literally put up thestage?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (10:56):
take down the stage, yes, and do all the
jobs behind the scenes for whichyou know, often there are no
thanks, exactly, yeah, so, alsofor those who don't know the way
pro wrestling events are ranlocally and overseas, it's
mainly driven by the focus, thegoodwill, the fire and the
passion of the talent that is onthat show.
(11:17):
Absolutely, you can be the mainevent on the main event and you
could be the one who putstogether the ring that night.
You could be the one who doesthe lights, you could be the one
who does together the ring thatnight you could be the one who
does the lights, you could bethe one who does the tickets at
the door.
It doesn't matter to us,because it's an experience that
gets us humbled and value theorganization, value the reason
why we're here, which is thefans at the end of the day.
(11:38):
So to go back to your pointstarting off with that wasn't
easy because there was anexpectation.
Go back to your point startingoff with that wasn't easy
because there was an expectation.
From moving to the academy tothe warehouse, a lot of people
thought it was an instantupgrade.
They didn't know that there wasgonna be a whole lot of
different tornadoes andsandstorms and everything on the
(12:02):
way for us.
Starting from financing,because it was all self-financed
.
It was us not relying on paybecause we wanted to just
entertain the fans.
It was us doing the photography, the videography, it was us
setting up the ring ourselves,which we do to this day, because
, at the end of the day, wevalue what we do.
We value what we.
(12:23):
We put our bodies on the lineat the end of the day for the
entertainment of the fans.
It's just.
It was a tough pill to swallowto begin with.
The early days was completelyself-financed and, as you know,
something so new, something sofresh, reaching out to sponsors,
to people who don't believe inyour vision.
You get shut down so many times, but it's a matter of going
(12:46):
forward.
Keep going.
That's why I got my day job.
I had the option of quitting soearly on just to run these
events, but I decided that if Ihad kept my day job just to
finance these events, things aregoing to pay off.
Ian Carless (13:01):
It's interesting, is it?
I think that's a perennialproblem of a lot of event
organizers and event promoters.
I think you know Rome wasn'tbuilt in a day.
Nobody starts out with events.
Okay, some do, but if you're ahuge band or something, but most
people don't start out withevents in 10,000 seat of venues
and most events need help alongthe way.
But sadly, I think there's nottoo many, let's just say,
(13:25):
corporate entities that arewilling to share the vision with
you and share the growth.
Many are willing to jump ontosomething that's already
successful, but the largemajority, you know, do not want
to support something from theground up, which is a real shame
and creates, as you say, a realproblem for you guys when
you're trying to get somethingoff the ground.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (13:46):
But it still opened our eyes to how the
events and how business are runin the UAE.
So every time we get shut down,I I don't take no for an answer.
I'm a go-getter.
I ask why?
Tell me why it's fine.
I don't want anything but yourreasoning.
And if it's something as simpleas well, the marketing is not
(14:07):
worth it, the impressions arenot worth it, and I just look
them in the eye and say, okay,I'm going to work on it in the
future.
So in my free time I go backhome, I study, I analyze.
How do I get to reach thatperson's level?
I want my events to hit thesepeople's marketing targets.
What initiatives can I do?
Who can I collaborate with somany different pieces that come
(14:27):
together for me to be able, as apromotion, to hit the sponsor's
marketing targets and marketingobjectives and sponsorship
objectives, which helps you toscale?
At the end of the day, if I'mbeing honest, no, absolutely
yeah.
Ian Carless (14:43):
I mean, how do you approach that then?
Because I think you know I'verun events in the past.
For example, we organized theDubai Motorcycle Film Festival
and I think obviously you knowthese are, in the grand scheme
of things, these aren't 10,000seat events, you know.
So I think there's got to be acertain cognizance there in
terms of what you go in and askfor.
It's no good me going andasking for a million dollars for
(15:04):
an event for which 150 peopleare going to turn up for I mean
it's just not going to happen.
So you do have to have a levelof realism.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (15:11):
Yes, and that that level of realism
really aligns with what we do aspro wrestlers with with
professional wrestling.
The more matches we have underour belts, the more, I would say
.
The more experienced we are,the more knowledge, the more
respected we are by our peers.
So if you put that togetherwith what the sponsors want in
(15:33):
such a small place, we look atit and say you know what, maybe
in that case, since it's not a10,000 theater venue, we can do
12 events in one year.
That way, as a wrestler, I doget in 12 matches, just that
locally in Dubai, and at thesame time I can make the
(15:54):
sponsors happy.
You've got the long-termobjectives, you've got the
long-term vision and got thelong-term vision, and to them it
seems like a one-year campaignwhich really helped us in our
benefit so talk us through atypical event.
Ian Carless (16:08):
I mean, I think you just alluded to it there.
You do.
You do at the moment one mainevent every month.
Yes, um, talk us through that,talk us through the sort of
format of that event.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (16:18):
So when it comes to formatting the events.
Our academy runs five days aweek where most of the people
come in and basically fight foran opportunity.
They showcase their bestperformances.
They work on their in-ringstuff, they work on their cardio
, they work on theirweightlifting, they work on
their characters.
They work on their in-ringstuff.
(16:38):
They work on their cardiocardio.
They work on theirweightlifting, they work on
their characters.
They work on their gear.
There's a lot of differentthings that come into play and
then from that we get tonominate who becomes who gets on
the shows who gets on the card?
yes, who gets on the cardbasically, I know my link and
then and then we align thattogether with, if there's any
interest, from overseaswrestlers who are flooding our
(17:01):
social media profiles.
Everybody gets to see the levelof quality, the content, I
would say, the professionalismand the setup.
Because, ian, if I'm beinghonest, I'm going to show you
our direct competitors fromdifferent parts of the world how
their venues are being set up.
It's not as professional asWarehouse Four, especially with
the lighting, the camera work,the seating.
(17:24):
It's usually done in bingohalls or music venues that are
too big and that basketballcourts.
So we're very lucky to havefound a place or a space like
Warehouse Four so that reallygets in a lot of international
interest and a lot of theinternational names and stars
that you get to see on our showsare people reaching out to want
(17:47):
to be part of this.
I don't reach out to them witha big check saying, hey, I want
you at Warehouse 4.
Ian Carless (17:52):
I was going to ask that.
I mean how does that?
Where does I mean?
