LONDON: Middle East wrestling fans have been promised an event to remember when the brash, in-your-face, sport-cum-entertainment show piledrives its way into Abu Dhabi tomorrow and Friday.
That is the message from WWE’s Jason Jordan who is set to do battle with a host of other superstars in the UAE capital. Over two nights some of the biggest names in the organization will be dishing out clotheslines, double-leg takedowns and drop kicks. And Jordan is certain it will not disappoint.
“Everyone better come out to the show because it’s going to be an amazing time,” Jordan told Arab News.
“Bring the family, we have the most entertaining live events that you could ever imagine.
“Guaranteed excitement and everyone is coming to watch me, I am always one of the most talented performers in the WWE and I am here to show how truly talented I am and to follow in the footsteps of my father Kurt Angle.”
The sight of a wrestler not suffering from anything so human as humility and modesty is nothing new — these guys are in-your-face sports-entertainment stars who have one sole aim: To entertain both with their wrestling moves and their gobs — the plot lines surrounding the fights being as important as the actual battles themselves.
Jordan is joined in Abu Dhabi by fellow superstars Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt, Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe, Cesaro and Sheamus, among others. With the highlight of the two-night extrazaganza set to be Roman Reigns taking on WWE royalty in Triple H in a much-anticipated mouthwatering clash on Friday. Jordan seems fairly open about the event being as much about providing “sports entertainment” as it is putting on a sporting spectacle in the traditional sense of the term. However, anyone thinking these guys are not seriously honed athletes had better think again.
Jordan was a three-sport star playing American football, wrestling and baseball at Indiana University, where he also wrestled and became a three-time NCAA national qualifier at the Division I level.
To excel in the WWE Raw ring he needs to be at the peak of physical fitness.
“I work out different body parts each day, I really enjoy back workouts, which could include anything from deadlifts to pull-ups. The back is probably one of my favorite body parts to work out,” he said. “I have been working up to 400 to 500 pounds for sets of three or five deadlifts. I’ll try and do three to five max sets of pull-ups, which is typically starting on at 15 then by my fifth set is usually around 10.”
That’s just a slight taste of the arduous daily routine Jordan puts himself through in order to put on a show for WWE fans. As you would expect he has the serious diet to match.
“The perfect day is waking up eating an omelette with four eggs and a bit of ham and cheese. Add in a bit of fruit there maybe some oatmeal. Then after that maybe around an hour or so after I like to hit the gym and have a protein shake after the gym.
“A couple of hours after that I’ll have lunch, chicken or salmon depending on what is easier for me to prepare at the time, but usually I like to have some vegetables and rice.
“At night I’ll definitely go for a nice juicy steak, maybe some potatoes or something along those lines. I usually try to stay healthy so try to get my vegetables in there and anytime in between would be shakes.”
So having got himself into great shape to take on the likes of Elias, who he is set to do battle with tomorrow, how does Jordan mentally prepare to get in the ring with the eyes of the world on him?
“I just try to get myself in the right mindset going into battle,” he revealed. I’ve competed my whole life with the amateur wrestling but also with the other sports such as baseball and football. It’s a sense of calm before the storm. I don’t have any pre-fight rituals anymore. Usually I just listen to a bit of music, depending on the day and what mood I am feeling. So I try to get my mindset right and go out and perform at the best of my ability.”
WWE’s Jason Jordan ready to rumble in UAE capital
WWE’s Jason Jordan ready to rumble in UAE capital
Juventus ‘not for sale’ say Agnellis, rejecting crypto giant Tether’s bid
- Tether bid values Turin club at €1.1 billion
- Buying Juventus could burnish crypto firm’s image in Europe
- Juve struggling amid financial and sporting challenges
- Juventus ‘not for sale’ say Agnellis, rejecting crypto giant Tether’s bid
MILAN: Italy’s Agnelli family has no intention of selling Juventus to crypto group Tether or anyone else, the CEO of their holding company said on Saturday, rejecting Tether’s shock offer for Italy’s most successful football club.
“Juventus, our history and our values are not for sale,” said Exor CEO John Elkann, who wore a team hoodie in a rare video address posted on the Turin-based Serie A club’s website.
Tether, headquartered in El Salvador and run by Italian Paolo Ardoino, a Juventus supporter, said on Friday it had submitted an all-cash proposal to buy Exor’s stake in the club.
Tether said it would make a public tender offer for the remaining Juventus shares at the same price and it planned to invest one billion euros to support the club known in Italy as Juve if the deal goes ahead.
The crypto company is offering Exor €2.66 per share, a source familiar with the matter said, valuing Juventus at just over one billion euros ($1.17 billion) and offering a 21 percent premium over Juventus’ closing share price of €2.19.
Amsterdam-listed Exor said in a statement its board had unanimously rejected the offer and had “no intention of selling any of its shares in Juventus to a third party.”
Juventus has not made an annual net profit for almost a decade, and its shares are down 27 percent so far this year.
Tether stablecoin pegged to dollar
Tether, the issuer of a US dollar-referenced stablecoin dubbed USDT, has already built a stake of more than 10 percent in Juventus this year, becoming its second-largest shareholder.
By acquiring a European soccer club, Tether — whose business faces mounting EU regulatory scrutiny — could hope to gain credibility with the continent’s establishment, while boosting its wider popularity.
Tether said it is proposing to buy Exor’s 65.4 percent of the total Juventus share capital, without officially disclosing a price.
Exor, the largest shareholder in automaker Stellantis and which controls sports car-maker Ferrari , has been streamlining its Italian portfolio.
This year it agreed the sale of truck maker Iveco to India’s Tata Motors, and said on Monday it was in talks with Greek media group Antenna to sell its news operations, including two major newspapers and three popular radio stations.
A sale of Juventus would likely be seen as the clearest sign yet of the family’s gradual disengagement from their home country. The family’s ties with the club date back to 1923 when Edoardo Agnelli became chair, and Elkann said in November that the family had no intention of selling shares.
Investors, led by Exor, have poured around a billion euros of fresh cash into Juventus in the past seven years.
Juventus has sruggles in last five years
Juventus has won the Italian championship 36 times, more than any other team, but has struggled since a ninth consecutive title in 2020. It currently sits in seventh place in Serie A.
Once home to stars such as Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero and Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus has helped the Agnellis build consensus and popularity in Italy.
Its support has weathered match-fixing and financial scandals, the most recent in 2023, when a false accounting case linked to player trading led to a 10-point deduction in Serie A.
Juventus was also a driving force behind the failed attempt to launch a breakaway European Super League with a dozen other top clubs in 2021, challenging the authority of European soccer’s governing body UEFA.
Like other leading Serie A teams, it has had a hard time remaining competitive financially amid the growing dominance of England’s Premier League and European powerhouses such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
Tether’s USDT accounts for more than half the market of stablecoins pegged to the dollar, the Bank of Italy says.
It had a market capitalization of around $186 billion as of Friday. The token is backed by US Treasuries and dollars, and Tether is one of the 20 largest holders of US government debt.
Stablecoins are digital tokens that aim to maintain a stable value through a one-to-one peg to a traditional currency. They are backed by reserves, government bonds or deposits.
