Hazem Ali
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| Hazem Ali | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Armando Alejandro Estrada Osama Rodriguez Alejandro |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Born |  Chicago, Illinois |
| Billed from | Cuba |
| Trained by | OVW staff |
| Debut | 2004 |
Hazem Ali is an American professional wrestler and wrestling manager of Palestinian descent, better known by his ring names, Osama Rodriguez Alejandro and Armando Alejandro Estrada. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment and working on the RAW brand.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Ohio Valley Wrestling
Hazem Ali began his World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) career wrestling in their "farm territory", Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), making his OVW TV debut as a bodyguard named Osama in Muhammad Hassan's entourage. When Hassan and Daivari were called up to the main roster, Ali remained in OVW wrestling with an Arab anti-American gimmick, similar to that of the Iron Sheik.
When Paul Heyman began booking OVW he expanded Osama's name to Osama Rodriguez Alejandro, revealing him to actually be half Cuban and half Palestinian (from his father's side). He was shifted from an active wrestler to a backstage interviewer, conducting interviews, along with sidekick Robbie Dawber, for his own (kayfabe) Spanish language version of OVWs TV show. At the same time he began a storyline campaign to be elected "Dictator of Kentucky", often coming to the ring with a placard reading "Bote for Lalo".
[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment
In April 2006 Ali was called up to the main World Wrestling Entertainment roster and placed on the RAW brand. He debuted on the April 3 RAW as Armando Alejandro Estrada, a Cuban businessman, and the heel manager for Umaga (who was also debuting). His debut saw him mocking Ric Flair, saying he was too old to still be in the business, and promising to bring about a new hero (Umaga). Umaga and Flair feuded until the Backlash pay-per-view at the end of the month, where Umaga dispatched Flair.
Following the feud with Flair, Umaga began a period of squashing jobbers which lasted for a number of months, before and after which Estrada would cut promos about his charges greatness. During this time, his way of introducing himself - using long rolling r's - as well as his short "ha ha" laugh began to get him cheered, so he stopped introducing himself before promos.[1]
At August's SummerSlam, Estrada offered the undefeated Umaga's services to The McMahons (Vince and Shane) to "take out" their D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) opponents during their tag team match. However, when Umaga made his way to the ring he was attacked by Kane. Kane and Umaga feuded for two months, with Kane attacking Estrada on at least one occasion. The feud seemingly came to an end when, on the October 9 RAW, Estrada's interference helped Umaga defeat Kane in a Loser Leaves RAW match.
During December, Umaga, and thus Estrada, began a feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship. In the opening stages Estrada inserted himself into matches and confrontations with the two, leading to Vince McMahon's assistant Jonathan Coachman signing a match between Estrada and Cena. Before the match Estrada attempted to buy Cena off (offering him a box of Cohibas, his watch, and finally cash) only to have him refuse. The resulting match was a squash with Cena winning with his signature F-U.
The next February, now usually going by the shortened Armando Estrada, he managed Umaga to his first title, the Intercontinental Championship.
[edit] Wrestlers managed by Estrada
[edit] Trivia
- Estrada had a cameo appearance in the August 4 episode of WWE.com's 28 Segundos web show in a parody of the Whassup? commercials of the early 2000's.
[edit] References
- ^ Vocal Estrada applying old-school managerial moxie to modern WWE. Retrieved on January 25, 2007. “Estrada's initial persona was actually too successful. He was born in Chicago, but delivered his vibrant promos in an over-the-top Cuban accent. They elicited such a positive crowd reaction that it forced WWE to scrap his pre-match routine of introducing himself as Arrrmando Alejandrrro Estrrrada.”