Because you would imagine thatmost people think oh great, free
holiday to Dubai.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (17:58):
Because you would imagine that most people
think, oh great, free holiday toDubai Exactly All I have to do
is jump in the ring for 20minutes Exactly, so they're
basically paying their own way.
Most of the time.
Yes, because it's a holiday.
It's a holiday destination andyou've got the name Dubai.
You've got sunshine.
Most of them come in from theUK, where it's cloudy and dark
and gloomy.
(18:18):
So it's a two-in-one it's afree holiday and it's a
20-minute match yeah, how do youmake that work for you then?
Ian Carless (18:24):
obviously, because how, how, how informed is your,
is your audience here.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (18:29):
So a lot of them actually just watch the big
leagues, right?
Okay, which are divided intothree big promotions so you got
wwe and then you've WWE and thenyou've got AW and then you've
got New Japan Pro WrestlingRight.
Anything below that is theindependent circuits Right.
With the independents, there'salso levels.
There's high, there's mediumand there's low.
(18:51):
Yeah, I would put WrestleFestDXB on the high to medium
threshold for sure.
Right, Comparing us to all thehigh level promotions around the
world.
Yeah, it's just crazy howpeople perceive our product.
Ian Carless (19:08):
So, in terms of your own roster, you mentioned
the Academy.
How does that work?
So it's open to anybody thatwants to come in and give it a
go.
And then let's just say, forexample, I'm never going to do
this.
But let's just say, for example, I'm never going to do this.
But let's just say, in some, ina moment of insanity, I decided
I wanted to be a pro wrestler.
Okay, and came through youracademy door and said mo, I want
to be a wrestler.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (19:28):
So starts off with a physical assessment.
We see all that.
We see how tough you are.
We see, uh, cardio your, yourstrength level, your speed, your
agility, and we work on yourweaknesses.
That's how it is.
It's not a do or die situationwhere we have a gun to your head
(19:49):
and say, oh, you're not a prowrestler, just leave the academy
.
Yeah, it's showcasing yourstrengths, it's working on your
weaknesses.
Right, that is our utmost prideat the academy.
If you're someone who can'tmake it, we make sure by the end
of these six months, you'recloser to the goal of making it.
Ian Carless (20:07):
Now, again going back to stereotypes, I am aware
that one of the wrestlers thatyou've got through the door is
probably the least looking likea wrestler, the Filipino girl.
I've forgotten her name off thetop of my head Roxy Roxy.
Probably the least looking likea wrestler, the filipina girl.
I've forgotten her name off thetop of my head roxy, roxy.
There you go, but I mean,there's someone.
If you met in the street andyou said to what do you do for a
living, wrestling wouldn't bethe first thing on the top of
(20:27):
your mind.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (20:28):
So she's the youngest we have on the roster.
She is the only female we havecurrently at the roster who, uh,
is getting a lot of interestfrom female fans at the moment
to want to become pro wrestlers.
A lot of the females inattendance at our events just go
up to Roxy and say "'Can Itrain with you?
"'can I be doing what you'redoing right now'.
(20:50):
And she's doing great at thatright now.
Ian Carless (20:54):
And again just for the benefit of our listeners.
I mean, roxy is what she's fivefoot.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (20:59):
She's five foot five, yeah, weighs what
Like three pounds, 50 kgs, butshe moves like a rocket.
Just see her in the ring.
She's jumping up and down leftand right.
Absolute pleasure to watch inthe ring.
Ian Carless (21:14):
And, as you say, a fantastic role model for girls
out there who, perhaps you know,would look at that and go, oh,
that's not for me.
And then they look at her andgo, oh, hold on a minute.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (21:24):
It is for me yeah, yep, yeah.
So that is one big point thatwe like to focus on on our
events is inspiring the audience.
At the end of the day, nomatter where you come from, what
your background is, what your,size is.
Ian Carless (21:44):
We're welcoming to to have more people on our
roster to showcase that anybodycan be a wrestler right now.
You've been going for quite afew years now, so, in terms of
being able to actually sustainthe events without always having
to dip into your own pocket,how difficult has that been and
are you at at the moment withthat?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (21:59):
So we just celebrated our third anniversary
last weekend, which is insaneto see how time has flown.
But looking at the output, Ijust can't wait to see where
we'll be at the next three years.
So in those three years, a lotof those fans who came in were
people who actually like to helpand fund the business, whether
(22:22):
it's through doing merchandisefor us, whether it's a ticket
organizer.
We've had someone who come in,was a marketing manager at the
Virgin Megastore and said I lovethis event, can you just
showcase your events on ourticketing website?
And that's how things have beenrunning for us events on our
ticketing website, and that'sjust that's how things have been
running for us.
It's insane to see how theseevents bring people and
(22:44):
professionals from differentbackgrounds, from different
workplaces, from differentoffices, from different jobs for
them to come up to us and say Iwanna help, I wanna grow this
place, and so far in these threeyears we've got because of that
.
We got someone from VirginMegastore.
We had our PR.
Pr agent is a fan, right.
(23:05):
We've got our host.
He was a fan.
We've got, uh, people who areselling our merchandise.
They were fans.
We've got people doing ticketsat the door.
They're our fans.
We've got our merchandisesuppliers, our fans, so it's
just crazy to see how it's socommunity focused and it's not
the vision that I had initially,but 10 years later, I'm just
(23:29):
glad that it grew this to acommunity focused event.
At the end of the day, ifthere's no community engagement,
there's no impact, and that'sthe word we're looking for
impact.
Ian Carless (23:40):
Now, in terms of sort of outside help, I know
that you've been given a bit ofa leg up, if you like, from
Dubai Sports Council.
How have they helped your?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (23:49):
journey.
So when it comes to the DubaiSports Council, it's mostly
access to their network oraccess to their logistics.
Nothing financial,unfortunately for us, because
when people look at our productthey see it as a sports product,
but to others it's anentertainment product.
(24:09):
So how do you put the twotogether?
It's not called WWE, Exactlyright.
So it's a sports entertainmentproduct and it was so difficult
at the beginning to explain tothe legislators, to explain to
the council, to the tourismboard, that what we do is, in
essence, it's a sport and it'san entertainment event and we
(24:33):
intend on putting those two andkeeping those two together.
We have kids coming in naggingtheir parents that they wanna
see their favorite wrestlers inattendance.
