10 times WWE changed a Superstar's nationality

Now, wrestling would be incredibly boring if everyone was the same, that's undeniable. And even more so if everyone's name was their real name.

Also, I get it, sometimes exaggerating someone's height or weight to make them seem more or less imposing is probably a good idea, too, but where do we stop?

Some Superstars get a complete revamp, some end up completely playing a character, whereas others just get one small change. Then spanning from minuscule to gargantuan, there's changing someone's nationality or ethnicity.

We all know Undertaker isn't really from Death Valley (or if you didn't, sorry) and being billed from somewhere that people know rather than a very obscure village is a smart choice, but what about changing where they're from altogether?

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Well, WWE is no stranger to this - and you can argue that it's all part of creating a character, but who are the top ten Superstars who have had their nationality switched in WWE?

We're running down the list for you!

#10 Jinder Mahal (and the Singh Brothers)

Now, this may be one of the worst kept secrets in wrestling, so let's kick it off with Jinder Mahal.

Yes, first-ever Indian WWE Champion (we're not counting Great Khali winning the big gold belt) Jinder Mahal, who hails from that famous Indian city of...Calgary.

Of course, I am being slightly facetious because of course Mahal is of Indian origin - Indian Punjabi Sikh origin to be precise and is the nephew of Gama Singh, but WWE conveniently no-sells Mahal's Canadian roots, making him the big evil foreigner during his WWE Championship reign that coincidentally coincided with a WWE marketing campaign in where else? India!

The Modern-Day Maharaja was also paired up with The Bollywood Boys, who have changed names to The Singh Brothers, and are also from Canada. Billed from Punjab, India, but actually born in British Columbia.

Jinder, Samir and Sunil will go down in history as WWE's first-ever Indian stable, but all three members were born in Canada!

It is a known fact that Punjabi's form a large part of Canada's demography and Jinder might just be the biggest exponent of the same.

#9 Kane

Kane's birth location has been hidden by WWE

Now, Kane may just be the biggest curveball in this list, but he sits at number nine for a reason.

The Big Red Machine turned Mayor of Knox County grew up near Missouri. We know that it's still in the United States, but Kane is actually from Spain!

Glenn Jacobs was born in Torrejon de Ardoz, near Madrid, to a United States Air Force family stationed in Europe at the time of birth. Now, WWE had decided to bill Kane from one of the only places known to be hotter than Spain - stating that the Devil's Favorite Demon came from Hell itself before switching this to Knox County, Tennessee during his mayoral campaign for obvious reasons.

Jacobs has since transitioned out of WWE, last appearing in the 2021 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, but the legendary superstar can easily return to the ring whenever with his mask on and receive a monstrous ovation.

The Big Red Machine may identify as American, and will undoubtedly be American - but we think he deserves a mention here purely because WWE have never mentioned Kane being from Spain on television, and it's a pretty neat fact, too. Save that one for the pub quiz!

#8 Ali

Now, Ali definitely deserves a mention here. WWE's first-ever Pakistani superstar is indeed Pakistani, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

In an interview with our very own Riju Dasgupta, Ali confirmed that he's actually half-Indian, but it's never been mentioned on WWE television due to other Superstars being billed from India.

A lot of people don't know that I'm actually half Indian. In the Cruiserweight Classic, I represented Pakistan, but the full background is that my mom is from New Delhi and my dad is from Karachi, Pakistan and I was born in the States. I also have great ties to India. I've been to India several times as a kid...Bangalore, Delhi.

I feel like a lot of Indian fans don't know about my Indian background, so it's funny online that a lot of fans call me this Pakistani dude. No, I'm Indian too (laughs). And the reason for that is at The Cruiserweight Classic they already had two guys representing India...the Bollywood Boys.So, they didn't want three guys with the same background. I'm Pakistani, Indian and I'm American.

Before reaching WWE, Ali - originally born in Bolingbrook, Illinois - was a police officer in Chicago!

Ali also said he doesn't believe nationality defines him, he just wants to bring everyone together, so it's rather fitting that he can bring together so many people by both his background and his incredible outlook on life.

