Hulk Hogan’s “Real American” theme is synonymous with the six-time former WWE Champion’s career. But, as Mustafa Ali revealed on Twitter this week, the theme was almost passed to him. Ali has been mostly used on Main Event tapings for quite some time and earlier this week he admitted that he was looking to find himself. He wrote, “I’ve always found myself toning down who I am to be more ‘marketable’…and because of that I find myself trying to find myself. I’m Pakistani. I’m Indian. I’m American. I’m Muslim. I’m Mustafa Ali. And I’m gonna embrace all that. Screw being marketable. I’m gonna be a message.”
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A fan then commented and said Ali should use “Real American” as his entrance theme since it would prove that anyone can be an American no matter what they look like. Ali then broke the news that the idea was in the works at one point.
It’s unclear if this would’ve been an aspect of the new, politically relevant persona Ali had been working on that never saw the light of day beyond vignettes he eventually aired on his Instagram account. Since Vince McMahon’s departure, Ali has wrestled twice on Raw but lost both times. He publicly requested his release at the start of the year, was denied, then returned to television in late April.ย
“I believe private conversations are meant to be private. The reason it went public is because that private conversation went nowhere,” Ali said on After The Bell in May. “Anyone that truly knows me, I know there is a portion of the audience that was like, ‘how unprofessional.’ Anyone that has ever worked with me, dealt with me as a human, knows how much I love this place, how much I love sports entertainment, how much I love wrestling. This is the only thing I want to do. For me to even get to that point, that’s the issue.”
“Everyone is judging the action, they are not judging the intention behind the action. Imagine how much it would take for me to try and leave. That’s the conversation and the hot topic. There are situations that I can’t publicly discuss, but that’s what I want to say about the whole issue,” Ali said. “The only reason it got to that point is because there was no other option. it’s incredible the things you’ll do when your back is against the wall and you’re fighting for survival. I wouldn’t have done something unless I believe in it. I still stand by the choice I made. I did what I had to do.”
“For those that don’t know, I went on a little sabbatical. Always flip it, try to look at the positive things. It wasn’t intentional, but one huge positive was, my youngest daughter was born in November and I got to be home for the full process. My other two kids, I was there, but not there every day and because I was doing tours. It wasn’t the intention, but I was there for the whole thing,” Ali said.
