Mustafa Ali was the first of many wrestlers to announce he had been released by the WWE on Thursday morning. Ali famously requested his release from the company back in January 2022, only to have his request denied. According to Sean Ross Sapp via Fightful Select, Ali’s contract was still to run well into 2024. He had recently made the jump to the NXT brand and was actively pursuing the NXT North American Championship, earning a shot at Dominik Mysterio’s title at the upcoming No Mercy pay-per-view. However, that match has since been scrapped. And according to Sapp, NXT wasn’t expecting the sudden change.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“We’re told that as things stood, his WWE deal was up in the Spring/Summer of 2024. Those that we spoke to in NXT had no knowledge that he was going to be released, and noted that he’d even worked through an injury to make his NXT run happen,” Sapp wrote.
NXT No Mercy 2023 Card (as of now)
- NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov
- NXT Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Tiffan Stratton (Extreme Rules Match)
- NXT Heritage Cup: Noam Dar vs. Butch/Joe Coffey (British Rounds Rules Match)
- Bron Breakker vs. Baron Corbin
Mustafa Ali on Continuing to Work in WWE After Asking for His Release
Ali was immediately placed on hiatus when he asked for his release in 2022 and wouldn’t be back until May 2022. He then addressed his situation on After The Bell.
“I believe private conversations are meant to be private. The reason it went public is because that private conversation went nowhere,” Ali said. “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.