They don't watch it because ofthe sport, they watch it because
of the entertainment.
And then you have the adultswho come in for both.
So back to my point about thesports council support.
(24:54):
It's providing us with medicalteam to help if, God forbid,
something happens.
They help us out with permits.
They help us out with the minorthings that give us admin
headaches, which I'm so, sograteful for.
Especially with things likethese, they get to suck the
(25:14):
energy out of you, if you knowwhat I mean.
Oh, absolutely it comes to adminwork, paperwork applying and
waiting for a few days, then youknow you have to do it again if
there was a minor error.
So they do help us out a lotand I'm so, so grateful to them
for for for helping us in thataspect yeah, and what about?
Ian Carless (25:32):
I mean, obviously, the big elephant in the room for
me is what about wwe?
What have they noticed?
Are they across the smallerindependent events and
promotions that are going on?
And if so, do they get involved?
I mean, you know, even for me,sitting in your shoes, I would
think, oh, it'd be nice, just toyou know, get mentioned.
(25:53):
I mean, imagine if they gave usa little plug on their
Instagram page.
Do you know what I mean?
I mean, even that could.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (25:59):
Two points.
There is a WWE signed anexclusive contract to run Middle
East shows in Saudi Arabia.
Right, I think that's runningup until 2033, 2034.
Right, all the events runningin the region are exclusive to
that country.
Ian Carless (26:17):
Right.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (26:17):
Which had given us the benefit to run our
shows here locally.
Now that started with a vision,with a lot of roadblocks, but
with our passion and our focuswe were able to push within
these three years to create theproduct.
The Rest of Us DXV product, andfrom gaining international
attention to getting eyes frompeople working in the WWE is for
(26:42):
us, is a seal of approval.
We hadn't gotten any mention onsocials yet or any mention on
any press releases, but I knowpeople who work there who tell
me that they do have an eye onthe area, they do have an eye on
the talent and they just wantus to keep going.
They just want us to be able toengage the fans, to grow our
(27:02):
fan base, to improve our ownskill set, because, you never
know, one day they would want toscout talent from the region or
scout talent from Dubai,because they did host tryouts
five years ago.
You never know when they mightcome back.
Ian Carless (27:20):
It's interesting, isn't it?
Because you know, thinkingabout it now, you would hope,
like many other sports, you know, certainly at the professional
level, there is a trickle downof funds down to the grassroots
of each sport.
I mean, and let's face it, youknow, wrestling is no different
to football, golf, cricket orwhatever.
You've got to have a talentpool coming through.
Yeah, I mean, if they didn'thave the talent pool, they
(27:42):
wouldn't have a product, Exactly.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (27:44):
Okay.
So it's funny that youmentioned that because they had
just launched an initiative thisyear which is called the WWE ID
.
So, as a talent, in anylocation across the globe, you
can get ID'd by WWE.
That gives you credibility,gives the promotion you come
from credibility, it gives theacademy that you come from a
(28:07):
sense of credibility as well,and they announce a new talent
for WWE ID every single month.
We hope for one of us to bechosen just to get that seal of
approval.
Ian Carless (28:18):
So explain to me, how does that work?
So when you say ID, so they'regoing to appear on an undercard
somewhere, or how does that?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (28:25):
work.
So the way WWE works is thatyou've got the main product,
which is on Netflix right now,and then you've got their
developmental, which is NXT, andthen, below that, they've got
the WWE ID.
The WWE ID is basically you getscouted either online or you
could be on a show in the Statesan independent show and there's
(28:46):
a WWE official there and youget WWE ID'd.
So you get acknowledged by theWWE and you can keep going and
doing your own thing, but that'sa seal of approval of them
saying that we're watching youand we hope to get you to our
developmental brand, for you toget ready to be on netflix right
does that make sense?
Ian Carless (29:05):
it does, yeah, absolutely so, from the
grassroots all the way up sobefore we wrap up, a couple
couple more just on on the eventitself.
You've been at a certain levelnow for the last couple of years
.
What is the next level and howdo you get there?
Tv.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (29:24):
We would absolutely love to get a TV spot
, either in Dubai or aninternational TV, because that
is what gets us, as performers,to the next level.
I had just come in from a showin Delhi, india, and I had low
expectations, because I'vetraveled, I've done a lot of
(29:44):
shows overseas and this is likemy 19th or 20th country that
I've performed in.
So to me it felt like anotherday at the office.
And the moment I landed and gotdriven all the way to the venue
, I noticed something different.
There's security check, there'sthis, there's that, there's a
(30:04):
form you need to sign, there'sbarbers on set, there's lights,
there's cameras, there's costumemakers on set, and I thought to
myself what is going on here?
This is next level.
And they said yeah, we'refilming for tv for the next two
months.
That's why you're here for fivedays.
We're going to shoot episodeson the daily, right?
(30:25):
So to me, that was a veryeye-opening experience, not only
as a performer, but also as apromoter would that be for a
netflix or for an amazon or fora local?
for local tv and the reasonbeing is because Der Der WI got
a Netflix deal all across theglobe, so you can see that
there's an opportunity now, inthe slot that Der Der WI was,
(30:46):
for different promotions to beon that spot.
You're talking millions ofviewers, so for anyone who can
step up, that would be the spotfor them and just being in that
environment and soaking in allthe knowledge from the promoters
to the producers, to thetelevision team, to the filming
team.
I, just on the way back todubai on the plane, I was just
(31:09):
thinking it's, it's a capabilitythat dubai has, it's a
capability that we see on boxingevents, that we see on
basketball events and we seethis insane production for these
grassroots sports like boxingand and volleyball and
basketball.
Why can't the same be done forwrestling?
Ian Carless (31:28):
so that is, that is what's next right and then,
before we wrap up, so lookingahead, we're what we're in march
, now are we april, so we Aprilalready.
Yeah, what's in place for therest of the year?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (31:42):
More events, more craziness, more rowdiness,
more big names coming in fromoverseas and definitely a plan
to do bigger venues, sold outvenues and the chance to meet
more fans.
Ian Carless (31:54):
Well, you've definitely been selling out
hours.
You've definitely been sellingout Warehouse 4.
And if people want to find outmore about you, where can they
go?
Mohammad Al Sheh (32:01):
WrestleFestDXB on Instagram, wrestlefestdxbcom
, and if you want to see more ofmy stuff, it's at Shaheen of
the Sky.
