Photo Credit- WWE, Mandatory
Mustafa Ali is one of those wrestlers that stands out within an industry full of great talent and since his indie days up to his initial run with WWE he has demonstrated how he can adapt to his surroundings in order to grow.
Ali started his run in WWE during the Cruiserweight Classic where he gave his all with matches against Lince Dorado and shortly after debuted alongside other cruiserweights for 205 live.
Not many people paid attention to 205 live as it quickly became an afterthought yet Mustafa Ali made the most of his time there and his match against Buddy Murphy is just one of many examples that proves how talented he is.
We must acknowledge Ali’s run within 205 live as that eventually led to him moving to the main roster, thus the start of various misfortunes and mistakes that hindered his overall run with WWE.
Ali’s debut on the main roster was against none other than Daniel Bryan on an episode of SmackDown (this was because Bryan was having his run as a heel and wanted to use the opportunity to make new babyfaces stars) and it proved that he could keep up with the hardships of working in front of large groups of people.
Mustafa would then go to have great matches against AJ Styles and Andrade but things quickly would change for him. It is known that Mustafa was destined to beat Bryan and he would become the new WWE champion at the time but a misfortune occurred when he got injured in a match against Randy Orton, this put a stop to his run at the time and opened the door for what was “KofiMania”.
After returning from his injury things just weren’t the same for him as he was utilized within short-lived angles such as him being a hacker and taking part in bad angles such as the infamous “Retribution”.
Retribution could have been utilized so much better, the talent involved was great and it is just sad to see how bad they were booked. Mustafa Ali tried his best to make the group seem like a big deal than what it was but the damage had been done as soon as they debuted.
Shortly after the group disbanded Ali was part of a short-lived tag-team with Mansoor, this was a nice run for both of them as it was a fun angle between a babyface and a heel but it did not last long as the story was intended to end with a match between the two and it occurred at Crown Jewel where Mansoor defeated Ali in a good match.
After Ali’s feud with Mansoor ended pretty much nothing important happened in terms of his run on WWE’s main roster, he was on a “limbo” of sorts and his last match up to date was against Drew Mcintire.
Mustafa Ali could have had an amazing run if it wasn’t for the way he was booked (and the injuries that he sustained along the way), he had and still has all the qualifications to be a star as he has proven again and again.
Recently, Ali requested his release from WWE only for it to be denied. My hope is that WWE has something for him worth not being granted his release and that we as fans get to see him doing what he loves again without being halted.