I don't care for nationality. I care for unity. I don't mean to offend anyone. This is just me stating that I feel nationality doesn't define us as people, it separates us.

Ali represents a new breed of Asian wrestlers that have gotten the rub of the green and are looking to establish a strong foothold in the WWE.

#7 Rusev

Now, this one is a bit of an odd one. Rusev is The Bulgarian Brute, born in Plovdiv, but he "chose" to represent Russia in his early WWE main roster days after being paired with the ravishing Russian, Lana.

In fact, Rusev was first billed from Moscow, Russia, on the main roster of WWE before he was confirmed to merely be representing the country due to his affiliation with Lana - probably a smart choice considering the Bulgarian flag in a map he has tattooed on his right bicep. While the flags are very similar when seen from a distance as a tattoo, but the map of the country is not.

Rusev's Russian persona was predominantly to make him more of a heel because, well, politically, there's no heat between USA and Bulgaria, and WWE wanted to have the "Hero of the Russian Federation" dedicate his victories to Vladimir Putin - yes, really - and there were even some questionable mentions in promos that made mainstream press in the USA.

The Russian character was said to have put some heat on Rusev in his native country of Bulgaria.

Rusev has now parted ways with the WWE and is currently signed to rival brand All Elite Wrestling.

#6 Lana

Now, there was simply nowhere else we could go from Rusev, it had to be Lana.

Lana, real name Catherine Joy Perry, gets a bit more of a raw deal than the previous entrants on this list as she has to forge an entirely false accent to represent Russia. Being an accomplished actress, though, Perry rarely ever slips up on air.

Rusev's real-life wife, Perry, was born in Gainesville, Florida - but has an incredible background that may not have been expected.

Perry is of Portuguese and Venezuelan descent, but spent her formative years in the Latvian SSR and subsequently remained in Latvia after the restoration of its independence. Perry had lived in Latvia until she was 17 years old before moving back to the States.

Perry would also join a girl group called No Means Yes, before working as a backing dancer for P!nk, Usher, Akon and Nelly, then appearing in the Paramore video Ain't It Fun, before appearing in the Pitch Perfect movies among other television and film projects.

While her accent is slightly exaggerated, though, it took a while before the WWE Universe caught on that Lana's voice wasn't all it seemed.

She has played the Russian gimmick to near perfection, earning the adulation of both fans and critics alike.

#5 Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff

So, here's two for the price of one, but there was no way we could leave out Ivan or Nikita Koloff. From the Ravishing Russian to two more Russians who actually had absolutely no affiliation with the country they were billed from at all.

Ivan Koloff was known as The Russian Bear, despite being from Quebec, Canada. Billed from Moscow, Russia, though, he was the perfect heel for his time and once held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship having ended the reign of Bruno Sammartino.

WWE, of course, tried to replicate this by turning another non-Russian into a similar character, and even gave him the same name.

Nikita Koloff never competed in WWE, but he is worth mentioning having been in WCW for lengthy spells. Nikita was the storyline nephew of Ivan Koloff - also hailing from the grand country of Russia, from a small town called... Minneapolis, Minnesota. Koloff's real name was Nelson Scott Simpson, but he would even learn different languages to protect his character, and not many casual fans caught on to the secret. Nikita Koloff was also billed from Lithuania.

#4 Akeem

Now one man who actually switched nationalities in WWE was One Man Gang, whose manager Slick announced that he was actually African in 1988 and planned to re-embrace his roots.

Akeem was, rather insensitively, billed from the Deepest Darkest Parts Of Africa, in a scene where dancers dressed as tribal Africans danced and chanted around a fire.

Akeem, the African Dream would change his voice and accent while dancing as part of a faux African ritual, too, before returning to the persona of One Man Gang in 1991 in WCW.

Needless to say, Akeem's character has not aged particularly well, but it did propel One Man Gang from the lower section of the card for a while following a loss at WrestleMania, and put him right back into storylines with the likes of Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage as opposed to Koko B Ware and Don Muraco.