Ian Carless (32:08):
Shaheen of the Sky.
There you have it.
Well, shaheen of the Sky, I'vegot one last question to ask you
before we go.
We've been asking everybodythis I'm a music fan, I'm sure
you are too.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (32:26):
You've got your walk in music Number one.
What's your walk in music OfMice and Men?
Ian Carless (32:28):
Of Mice and Men.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (32:28):
And secondly , what's on your playlist right
now?
Right now, yeah, I'd say a lotof the TikTok music's popping on
into my playlist.
Okay, I've really been diggingthe neighborhood recently.
Ian Carless (32:40):
The neighborhood Right.
Okay, Mo wish you the best ofluck for the future.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (32:45):
Thank you so much for having me.
Ian Carless (32:46):
Thanks for joining us on the podcast.
Thank you, event News.
Dxb was presented by myself,ian Carlos, the studio engineer
and editor was Roy DeMonte, theexecutive producer was myself
and Joe Morrison, and thispodcast is a co-production
between Warehouse 4 and W4Podcast Studio Dubai.
And if you haven't done soalready, please do click that
(33:08):
follow or subscribe button.
See you next time.
Welcome to Event News DXB.
Before we begin, I've got aquick favour to ask.
There's one simple way that youcan support our podcast, and
that's by hitting that follow orsubscribe button on the app
you're listening to the podcaston right now.
It really does make a hugedifference in helping us get the
podcast out there to as manypeople as possible, so please
(00:20):
give us a hand and click thatbutton now.
Thanks a bunch.
You're listening to the EventNews DXB podcast.
Your behind-the-scenes lookinto the world of events in
(00:41):
Dubai, the UAE and the MENAregion.
I'm Ian Carlos and each weekI'll bring you the latest news,
industry trends and insiderstories from the people shaping
one of the world's most dynamicevent markets.
This week on Event News DXB,we're talking to a local Emirati
who's responsible fororganising one of Dubai's most
unique series of events In 2023,.
(01:04):
Mohammed Alshehi quit hisoffice job to pursue his dream
of becoming the UAE's firstprofessional wrestler.
That's right beneath theinternational glitz and glamour,
Dubai has an up-and-comingwrestling scene.
At the helm is the man nowknown to Dubai wrestling fans as
Shaheen, which means falcon inArabic.
Fast forward two and a halfyears and, after heading to
(01:26):
Japan to learn his craft,Mohamed returned and founded
WrestleFest DXB.
The WWE-styled wrestling eventsare now an established fixture
on the sports and entertainmentcalendar, regularly pulling in
sell-out crowds at their venuein Al-Quds, Mo.
Welcome to the podcast.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (01:43):
Thank you for having me.
It's an absolute pleasure.
Ian Carless (01:46):
Now for those listeners that don't know, you
run WrestleFest DXB.
That's right, you're a localEmirati.
I'm going to go out on a limbhere.
Not very much of a limb, butwhat I am going to say is I
think if you'd said there's alocal ever arty running a
wrestling venture in dubai Ithink a lot of people on the
(02:08):
outside world, the western world, go, might say you what it's
crazy I I always strive tofollow the the offbeat track
absolutely.
Tell us, then, let's, let'sstart the beginning.
What began your journey intowrestling?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (02:19):
I would say it's all started with an event,
the.
The wwe, which is the biggestpro wrestling organization, came
into the UAE.
They hosted an event back in2018, 2019.
Ian Carless (02:30):
Yeah.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (02:31):
And at the time I had gone with my friend
and we were completely mindblown by the event.
That's the kind of thing thatwe only watch on TV and for us
to get to experience that livein person.
You get to experience theenergy of the crowd, the music,
the lights, the atmosphere thewhole experience in one package.
I think that event on its ownhad left such an impression on
(02:53):
me that not only did I want torun these events, but also I
wanted to become a performermyself.
Ian Carless (02:59):
But that's what I was going to say.
I mean, lots of people go toevents, don't they?
I mean, you know, I go toconcerts, but it doesn't mean I
want to be the next guy fromguns and roses does it.
You know, I don't suddenly runout and take a course in how to
be a front man for a super band.
You actually did.
You.
You went away and, as you said,you decided that not only do I
want to watch these things, butI want to be.
I want to be that guy in thering exactly and exactly.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (03:20):
that's uh.
From the business aspect ofthings, I noticed that there's a
gap and that there's a fan base.
There's a community that isstriving to be engaged.
We're all hungry for thesekinds of events and I wanted to
be the person that people get towatch perform on those events.
Ian Carless (03:37):
Right, so not just being a promoter, then, because
I mean most people would havejust said, okay, yeah, forget
being thrown around a ring by abunch of people.
Because I mean you know, look,I mean obviously this is an
audio podcast, but if I tell youthat when I'm sat across Mo
right now, you're what?
Five, seven, something likethat, I don't know how many
pounds, but you're pretty lean,it's all muscle, I mean you're
not, you're not giant haystacks,you're not.
(04:06):
You know the rock, or you'renot.
You know triple h, yeah.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (04:08):
So again, it's just like I'm just
fascinated by what made youactually want to get in the ring
.
I would say, as you mentioned,there's a stereotype when it
comes to wrestlers yeah, yougotta be big, you gotta be
jacked, you gotta be a certainheight.
Yeah, but over here in dubai wehave such a, I would say, a
cosmopolitan roster.
Yeah, people who are young,people who are old, people who
are big people, people who arebig, people who are small, all
kinds of people from differentparts of the community get to be
(04:29):
part of this event, after longand grueling hours of training,
of course.
Ian Carless (04:35):
But yeah, that's it .
So what was your first stepthen?
How did you go about makingthat transition from fan to
wrestler?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (04:41):
I would say I had traveled to the uk okay
and that's where I uhparticipated in the first pro
wrestling academy, firstexperience for myself.
To, you know, dip my toes intothat kind of thing and uh it's.
It's kind of crazy to see howthe scene has evolved so much
locally just because of oneperson traveling abroad, getting
(05:05):
to soak in all the experiencesfrom different wrestlers,
international wrestlers,experienced coaches, it was.
It was very funny for me to tobe in that environment to begin
with, because you're talking toa person who was groomed to
become a lawyer, a banker, apoliceman, a military officer,
(05:26):
and going on from thatenvironment to being thrown
around really got to instilldiscipline in me.
