Wrestler celebrates Dick Cheney's death on day of Zohran Mamdani's election with twisted social media post

AEW wrestler Mansoor has sparked outrage by celebrating the death of Dick Cheney on the day that Zohran Mamdani won the race to become mayor of New York.

Mansoor, who was born in Saudi Arabia before moving to California at the age of 11, posted on X on Tuesday night: 'DICK CHENEY IS DEAD AND A MUSLIM IS MAYOR OF NYC WE UP.'

It sparked a divided response from many of his fans and followers, with many criticizing him for celebrating former vice-president Cheney's death at the age of 84.

'Not cool. I didn't like his policies either, but that's not cool,' one fan wrote. Another said: 'Was the Dick Cheney part really necessary? What the actual hell.'

A different fan said: 'This tweet isn’t playing out the way you think it will… It’s not gonna end well… a Muslim as the mayor of New York City? Cool… celebrating the death of a former vice president of the United States of America?.. Not a good look for the company (AEW) you work for man.'

Mansoor, 31, became the first Saudi-Arabian born wrestler to comepte in WWE and worked alongside the organization from 2018 until 2023. He has been with AEW since 2024.

Standing alongside Mansoor in the picture is the TNA wrestler Mustafa Ali, who has not shared the post on his own social media. 

Cheney's death was announced on Tuesday, with his family saying he passed away due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.

Cheney served alongside Republican President George W. Bush for two terms between 2001 and 2009, and previously held a number of high ranking positions in the Republican party.

He was the chief architect of the 'war on terror' and was in office on the morning of 9/11. He has been described as one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in modern US history.

Mansoor, meanwhile, has spoken previously on growing up in the United States during his teenage years and struggling to feel like he belonged.

He told Esquire in 2019: 'My mother is American, but there were times growing up that I was treated like I was too Saudi to be American, but also too American too be Saudi. 

'Identity-wise, it’s something that I’ve always had to juggle with, but in terms of wrestling it was a huge advantage as they have wrestling schools all across the US so I was able to learn from a young age.'

Mansoor's representatives, and AEW, have been contacted for comment about his post. 

The 34-year-old Mamdani, a democratic socialist, sent shockwaves across the United States on Tuesday when he beat former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

'New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,' he said in his victory speech.