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Is Sami Zayn Unbanned From Saudi Arabia? Visits Mecca Ahead Of Match
Sami Zayn is also competing at Night of Champions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Sami Zayn has entered the boundaries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the second time since he joined WWE as a full-time professional wrestler.
Currently, he is in Saudi Arabia as part of WWE’s upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view Night of Champions, which will take place in Jeddah’s Jeddah Superdome on Saturday, May 27, 2023.
At the PPV, Zayn and his tag team partner Kevin Owens will defend their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships against The Bloodline’s Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and his tag team partner Solo Sikoa.
But ahead of his much-anticipated match, Zayn took the opportunity to utilize his second-ever visit to Saudi Arabia and visit Mecca, considered the holiest city in Islam and the “fountainhead and cradle of Islam.”
And as Zayn himself is a Muslim, it was one of the greatest moments of his life to cross a name off his bucket list. On Friday, May 26, 2023, he took to his social media handles – Instagram and Twitter – and shared pictures of himself at the location.
The first picture showed him wearing a white outfit as he touched The Kaaba – a stone building at the center of Masjid al-Haram, the important mosque and holiest site of Islam. The Kaaba is also spelled Ka’ba or Kabah, referred to as al-Ka’ba al-Musharrafa.
Similarly, the second picture showed him standing in front of The Kaaba, inside Masjid al-Haram, also called the Great Mosque of Mecca or the Grand Mosque.
In the caption, Zayn wrote, “Being a pro wrestler and being with WWE has taken me to places I never dreamed I’d get to see and do things I never thought I’d get to do. It has provided me a life filled with incredible experiences that I will cherish forever.”
Sami Zayn standing in front of The Kaaba inside Masjid al-Haram (Photo: Instagram)
At the end of his caption, he mentioned that being able to visit Masjid al-Haram and touching The Kaaba was the top thing on his list. He then wrote, “الحمدلله,” which translates to “Thank God.”
Is Sami Zayn unbanned in Saudi Arabia?
As mentioned above, this is Zayn’s second-ever visit to Saudi Arabia, with the first one being in 2014 as a part of WWE’s three-night house show tour in Riyadh. After that, many more shows and PPVs took place in Saudi Arabia, but Zayn wasn’t a part of them.
So, what happened? Was Zayn banned from competing in live shows and PPVs in Saudi Arabia? Well, banned isn’t the exact word that is fit to use in this context, as it’s more of a voluntary choice that Zayn made.
Zayn is a Canadian national, but his parents were Syrian immigrants who left their home country in the 1970s and settled in Canada. And the diplomatic relations between Syria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia haven’t been on a positive note since 2011, until now.
Sami Zayn donning the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships (Photo: Instagram)
Syria and Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties in November 2011 after Saudi Arabia’s backing of non-government forces during the Syrian Civil War. And while both nations are Sunni Muslim-majority countries, they didn’t see eye-to-eye.
As for Zayn’s refraining from Saudi Arabia-based WWE Shows and PPVs, Ryan Satin reported in 2018 that Zayn was pulled out from competing in The Greatest Royal Rumble as WWE didn’t want to disrespect the local culture in Saudi Arabia.
One year later, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that the Saudi Arabian government had banned WWE from using Zayn at Super ShowDown due to Zayn’s Syrian ethnicity.
That being said, Zayn will now compete in WWE’s Night of Champions. So, what changed now? The answer is the diplomatic relationship between Syria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which became good, i.e., they resumed diplomatic ties on May 9, 2023.
Due to that, it became clear that Saudi Arabia had no problem letting Zayn compete in Saudi Arabia-based WWE PPVs, and Zayn was also willing to wrestle once again in Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, Zayn’s longtime best friend, Kevin Owens, will also compete for the first time in Saudi Arabia as Owens had also backed out from contesting in Saudi Arabia-based WWE PPVs as a show of support for Zayn.
News
Caity Lotz Is Pregnant, Expecting First Baby with Husband Kyle Schmid
Congrats to the married couple!
Congratulations are in order for Caity Lotz and her husband, Kyle Schmid, as they are expecting their first baby together.
Rumors of Lotz’s pregnancy were first initiated after her Instagram post on April 11, 2024. She posted a few pictures of herself with her friend, in which she was donning a red bikini at a beach and seemingly hiding her baby bump.
