WWE’s latest batch of talent cuts kicked off with the release of Mustafa Ali. The former leader of RETRIBUTION broke the news himself, sharing on social media that he was no longer with the company. This shocked many as Ali had been scheduled and announced to be challenging then-NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio at NXT No Mercy. Following Ali’s release, NXT put together a No.1 Contender’s Match on its weekly television show to replace Ali, which was won by Trick Williams. Days later at the premium live event, Williams defeated Mysterio to capture the NXT North American Title, commencing his first championship reign within WWE.
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Mustafa Ali’s Cancelled Title Reign
Mustafa Ali’s stroke of bad luck within WWE was still apparent on his last day in the company.
As reported by Fightful Select, Ali was scheduled to defeat Dominik Mysterio and win the NXT North American Championship at NXT No Mercy. That victory would have represented Ali’s first championship win in the company.
This is just the latest instance of WWE axing a big win for Ali. The former cruiserweight was once pencilled in to go the distance in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match at WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 but come up just short, resulting in him riding that momentum to a WWE Title singles match at WWE WrestleMania 35. Ali got hurt just before WWE Elimination Chamber, which led to Kofi Kingston taking his spot in that match. Kingston’s performance garnered a massive amount of support from the WWE fans, leading to him getting the title match at WWE WrestleMania 35 instead of Ali, who was healthy by the time the Showcase of the Immortals came around.
Months later at WWE Money in the Bank 2019, Ali was scheduled to win the men’s briefcase in the titular ladder match until plans were changed for Brock Lesnar, a competitor who was not even in the match, to win the guaranteed title match contract instead. Shortly after that, WWE began planting seeds for a WWE SmackDown hacker gimmick which was scheduled to end up being Ali, but the character was scrapped before it made it to television. Ali eventually was positioned in what could have been a prominent spot as the leader of rogue stable RETRIBUTION, but the faction lost quite literally every single one of their premium live event matches.
