Report: Mustafa Ali Injured, Pulled From WWE Championship Match at Elimination Chamber

Mustafa Ali will miss out on the upcoming WWE Championship match at Elimination Chamber on Sunday, according to a new report from Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp.

Sapp reported on Monday that Ali is currently working through a number of injuries, including an injured tailbone that was aggravated during his time in the Men's Royal Rumble match.

"We're told that an injury was accelerated on Sunday night's live event, and that he's likely not to be cleared for action all week long," Sapp wrote.

Ali originally debuted for the WWE as an alternate in the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic tournament, and was awarded a spot on the 205 Live roster in December 2016. After Enzo Amore was fired from the WWE and stripped of the Cruiserweight Championship, the 205 Live roster saw a change in direction to emphasize in-ring ability, which Ali thrived in. He quickly became a fan favorite during the tournament to crown a new champion in early 2018 thanks to a series of passionate promos he cut for social media, and made it all the way to the finals at WrestleMania 34 against Cedric Alexander. Ali came up short in that match and, though he'd get several more opportunities, never won 205 Live's top prize.

In mid-December Ali made his surprise debut on SmackDown Live in a match against Daniel Bryan. He was confirmed to be a full-time member of the roster a week later.

While he did manage to originally make the Elimination Chamber match along Bryan, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe, Ali hasn't had the best luck lately. On top of his tailbone injury, his eye was nearly swollen shut due to a black eye he suffered in a televised match against Randy Orton. Though to Ali's credit, he took the injury in stride.

"Just trying to catch your eye," Ali jokingly wrote on Twitter while posting the photo.

The WWE's top championship has been in the hands of the "New" Daniel Bryan ever since he turned heel and cheated to beat Styles for the title back in November. He revealed in the following weeks that it was his "Dreams" he developed during his two-year retirement that drove him to take a shortcut to get the title back, but then his beliefs in ecological preservation drove him to resent the fans. In recent weeks he debuted a new version of the WWE Championship, this one made out of hemp with wooden main and side plates.