DUBAI // From the waist up, the Abu Dhabi-based schoolteacher might have been mistaken for an exiled Brexiteer with a message to convey. “Keep calm and tap out,” read the message on his blue singlet.
Then factor in the rest of his get up. Blue Lycra shorts, knee-high boots, elbow pads. He has entry music borrowed from Oasis, and the stage presence of a pantomime Dwayne Johnson.
At 1.92m and 114 kgs, Rich ’N’ Famous towered above his opponent, a 22-year-old Emirati with the stage name Cryptid, whose lizard-like signature moves reference the real-life hooded dragon he keeps as a pet, and has at ringside during matches.
Welcome to the surreal world of Dubai Pro Wrestling.
“There is no other feeling like it,” Rich ’N’ Famous said. “Hitting the canvas hurts like hell. In rugby, you might go down but it balances itself out.
“The ring takes out the damage, but it still stings. But anyone who wants to do it should do it. It is like nothing else you will ever do.”
He could not have a much more different alter ego. As a teacher at Yasmina School in the capital, Richard Whitehouse, 33, is responsible for shaping the minds of the next generation.
His Friday nights, by contrast, are pure escapism. He spends them delivering piledrivers and suplexes on fellow members of the UAE’s pro wrestling community, while whipping whatever crowd might assemble beside the ring into a fervour.
And the squared circle does attract plenty of passing traffic at Dubai Sports World. Placed between a badminton court and a cricket net, next to a seven-a-side football pitch in a makeshift sports hall in Dubai World Trade Centre, it is a source of intrigue for the neighbours.
This is some way short of WrestleMania, and the participants are a little less recognisable than John Cena or The Rock.
It is wrestling’s “pro” version, rather than the competitive Olympic sport, which tends to be more about the show than competitive distinction.
Pro does not infer payment. The wrestlers do not earn a fee, as yet. In fact, they are only sustaining it as it is their passion, but there are plans to increase its presence.
“It is really big in Mexico, US and Japan, and it has the potential to be here, too,” said Caleb Hall, Dubai Pro Wrestling’s founder and “hero trainer”.
“There are loads of people here that watch wrestling every week. Everyone knows John Cena, Roman Reigns, The Rock, and these guys. But kids in Egypt or Jordan or Lebanon don’t have wrestlers they can watch every week and say, ‘That’s my guy’.
“When we get our TV show and we are playing in Lebanon, India, Egypt, Pakistan, we’ll have wrestlers from all those places. So kids will be able to say, ‘That’s Raj, he’s my favourite wrestler, I want to be just like him’.”
Having Rich ’N’ Famous on board since his arrival last September will certainly help. He has performed in front of audiences thousands of times in the past, during a 14-year career which started when he was 19.
Whitehouse is happy to be a role model in UAE wrestling, as well as his day job.
“I’ve been involved in so many things back at home where they have promised a lot but delivered very little,” he said.
“With this, there is a real plan moving forward and it is exciting to be a part of.”
He can even share some tips on tailors. His costumes are made by a seamstress in the UK, while a teaching colleague in Abu Dhabi who is a textiles expert has also offered to help out the wrestlers.
“It helps improve the image,” said Whitehouse, who also played rugby to county level in the UK as a tight-head prop.
“It is one thing that helps me stand out – I have got my kit. The other lads have got bits and pieces, but they are still building their image. I’m happy to help them out.”
On Friday nights from 10pm, the collection of wrestlers compete in bouts. At the end of the summer, a Dubai Pro Wrestling World League Championship winner will be crowned.
Rich ’N’ Famous is one win better off after beating Cryptid this weekend, but the vanquished Emirati said he is still living out his ambition.
“It is my dream to wrestle,” said Cryptid, real name Hammad Mohammed, who works in the aviation industry.
“When I was a kid, every morning I would wrestle my pillow. I’d watch wrestling, then wrestle my pillow.
“One day I went to my gym. I heard some screams, I heard a ring rattling. I saw them wrestling and I went to the coach and told him I was joining their next class.
“It felt like one of my dreams becoming a reality and I didn’t want to let this opportunity pass.
“It feels amazing when the people cheer. If we can hear their emotions, it makes us want to do our best for them and put on a show for them. It is all about the people. If they enjoy it, we enjoy our wrestling.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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