Ian Carless (05:36):
Well, I was going to ask that.
I mean, you brought it up.
Was it a tough sell for yourfamily?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (05:41):
It was in the beginning because, as I
mentioned, there's a certainlevel of expectation.
Ian Carless (05:47):
how did you, how did you win them over?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (05:50):
I would say five long years of doing
wrestling and pursuing an officejob at the same time.
It wasn't hard, it wasn't easy.
My bad it's it's.
I lived the clark kent life tobe able to, to be able to
provide for my family, to beable to help out with all the
financial matters at home.
But when it came to wrestling,that was my escape, that was my
(06:11):
passion, that was the place Ifelt home at.
So five years of doing that, ofclocking out of the office at 6,
7 pm, still fighting my demons,to go to the gym, to finish at
9 pm, go to wrestle and thencoach people all until 11 pm and
then go back home and repeat.
(06:32):
So I was living a double life.
But it all paid off at the endof those five years, when I got
the opportunity to trainoverseas at the number one pro
wrestling academy in the states,I got an official invite.
That was the moment my mom saidyou know what?
Maybe this is your calling, youcan quit your job.
I could care less.
For me it was a hard pill toswallow.
(06:54):
I was just looking at my momthinking like hello, is that my
mom?
Is that exactly?
Was she possessed?
What's going on, but it's very,very rewarding to feel that all
those five years of balancingoffice job and training at the
same time finally paid off.
Ian Carless (07:12):
So you went to that first event and I'm curious
just to know sort of how yourmind was working at the time.
I mean, you've mentioned younot only wanted to get in the
ring but you specifically wantedto organize events.
So then obviously you know thetraining is one aspect of it.
How then did you go around, goabout putting the building
blocks in place to actuallystart the events?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (07:33):
Okay.
So for those who don't know,when it comes to training pro
wrestling, there's a thingcalled an academy event, right,
that's where people who workedhard finally get to showcase
their talents, and with theseacademy events, they tend to be
filmed.
Some family and friends come in, some friends of friends come
in, and my first experience wasonly in front of five people.
(07:55):
And then the next show we'vehad 10, and then the next show
we've had 15, and the next showwe've had 20, and then it went
all the way up to 70, up to 100,right, and I saw exponential
growth and I realized, okay,there's an opportunity here,
there's something that we cantap into.
Yeah, that is when we finallydecided to export our academy
(08:16):
shows, to create a promotion andfinally find the right place
for it which was at warehouse 4,to accommodate to such a large
number of people coming in.
Ian Carless (08:26):
Yeah, I have to say I remember distinctly the first
time, I think the first eventthat you did in Warehouse 4.
And I remember I don't knowwhether it was yourself that
were booked in the event and Isaw, you know, I saw WrestleFest
, dxb and I thought what onearth is all that about?
And, out of curiosity, camedown that first night and was
absolutely blown away.
(08:46):
I mean, I think any look, Ithink you'll be the first one to
acknowledge since those earlydays, the standard has got much,
much better, et cetera, etcetera.
But I think if you were goingto be distracted, say, by a
little bit of lack of finesse inthat initial event, it was
completely overcome by theaudience.
I think that's what blew me awaymore than anything was just
(09:08):
seeing, and it wasn't a hugecrowd, it was maybe 70, 80
people, like you said, somethinglike that, maybe a few more.
But the energy of the crowd andthe fact that they knew who all
the wrestlers were.
They'd had all the chants, youknow, they knew everybody's,
like nicknames and everything,and you know, and everybody's
going hit the ref, hit the ref,you know, and everybody's going
hit the ref, hit the ref, youknow, and all the other chants
that go with it.
I think that's what blew meaway.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (09:38):
I don't actually have a question on the
back of that, other than to sayI think my expectations were
somewhat, you know, probablydown there, but they were
exceeded beyond anything that Icould imagine.
And every other event I thinkthe fans get to prove to us why
we want to continue.
Yeah, Whether I think the fansget to prove to us why we want
to continue.
Whether we get only 50 orwhether we get 200 people, it's
the energy that keeps us going.
It's their enthusiasm, theirchants, the craziness that they
bring, the rowdiness from bothparents and kids and people who
come in there for their firstdates.
I don't know who does that, butif you're listening to this,
(10:01):
they bring in their first datesover there and then they get to.
You know they're hooked to theevent and they come every other
event and it's just wild to seepeople getting married because
of that.
We've had a couple get marriedand their first date was at
WrestleFest DXV.
Listen.
Ian Carless (10:15):
I think they're onto something there, if you can
go on a first date and survivethat and either one of you is
happy with the other one afterthat then you're onto something
right.
So look, I mean on a seriousnote, I think most events,
whether they're sporting orotherwise, there's usually
obviously an element of financeto it and payoff.
(10:36):
But I imagine in your case thatwould have been extremely
difficult at the beginning andyou were probably relying a lot
on goodwill of others.
Can you talk to us a bit aboutthat, about those, certainly
those early events, because Iknow you know you do have a big
team of wrestlers now and also ateam of people who, just who
come in and help.
Don't they literally put up thestage?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (10:56):
take down the stage, yes, and do all the
jobs behind the scenes for whichyou know, often there are no
thanks, exactly, yeah, so, alsofor those who don't know the way
pro wrestling events are ranlocally and overseas, it's
mainly driven by the focus, thegoodwill, the fire and the
passion of the talent that is onthat show.
(11:17):
Absolutely, you can be the mainevent on the main event and you
could be the one who putstogether the ring that night.
You could be the one who doesthe lights, you could be the one
who does together the ring thatnight you could be the one who
does the lights, you could bethe one who does the tickets at
the door.
It doesn't matter to us,because it's an experience that
gets us humbled and value theorganization, value the reason
why we're here, which is thefans at the end of the day.
(11:38):
So to go back to your pointstarting off with that wasn't
easy because there was anexpectation.
Go back to your point startingoff with that wasn't easy
because there was an expectation.
From moving to the academy tothe warehouse, a lot of people
thought it was an instantupgrade.
They didn't know that there wasgonna be a whole lot of
different tornadoes andsandstorms and everything on the
(12:02):
way for us.
Starting from financing,because it was all self-financed
.
It was us not relying on paybecause we wanted to just
entertain the fans.
