Eighteen countries represented at WWE tryout in Dubai

WWE continues its worldwide talent recruitment efforts this week in Dubai, hosting 34 athletes from 18 countries for a historic four-day tryout.

This week’s camp, the most diverse in WWE history, is taking place at the Dubai Opera House and features 27 men and seven women. Prospects’ backgrounds range from martial arts, collegiate wrestling and boxing, to strong man competitions, bodybuilding and CrossFit. The United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Brazil, Ukraine, Greece, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom all have candidates at the tryout.

The decision to hold a tryout in Dubai, one of the world’s most internationally diverse cities, was driven, in part, by WWE’s massive following in the region.

“WWE recognizes the size and passion of our audience around the Middle East and India,” said Canyon Ceman, WWE’s Vice President of Talent Development. “WWE has over 40 million Facebook followers in the Middle East and North Africa, with 18 million in Egypt alone. We are committed to hiring the best and most charismatic athletes from around the region to super-serve this large and growing fan base with local future WWE Superstars.”

Among the prospects trying out this week are:

• Rinku Singh, of New Delhi, India, a baseball pitcher who won India’s 2008 reality TV show, “The Million Dollar Arm.” Currently a free agent, Singh was previously signed to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he is the subject of the Disney movie “Million Dollar Arm.”
   
• Six-foot-11 Gurvinder Singh, 7-foot Sukwinder Grewal and women’s wrestler Kavita Devi, trainees of The Great Khali’s Punjab-based wrestling school who also compete in the Continental Wrestling Entertainment organization.
   
• Saurav Gurjar, a 6-foot-8, 298-pound wrestler and actor from Mumbai, India, who played the role of “Bheem” in the Hindi-language mythological TV drama “Mahabharat.”
   
• Bashir Malla, a 245-pound MMA fighter from Dubai who has also competed in American football and amateur bodybuilding.
   
• Kateryna Kashtanova, an Ukranian black belt in judo who currently resides in Dubai.

Additionally, several competitors from the nearby Dubai Pro Wrestling organization are in attendance.

Stay with WWE.com for continuing coverage of this historic tryout.