The opening night of the WWE’s tour of Abu Dhabi at Zayed Sports City saw victories for John Cena, Dean Ambrose and Ryback, while Rusev retained the United States championship and Bad News Barrett remained Intercontinental champion thanks to some nefarious tactics. Here are the results.
Dean Ambrose defeated Luke Harper by pinfall
A lively opener in which Harper continued to subdue the popular Ambrose with strong forearms and clotheslines throughout the early exchanges. Ambrose rallied and won with Dirty Deeds to pin Harper at around the 10-minute mark.
Jack Swagger defeated Tyson Kidd won by submission
What had started as a dance off competition, voted upon by the fans, became a match after Kidd attacked Swagger from behind. Swagger won with the ankle lock submission after reversing a roll up attempt.
Bo Dallas defeated Curtis Axel by pinfall
Dallas played the good guy here, as Axel antagonised the crowd with his moans about not being eliminated from the Royal Rumble pay per view last month. His mood did not improve as Dallas picked up a quick win with a roll up after Axel had rebounded off the turnbuckle.
Ryback defeated Curtis Axel by pinfall
Axel complained heavily post-match about his loss to Dallas, and issued an open challenge in an attempt to regain his dignity. Unfortunately for him, but to the delight of the crowd, out came Ryback to answer the challenge. Ryback won quickly inside 60 seconds, finishing off Axel with his finisher Shell Shock.
Dolph Ziggler won by disqualification against Bad News Barrett in an Intercontinental title bout
An end-to-end match, in which both men had convincing nearfalls, ended in Barrett getting himself disqualified as he struck Ziggler in the head with the Intercontinental title belt. Though the result ensured Barrett retained his title as the championship cannot change hands on a disqualification, Ziggler had the last laugh when he ducked Barrett’s attempt to hit him for a second time with the belt, and hit the Englishman with his Zig Zag finisher.
Rusev defeated Erick Rowan by submission to retain his United States title
A flat start to the second half of the event as Rusev dominated a low-key bout with Rowan, after promising he would defeat John Cena at Fastlane, the WWE pay per view event taking place on February 22, prior to the start. He retained the US title by submission after putting Rowan in the Accolade submission hold.
Kofi Kingston and Big E defeated Goldust and Stardust by pinfall
The New Day pairing of Kingston and Big E, with Xavier Woods at ringside, proved popular with the fans as they chanted and clapped along with them. The finish came when Stardust came off the top rope with a kick, but hit his brother and tag team partner Goldust instead, and the New Day capitalised with Kingston scoring the pinfall on Stardust. Post-match Stardust angrily pushed Goldust away as his brother attempted to help him to his feet.
John Cena defeated Seth Rollins in an Abu Dhabi Street Fight
Cena got the reaction of the night as the local fans went wild for his first appearance in the UAE in three years. Rollins had the early advantage after attacking Cena's injured eye. Both men used chairs on each other in the early stages, and Rollins went through a table propped up against the turnbuckles. Rollins would kick out of Cena's Attitude Adjustment and Cena in turn kicked out after receiving a Curb Stomp as there was a number of false finishes. The finish came when Cena gave Rollins a second Attitude Adjustment from the top rope through a table to delight his vocal supporters.
There are two more shows scheduled in Abu Dhabi. Friday’s show is scheduled to be main evented by a tag team match as John Cena and Dean Ambrose go up against Rusev and Luke Harper.
On Saturday, Cena will look to win the Intercontinental title for the first time in his career when he faces champion Bad News Barrett.
Tickets are still available for the two shows and can be bought at www.ticketmaster.ae.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
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What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
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- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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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