It was us doing the photography, the videography, it was us
setting up the ring ourselves,which we do to this day, because
, at the end of the day, wevalue what we do.
We value what we.
(12:23):
We put our bodies on the lineat the end of the day for the
entertainment of the fans.
It's just.
It was a tough pill to swallowto begin with.
The early days was completelyself-financed and, as you know,
something so new, something sofresh, reaching out to sponsors,
to people who don't believe inyour vision.
You get shut down so many times, but it's a matter of going
(12:46):
forward.
Keep going.
That's why I got my day job.
I had the option of quitting soearly on just to run these
events, but I decided that if Ihad kept my day job just to
finance these events, things aregoing to pay off.
Ian Carless (13:01):
It's interesting, is it?
I think that's a perennialproblem of a lot of event
organizers and event promoters.
I think you know Rome wasn'tbuilt in a day.
Nobody starts out with events.
Okay, some do, but if you're ahuge band or something, but most
people don't start out withevents in 10,000 seat of venues
and most events need help alongthe way.
But sadly, I think there's nottoo many, let's just say,
(13:25):
corporate entities that arewilling to share the vision with
you and share the growth.
Many are willing to jump ontosomething that's already
successful, but the largemajority, you know, do not want
to support something from theground up, which is a real shame
and creates, as you say, a realproblem for you guys when
you're trying to get somethingoff the ground.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (13:46):
But it still opened our eyes to how the
events and how business are runin the UAE.
So every time we get shut down,I I don't take no for an answer.
I'm a go-getter.
I ask why?
Tell me why it's fine.
I don't want anything but yourreasoning.
And if it's something as simpleas well, the marketing is not
(14:07):
worth it, the impressions arenot worth it, and I just look
them in the eye and say, okay,I'm going to work on it in the
future.
So in my free time I go backhome, I study, I analyze.
How do I get to reach thatperson's level?
I want my events to hit thesepeople's marketing targets.
What initiatives can I do?
Who can I collaborate with somany different pieces that come
(14:27):
together for me to be able, as apromotion, to hit the sponsor's
marketing targets and marketingobjectives and sponsorship
objectives, which helps you toscale?
At the end of the day, if I'mbeing honest, no, absolutely
yeah.
Ian Carless (14:43):
I mean, how do you approach that then?
Because I think you know I'verun events in the past.
For example, we organized theDubai Motorcycle Film Festival
and I think obviously you knowthese are, in the grand scheme
of things, these aren't 10,000seat events, you know.
So I think there's got to be acertain cognizance there in
terms of what you go in and askfor.
It's no good me going andasking for a million dollars for
(15:04):
an event for which 150 peopleare going to turn up for I mean
it's just not going to happen.
So you do have to have a levelof realism.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (15:11):
Yes, and that that level of realism
really aligns with what we do aspro wrestlers with with
professional wrestling.
The more matches we have underour belts, the more, I would say
.
The more experienced we are,the more knowledge, the more
respected we are by our peers.
So if you put that togetherwith what the sponsors want in
(15:33):
such a small place, we look atit and say you know what, maybe
in that case, since it's not a10,000 theater venue, we can do
12 events in one year.
That way, as a wrestler, I doget in 12 matches, just that
locally in Dubai, and at thesame time I can make the
(15:54):
sponsors happy.
You've got the long-termobjectives, you've got the
long-term vision and got thelong-term vision, and to them it
seems like a one-year campaignwhich really helped us in our
benefit so talk us through atypical event.
Ian Carless (16:08):
I mean, I think you just alluded to it there.
You do.
You do at the moment one mainevent every month.
Yes, um, talk us through that,talk us through the sort of
format of that event.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (16:18):
So when it comes to formatting the events.
Our academy runs five days aweek where most of the people
come in and basically fight foran opportunity.
They showcase their bestperformances.
They work on their in-ringstuff, they work on their cardio
, they work on theirweightlifting, they work on
their characters.
They work on their in-ringstuff.
(16:38):
They work on their cardiocardio.
They work on theirweightlifting, they work on
their characters.
They work on their gear.
There's a lot of differentthings that come into play and
then from that we get tonominate who becomes who gets on
the shows who gets on the card?
yes, who gets on the cardbasically, I know my link and
then and then we align thattogether with, if there's any
interest, from overseaswrestlers who are flooding our
(17:01):
social media profiles.
Everybody gets to see the levelof quality, the content, I
would say, the professionalismand the setup.
Because, ian, if I'm beinghonest, I'm going to show you
our direct competitors fromdifferent parts of the world how
their venues are being set up.
It's not as professional asWarehouse Four, especially with
the lighting, the camera work,the seating.
(17:24):
It's usually done in bingohalls or music venues that are
too big and that basketballcourts.
So we're very lucky to havefound a place or a space like
Warehouse Four so that reallygets in a lot of international
interest and a lot of theinternational names and stars
that you get to see on our showsare people reaching out to want
(17:47):
to be part of this.
I don't reach out to them witha big check saying, hey, I want
you at Warehouse 4.
Ian Carless (17:52):
I was going to ask that.
I mean how does that?
Where does I mean?
Because you would imagine thatmost people think oh great, free
holiday to Dubai.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (17:58):
Because you would imagine that most people
think, oh great, free holiday toDubai Exactly All I have to do
is jump in the ring for 20minutes Exactly, so they're
basically paying their own way.
Most of the time.
Yes, because it's a holiday.
It's a holiday destination andyou've got the name Dubai.
You've got sunshine.
Most of them come in from theUK, where it's cloudy and dark
and gloomy.
(18:18):
So it's a two-in-one it's afree holiday and it's a
20-minute match yeah, how do youmake that work for you then?
Ian Carless (18:24):
obviously, because how, how, how informed is your,
is your audience here.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (18:29):
So a lot of them actually just watch the big
leagues, right?
Okay, which are divided intothree big promotions so you got
wwe and then you've WWE and thenyou've got AW and then you've
got New Japan Pro WrestlingRight.
Anything below that is theindependent circuits Right.
With the independents, there'salso levels.
There's high, there's mediumand there's low.
(18:51):
Yeah, I would put WrestleFestDXB on the high to medium
threshold for sure.
Right, Comparing us to all thehigh level promotions around the
world.
Yeah, it's just crazy howpeople perceive our product.
Ian Carless (19:08):
So, in terms of your own roster, you mentioned
the Academy.
