WWE NXT General Manager Shawn Michaels Was “Surprised” By Mustafa Ali’s Release

Mustafa Ali is no longer with WWE. The 37-year-old wrestler was released by the company earlier this month as part of the post-TKO merger talent cuts alongside veterans like Dolph Ziggler and Shelton Benjamin. Ali’s exit comes just under two years since he publicly requested his release from the company. While Ali had long-documented creative frustrations with WWE, his release came at a time that he was in a big position on NXT TV. Ali was officially scheduled to challenge NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio this Saturday at NXT No Mercy. He was replaced by Trick Williams in that match after being released.

Shawn Michaels Responds to Mustafa Ali’s Sudden Release

Speaking on the NXT No Mercy media call, Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels revealed that he was notified of Mustafa Ali’s WWE release “right before he did.”

“I’d be lying to you if it didn’t take us by surprise, but that’s one thing that I’m learning here, is that the main roster and NXT are totally separate rosters,” Michaels said. “I think the world of Mustafa. I had a great working relationship with him in the time that he was here. I will miss him.”

NXT held a No.1 Contender’s match for Dominik Mysterio’s NXT North American Championship on its televised broadcast this past Tuesday. That match was won by rising singles star Trick Williams, much to the elation of the NXT audience at the WWE Performance Center.

“Again, that’s what we do here in NXT. We adjust. The fire drill is something that is a regular thing here in the WWE and certainly here at NXT.  I feel like we’ve made a great pivot. We adjusted,” Michaels continued. 

Ali will be free to wrestle in any promotion later this year. Developmental talent typically have a 30-day no-compete clause, but since he was working on the main roster for the majority of this year, Ali is likely under a 90-day no-compete.

“He’s an unbelievably talented young man and this future is incredibly bright,” Michaels added regarding Ali. “I’m going to miss him and I have no doubt that his future looks incredibly bright and he’ll be successful. I’m going to miss him and enjoyed working with him for the time that I did have him here.”

NXT No Mercy goes down this Saturday, September 30th.