The pregnancy rumors were eventually met with a positive response. On Saturday, April 20, Lotz and Schmid took to their respective Instagram handles to reveal that they were pregnant with their first child. The married couple had shared four identical pictures.
In one picture, Schmid can be seen holding his wife’s growing baby bump as she sits on his lap. In another, the married duo is holding each other’s stomachs. Similarly, they posted a sonogram photo as the fourth picture of their respective Instagram posts.
Lotz captioned her pregnancy announcement, writing, “Gaining weight for the role of a lifetime.” On the other hand, Schmid wrote a bit lengthy caption, starting with, “Never would have thought the woman of my dreams could have become anymore beautiful.”
“Your glow, your shine, you’re going to be the best mom in the world. I can’t wait to be a proud poppa. What a whirlwind of a year!” he concluded his heartfelt caption along with four hashtags: “mommabear,” “poppabear,” “bigpoppa,” and “highfive.”
Following their pregnancy announcement, Lotz’s Arrowverse co-stars – including Candice Patton, Katherine McNamara, Javicia Leslie, Danielle Panabaker, and more – along with many fans filled the comment section with congratulatory messages.
For instance, actress Olivia Swann wrote, “AHHHHHHH congratulations Caity!! Sending huge love to you and Kyle, incredible news,” with actress Jes Macallan commenting, “So beautiful! Can’t wait to love on this baby. Can our littles go to summer camp together when they get older?!”
A couple of days later, on Wednesday, April 24, Lotz took to her Instagram handle to share another picture of herself flaunting her ever-growing baby bump. Along with the photo, she wrote, “Now that I’m (hopefully) past all the nausea and extreme fatigue, I’m loving being pregnant!”
A pregnant Caity Lotz flaunting her baby bump at Yosemite National Park (Photo: Instagram)
As mentioned earlier, this is Lotz and Schmid’s first baby. The now-married couple first met each other through a mutual friend. Their first date was a “quick coffee double date,” which they had with their mutual friend and her husband on February 21, 2021.
Lotz and Schmid eventually began dating, and their bond grew stronger as time passed. A little over a year after they started dating, Schmid decided to take his relationship with his then-girlfriend to the next level and proposed to her in May 2022.
On May 7, 2022, Schmid shared some moments from their engagement via Instagram, expressing his love for his then-fiancee. “The sun rises and sets with you. The moon and the stars have never shone so brightly. You are the love of my life,” he captioned.
Likewise, days before the then-engaged duo celebrated their second dating anniversary, they walked down the aisle and shared their wedding vows. Lotz and Schmid married in an intimate ceremony on February 11, 2023.
Speaking a little about their wedding, it was a destination wedding in Cartagena, Colombia, where only close friends and family members were in attendance. The Flash alum later informed her fans about their marriage on Valentine’s Day of 2023.
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Lauren Luyendyk Wants 1 More Baby with Arie Luyendyk, Told Husband to Reverse Vasectomy
“Just wait a little.”
Lauren Burnham Luyendyk, also known as Lauren Luyendyk, has spoken her mind on whether she wants to have more children with her husband, Arie Luyendyk Jr., aka Arie Luyendyk.
The answer is that she wants to have one more baby with her partner. Besides, she even told her husband to get her vasectomy reversed. These revelations came during Lauren’s recent Q&A session, which she held over her Instagram handle.
On Monday, April 22, 2024, Lauren hosted an Instagram Q&A session where one of her followers asked her if she felt her family was complete. The Bachelor alum and her husband are currently the proud and blessed parents of three children.
In reply to the fan’s question, Lauren stressed that the question was a hard one as she recently even told her husband to reverse his vasectomy. However, the parents of three sometimes have a hard time with their kids.
She wrote, “This is such a hard question for me… I told Arie to get a vasectomy reversal the other day, but then we have super hard days sometimes with the kids, and then I sort of question it. I don’t know. I think I might want one more, but just wait a little.”
Lauren’s answer left many of her followers to believe that the reality TV star and her longtime husband might welcome one more baby in the near future. However, it is currently unknown when the married couple will welcome the new addition to their family.
Moreover, Lauren’s husband, Arie, also has to reverse his vasectomy before they plan on having more kids. In this regard, Arie had a few things to say during his recent Q&A session on Instagram in late March 2024.