How does that work?
So it's open to anybody thatwants to come in and give it a
go.
And then let's just say, forexample, I'm never going to do
this.
But let's just say, for example, I'm never going to do this.
But let's just say, in some, ina moment of insanity, I decided
I wanted to be a pro wrestler.
Okay, and came through youracademy door and said mo, I want
to be a wrestler.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (19:28):
So starts off with a physical assessment.
We see all that.
We see how tough you are.
We see, uh, cardio your, yourstrength level, your speed, your
agility, and we work on yourweaknesses.
That's how it is.
It's not a do or die situationwhere we have a gun to your head
(19:49):
and say, oh, you're not a prowrestler, just leave the academy
.
Yeah, it's showcasing yourstrengths, it's working on your
weaknesses.
Right, that is our utmost prideat the academy.
If you're someone who can'tmake it, we make sure by the end
of these six months, you'recloser to the goal of making it.
Ian Carless (20:07):
Now, again going back to stereotypes, I am aware
that one of the wrestlers thatyou've got through the door is
probably the least looking likea wrestler, the Filipino girl.
I've forgotten her name off thetop of my head Roxy Roxy.
Probably the least looking likea wrestler, the filipina girl.
I've forgotten her name off thetop of my head roxy, roxy.
There you go, but I mean,there's someone.
If you met in the street andyou said to what do you do for a
living, wrestling wouldn't bethe first thing on the top of
(20:27):
your mind.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (20:28):
So she's the youngest we have on the roster.
She is the only female we havecurrently at the roster who, uh,
is getting a lot of interestfrom female fans at the moment
to want to become pro wrestlers.
A lot of the females inattendance at our events just go
up to Roxy and say "'Can Itrain with you?
"'can I be doing what you'redoing right now'.
(20:50):
And she's doing great at thatright now.
Ian Carless (20:54):
And again just for the benefit of our listeners.
I mean, roxy is what she's fivefoot.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (20:59):
She's five foot five, yeah, weighs what
Like three pounds, 50 kgs, butshe moves like a rocket.
Just see her in the ring.
She's jumping up and down leftand right.
Absolute pleasure to watch inthe ring.
Ian Carless (21:14):
And, as you say, a fantastic role model for girls
out there who, perhaps you know,would look at that and go, oh,
that's not for me.
And then they look at her andgo, oh, hold on a minute.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (21:24):
It is for me yeah, yep, yeah.
So that is one big point thatwe like to focus on on our
events is inspiring the audience.
At the end of the day, nomatter where you come from, what
your background is, what your,size is.
Ian Carless (21:44):
We're welcoming to to have more people on our
roster to showcase that anybodycan be a wrestler right now.
You've been going for quite afew years now, so, in terms of
being able to actually sustainthe events without always having
to dip into your own pocket,how difficult has that been and
are you at at the moment withthat?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (21:59):
So we just celebrated our third anniversary
last weekend, which is insaneto see how time has flown.
But looking at the output, Ijust can't wait to see where
we'll be at the next three years.
So in those three years, a lotof those fans who came in were
people who actually like to helpand fund the business, whether
(22:22):
it's through doing merchandisefor us, whether it's a ticket
organizer.
We've had someone who come in,was a marketing manager at the
Virgin Megastore and said I lovethis event, can you just
showcase your events on ourticketing website?
And that's how things have beenrunning for us events on our
ticketing website, and that'sjust that's how things have been
running for us.
It's insane to see how theseevents bring people and
(22:44):
professionals from differentbackgrounds, from different
workplaces, from differentoffices, from different jobs for
them to come up to us and say Iwanna help, I wanna grow this
place, and so far in these threeyears we've got because of that
.
We got someone from VirginMegastore.
We had our PR.
Pr agent is a fan, right.
(23:05):
We've got our host.
He was a fan.
We've got, uh, people who areselling our merchandise.
They were fans.
We've got people doing ticketsat the door.
They're our fans.
We've got our merchandisesuppliers, our fans, so it's
just crazy to see how it's socommunity focused and it's not
the vision that I had initially,but 10 years later, I'm just
(23:29):
glad that it grew this to acommunity focused event.
At the end of the day, ifthere's no community engagement,
there's no impact, and that'sthe word we're looking for
impact.
Ian Carless (23:40):
Now, in terms of sort of outside help, I know
that you've been given a bit ofa leg up, if you like, from
Dubai Sports Council.
How have they helped your?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (23:49):
journey.
So when it comes to the DubaiSports Council, it's mostly
access to their network oraccess to their logistics.
Nothing financial,unfortunately for us, because
when people look at our productthey see it as a sports product,
but to others it's anentertainment product.
(24:09):
So how do you put the twotogether?
It's not called WWE, Exactlyright.
So it's a sports entertainmentproduct and it was so difficult
at the beginning to explain tothe legislators, to explain to
the council, to the tourismboard, that what we do is, in
essence, it's a sport and it'san entertainment event and we
(24:33):
intend on putting those two andkeeping those two together.
We have kids coming in naggingtheir parents that they wanna
see their favorite wrestlers inattendance.
They don't watch it because ofthe sport, they watch it because
of the entertainment.
And then you have the adultswho come in for both.
So back to my point about thesports council support.
(24:54):
It's providing us with medicalteam to help if, God forbid,
something happens.
They help us out with permits.
They help us out with the minorthings that give us admin
headaches, which I'm so, sograteful for.
Especially with things likethese, they get to suck the
(25:14):
energy out of you, if you knowwhat I mean.
Oh, absolutely it comes to adminwork, paperwork applying and
waiting for a few days, then youknow you have to do it again if
there was a minor error.
So they do help us out a lotand I'm so, so grateful to them
for for for helping us in thataspect yeah, and what about?
Ian Carless (25:32):
I mean, obviously, the big elephant in the room for
me is what about wwe?
What have they noticed?
Are they across the smallerindependent events and
promotions that are going on?
And if so, do they get involved?
I mean, you know, even for me,sitting in your shoes, I would
think, oh, it'd be nice, just toyou know, get mentioned.
(25:53):
I mean, imagine if they gave usa little plug on their
Instagram page.
Do you know what I mean?
I mean, even that could.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (25:59):
Two points.
There is a WWE signed anexclusive contract to run Middle
East shows in Saudi Arabia.