Akeem, real name George Gray, was actually from Spartanburg, South Carolina, but billed as One Man Gang from Halsted, Chicago - both of which are a long way away from Africa. We can only hope WWE never pulls off this kind of move again, as it would most definitely not go down well with audiences 30 years later.

#3 Yokozuna

Now, you're probably wondering how we've managed to get so far down the list without mentioning Yokozuna, but the secret of the Sumo wrestler's origins was quite a closely guarded secret for a while.

Yokozuna was billed from the Land of the Rising Sun and his name even referred to the highest rank in the Japanese Sumo wrestling. Given some Sumo-style ring attire and a manager in the form of Mr Fuji, and a world without the Internet were at least partly fooled - or at least willing to suspend their belief to watch a true great at work.

Yokozuna was undoubtedly a WWE Legend, and even a former WWE Champion - but one thing he was not was Japanese. In fact, Yokozuna's real name was Rodney Agatupu Anoaʻi.

Yes, of the great Anoai family of Samoa - a little bit outside Japan - meaning he was related to stars of today like Roman Reigns, The Rock, Rikishi, The Usos, Rosey and a string of other superstars, past and present - including his trainer Afa.

WWE has always remained coy about Yokozuna's true origin until Rikishi and The Usos inducted Yokozuna into the WWE Hall of Fame back in 2012.

The sumo wrestler gimmick did suit the large bodied Yokozuna who established himself as one of the top heels of the time. Mr. Fuji's wily antics as his manager that involved throwing salt into his opponent's eyes more than added up to the ethnicity he was portraying.

#2 Kofi Kingston

Now, the case of Koki Kingston is an incredibly interesting one. He came into WWE with a gimmick of being from a different country and actually switched to his real nationality while in WWE!

Kingston, of course, was originally billed as being from Kingston, Jamaica and spoke with a pretty convincing, if slightly exaggerated, Jamaican accent.

The former WWE Champion, though, is actually from Ghana, and made history as the first-ever African-born WWE Champion. There's still yet to be a Jamaican WWE Champion.

Kofi was however billed as the first Jamaican to wrestle for WWE, despite having absolutely no links to the Caribbean country. The character was finally dropped in 2009, speaking on RAW without an accent and being billed from Ghana.

In a recent segment, The New Day even mocked Kofi's accent with their time machine segment - which was then cut out of the YouTube clip. Kingston had joked that 2009 was his best year on the segment.

Kingston, though, has definitely enjoyed his best year in WWE ten years later, winning the WWE Championship in 2019 from Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania and restoring the eco-friendly belt the Yes Man had introduced to the classic design, which he held.

#1 Muhammad Hassan

Now, there was simply no-one else to put at number one. From the sublime Kofi Kingston at number two to perhaps the most controversial character in WWE history - Muhammad Hassan.

Hassan played the role perfectly, but it really didn't go down well with anyone at all due to a spate of terrorist attacks and Hassan's character being a bit too close to the knuckle, referencing the 9/11 terrorist attacks in their promos and speaking about anti-Arab prejudice.

Hassan, though, was born in Syracuse, New York, as Mark Copani - but was given Arab roots by the WWE and no-one would have suspected any different due to some incredible character work.

WWE, though, ditched the character after only one year, after some pretty controversial booking decisions. One saw Hassan "pray" on the ramp, summoning five masked men in black shirts, ski masks and camouflage bottoms, armed with clubs and piano wire - who would attack The Undertaker.

This segment was incredibly controversial!

This happened days before the London bombings and the scene was removed from the Australian and European broadcasts, while the US press would criticize the scene heavily.

Hassan's character would continue to argue that he was being unfairly portrayed as a terrorist and, in character, refer to real-life media coverage of the storyline, even mentioning one journalist by name and quoting his comments.

UPN would then pressure WWE to keep Hassan off of television, and he was since written off of television. Shortly after, Copani was released and subsequently retired, but it has since emerged that he was set to win the World Heavyweight Championship and break Randy Orton's record as the youngest ever world champion.

Hassan will go down as one of the WWE superstars with the worst luck on offer.

Do you remember all of these characters? Do any others spring to mind? Let us know in the comments.

Edited by Amar Anand