Firstly, when one Instagram user asked The Bachelor alum if his life at the moment was how he envisioned his future when he started his journey as the Bachelor, Arie replied that he never thought he would be this lucky.
Lauren Luyendyk with her husband, Arie Luyendyk, and their three children (Photo: Instagram)
His reply read, “I never thought in a million years I would be this lucky. Honestly, this is better than the future I had carved out in my mind. Lauren is everything and has also given me so much more to love with our three kids. I am forever grateful.”
Right after answering that fan question, he answered another fan question regarding his vasectomy and if he would ever consider reversing the procedure. He tagged his wife’s Instagram handle and wrote, “Whatcha think Lauren?!”
Coming over to Lauren and Arie’s relationship, she has been married to her husband since January 12, 2019. They met on The Bachelor season 22 and engaged on the show itself. Shortly after their wedding, on May 29, 2019, they welcomed their first child, daughter Alessi.
In 2020, Lauren suffered a miscarriage; however, later, in December 2020, the married duo announced they were expecting their second child. Later, it was revealed that they were expecting twins. On June 12, 2021, they welcomed daughter Senna and son Lux.
Some months after the arrival of their twin children, Luyendyk and his wife jointly decided that Luyendyk would have a vasectomy. On February 1, 2022, the reality TV star uploaded a YouTube video revealing he got a vasectomy.
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Tara Yummy Apology Resurfaces amid Old Tweet Condoning Sexual Assault
“It was insensitive and stupid.”
Tara Yummy, also known online as Ms. Yummy and TaraYummy, has recently become one of the rising internet personalities. This has resulted in people digging deep to learn more about her.
When that was happening, netizens stumbled upon her old tweet where she seemingly condoned sexual assault, r–e to be exact. The old tweet was made on June 24, 2013, and seemed to be a Tumblr post, whose screenshot was later posted on Twitter.
Yummy’s old tweet first showed a Tumblr post from a user named The Person Below, and their post read, “The person below is thirsty as [explicit].” Likewise, Yummy’s post was below that, and it read, “It’s not r–e if you like it.”
The screenshot of the TikTok star’s old tweet was shared on Monday, April 22, 2024, by the Instagram handle of THETEATALK. When the post was shared, it garnered a mixed reaction from the netizens, with many criticizing her words.
For instance, one netizen commented, “Nahh, at 12/13, I still wasn’t thinking this that’s crazy.” Another added, “So glad my parents kept me away from social media; at 13, I felt uncomfortable when someone even mentioned the word, makes me think she posted it for validation.”
On the other hand, some Instagram users defended Yummy, stating that she wasn’t even a teenager when she made that post and that she might not have understood what she meant. For instance, one Instagram user wrote, “She was not even a teenager.”
“Y’all are so chronically online to be canceling someone who was 12 years old saying this,” another user commented, with another adding, “She tweeted this in a time period where things like this were often said/used. People will just find anything to try to ‘cancel’ someone.”
When Yummy’s old tweet resurfaced, netizens also found the influencer’s apology regarding her past actions. On the same day that THETEATALK shared Yummy’s old tweet, they also posted her apology, which she made on July 23, 2020.
In her apology, Yummy wrote, “Hi guys! Just quickly addressing a tweet from 2013. I was 12, but I’m fully aware that it was insensitive and stupid! I was way too invested in the internet, and it was a post on tumblr that I absolutely did NOT even understand the meaning behind.”
The internet star continued in another thread, “I don’t condone any sort of sexual assault in ANY manner and I’m so sorry and apologize to anyone who saw this tweet and was offended by it.”
“I take complete responsibility and never want to use my platform for anything other than connecting with you guys and being a positive influence,” Yummy concluded her statement.
Tara Yummy’s apology post that she made in July 2020 (Photo: Instagram)
When THETEATALK posted Yummy’s apology, the post also garnered mixed reactions from the netizens. While many were still defending Yummy and stating she wasn’t a teenager, some were still keen on criticizing her actions.
“When I was 12 I knew better, so she has no excuse,” “How do you not know what that means at 12 tho?” and “People who still bring up things that people have said from 9+ years ago really need to get a life” were some of the fan comments under the post.
As of this writing, Yummy hasn’t talked about her old tweet, for which she already apologized, resurfacing once again all over the internet. It might be possible that she wouldn’t respond this time around as she already did in 2020.
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