Right, I think that's runningup until 2033, 2034.
Right, all the events runningin the region are exclusive to
that country.
Ian Carless (26:17):
Right.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (26:17):
Which had given us the benefit to run our
shows here locally.
Now that started with a vision,with a lot of roadblocks, but
with our passion and our focuswe were able to push within
these three years to create theproduct.
The Rest of Us DXV product, andfrom gaining international
attention to getting eyes frompeople working in the WWE is for
(26:42):
us, is a seal of approval.
We hadn't gotten any mention onsocials yet or any mention on
any press releases, but I knowpeople who work there who tell
me that they do have an eye onthe area, they do have an eye on
the talent and they just wantus to keep going.
They just want us to be able toengage the fans, to grow our
(27:02):
fan base, to improve our ownskill set, because, you never
know, one day they would want toscout talent from the region or
scout talent from Dubai,because they did host tryouts
five years ago.
You never know when they mightcome back.
Ian Carless (27:20):
It's interesting, isn't it?
Because you know, thinkingabout it now, you would hope,
like many other sports, you know, certainly at the professional
level, there is a trickle downof funds down to the grassroots
of each sport.
I mean, and let's face it, youknow, wrestling is no different
to football, golf, cricket orwhatever.
You've got to have a talentpool coming through.
Yeah, I mean, if they didn'thave the talent pool, they
(27:42):
wouldn't have a product, Exactly.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (27:44):
Okay.
So it's funny that youmentioned that because they had
just launched an initiative thisyear which is called the WWE ID
.
So, as a talent, in anylocation across the globe, you
can get ID'd by WWE.
That gives you credibility,gives the promotion you come
from credibility, it gives theacademy that you come from a
(28:07):
sense of credibility as well,and they announce a new talent
for WWE ID every single month.
We hope for one of us to bechosen just to get that seal of
approval.
Ian Carless (28:18):
So explain to me, how does that work?
So when you say ID, so they'regoing to appear on an undercard
somewhere, or how does that?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (28:25):
work.
So the way WWE works is thatyou've got the main product,
which is on Netflix right now,and then you've got their
developmental, which is NXT, andthen, below that, they've got
the WWE ID.
The WWE ID is basically you getscouted either online or you
could be on a show in the Statesan independent show and there's
(28:46):
a WWE official there and youget WWE ID'd.
So you get acknowledged by theWWE and you can keep going and
doing your own thing, but that'sa seal of approval of them
saying that we're watching youand we hope to get you to our
developmental brand, for you toget ready to be on netflix right
does that make sense?
Ian Carless (29:05):
it does, yeah, absolutely so, from the
grassroots all the way up sobefore we wrap up, a couple
couple more just on on the eventitself.
You've been at a certain levelnow for the last couple of years
.
What is the next level and howdo you get there?
Tv.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (29:24):
We would absolutely love to get a TV spot
, either in Dubai or aninternational TV, because that
is what gets us, as performers,to the next level.
I had just come in from a showin Delhi, india, and I had low
expectations, because I'vetraveled, I've done a lot of
(29:44):
shows overseas and this is likemy 19th or 20th country that
I've performed in.
So to me it felt like anotherday at the office.
And the moment I landed and gotdriven all the way to the venue
, I noticed something different.
There's security check, there'sthis, there's that, there's a
(30:04):
form you need to sign, there'sbarbers on set, there's lights,
there's cameras, there's costumemakers on set, and I thought to
myself what is going on here?
This is next level.
And they said yeah, we'refilming for tv for the next two
months.
That's why you're here for fivedays.
We're going to shoot episodeson the daily, right?
(30:25):
So to me, that was a veryeye-opening experience, not only
as a performer, but also as apromoter would that be for a
netflix or for an amazon or fora local?
for local tv and the reasonbeing is because Der Der WI got
a Netflix deal all across theglobe, so you can see that
there's an opportunity now, inthe slot that Der Der WI was,
(30:46):
for different promotions to beon that spot.
You're talking millions ofviewers, so for anyone who can
step up, that would be the spotfor them and just being in that
environment and soaking in allthe knowledge from the promoters
to the producers, to thetelevision team, to the filming
team.
I, just on the way back todubai on the plane, I was just
(31:09):
thinking it's, it's a capabilitythat dubai has, it's a
capability that we see on boxingevents, that we see on
basketball events and we seethis insane production for these
grassroots sports like boxingand and volleyball and
basketball.
Why can't the same be done forwrestling?
Ian Carless (31:28):
so that is, that is what's next right and then,
before we wrap up, so lookingahead, we're what we're in march
, now are we april, so we Aprilalready.
Yeah, what's in place for therest of the year?
Mohammad Al Shehhi (31:42):
More events, more craziness, more rowdiness,
more big names coming in fromoverseas and definitely a plan
to do bigger venues, sold outvenues and the chance to meet
more fans.
Ian Carless (31:54):
Well, you've definitely been selling out
hours.
You've definitely been sellingout Warehouse 4.
And if people want to find outmore about you, where can they
go?
Mohammad Al Sheh (32:01):
WrestleFestDXB on Instagram, wrestlefestdxbcom
, and if you want to see more ofmy stuff, it's at Shaheen of
the Sky.
Ian Carless (32:08):
Shaheen of the Sky.
There you have it.
Well, shaheen of the Sky, I'vegot one last question to ask you
before we go.
We've been asking everybodythis I'm a music fan, I'm sure
you are too.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (32:26):
You've got your walk in music Number one.
What's your walk in music OfMice and Men?
Ian Carless (32:28):
Of Mice and Men.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (32:28):
And secondly , what's on your playlist right
now?
Right now, yeah, I'd say a lotof the TikTok music's popping on
into my playlist.
Okay, I've really been diggingthe neighborhood recently.
Ian Carless (32:40):
The neighborhood Right.
Okay, Mo wish you the best ofluck for the future.
Mohammad Al Shehhi (32:45):
Thank you so much for having me.
Ian Carless (32:46):
Thanks for joining us on the podcast.
Thank you, event News.
Dxb was presented by myself,ian Carlos, the studio engineer
and editor was Roy DeMonte, theexecutive producer was myself
and Joe Morrison, and thispodcast is a co-production
between Warehouse 4 and W4Podcast Studio Dubai.
And if you haven't done soalready, please do click that
(33:08):
follow or subscribe button.
See you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!