Mustafa Ali On 205 Live Being The Ultimate Underdog Story, Comments On Fans Leaving During The Show

205 Live Superstar Mustafa Ali was today’s guest on the Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia podcast. Ali opened up to host Lilian Garcia about his time in WWE 205 Live, navigating the world of professional wrestling as a Muslim, his recent SmackDown Live match against WWE Champion Daniel Bryan, the dangers of overworking and much more.

During the interview (which was Ali’s debut on any podcast), he discussed his role on 205 Live and how he feels the show is the ‘underdog’ of WWE:

On What It Means To Be A Part Of 205 Live:

I think 205 is the ultimate underdog story and it’s not a knock on any of the other brands, but you have your stars on RAW, you have your stars on SmackDown, and I almost feel like NXT has already had this amazing base to continue building stars on, but 205 that’s not the case. There is no foundation laid already. We’re not capitalizing off of stars. We’re literally trying to build a brand and stars at the same time, which as you know, is extremely difficult, so I call us the underdogs now. We’re behind the 8-ball every night.

On 205 Live Airing After SmackDown:

When 205 started we were going on after SmackDown. I don’t know if you ever been to a concert, but the opening act starts and then the headliner comes out. We were reverse. I remember standing in Gorilla. It was me vs Ariya Daivari and we’re watching the monitor and it’s John Cena vs Randy Orton in a 2 out of 3 falls match and we have to go out after that. If there’s ever crew of guys that are behind the 8-ball every night that have their work cut out for them, respectively, it’s the 205 Live guys.

On Fans Leaving During The Show:

In the early stages of things there was some genuine interest: what is this show about? But as time progressed, I think people did lose interest in it. We were in a tough spot. Like I said, John Cena vs Randy Orton in a 2 out of 3 falls match, so some would stay and some would leave. Yeah, it’s a little disheartening when you want to give your heart and soul in this ring and you look up and half the arena is gone. It reminds you of how much work you have to put in. It doesn’t matter if there’s 500 people in the stand or 50,000. The 205 Live guys stick to the script and we’re gonna tear it down each night and now it’s nice to kinda see the way this is turning so to speak. Now people are staying for 205…205 guys are on pay-per-views now, so we’re putting in the work. We’re not done yet by any means. The biggest thing is the 205 Live guys are trying to build a brand and each other at the same time which makes it even more difficult, but we’re all stepping up to the plate.

Ali also talked about being comfortable in the ring, but shared the one time the pressure did get to him:

On Whether He Has Any In-Ring Fears:

I’m oddly comfortable in the ring. If I hear about a big match coming up, I’ll get anxiety about it and I’ll start thinking about it, like what’s gonna happen? Is this my shot? I have more anxiety and fear before the match. The minute the bell rings [unintelligible]. There’s still emotion and I want this to look great, but there’s zero fear, zero hesitation. I don’t question myself at all. I tell everyone it’s auto-pilot. I’m watching myself while I perform.

On Feeling The Pressure Before His WrestleMania 34 Kickoff Show Match Against Cedric Alexander:

The one time it really got to me was WrestleMania. It was a pre-show match, but it was still WrestleMania. They were telling me there were 2 million viewers on the pre-show. They were telling me John Cena was gonna be watching ringside. It’s the Cruiserweight Championship. It’s me and Cedric Alexander in New Orleans. I was OK. Like I said, I had anxiety about it and I was thinking about it. There was a moment about 10 or 15 minutes before we were up and I was wearing a new debut costume and I don’t want to say a panic attack, but the anxiety got to me. I was freaking out. I have a good friend here. His name is Jason Ayers, one of the referees here and me and him go way back and he saw from the corner of the room. He was like, ‘Something is wrong with him,’ so he pulls me aside and he’s like, ‘Talk to me.’ I go, ‘It’s getting to me’ and I start going off about me, ‘What if I screw up? What if I fall? What if I choke out there?’ He looked me dead in the eyes and he was like, ‘This is the first time I’ve seen you talk about yourself. You know you’re about to go out there and kill it for your family, for your daughter, for your son, so that you can get this money and you can take care of them and also what you stand for: your message. Everything you’ve been fighting for is right now and you’re talking like this? Get your head in the game.’ He may have used some expletives there too, but when he said that I didn’t even thank him. I just walked away and it was game on. I went right into auto-pilot like I talked about and I had a WrestleMania moment….I’ve been wrestling 16 years, but that was the only time the pressure got to me. I felt it.

(Transcription credit to Michael McClead for Wrestlezone.com) 

Ali also talks about a scary encounter with law enforcement that led to him becoming a police officer and much more. Readers may listen to that and more on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia below:

Listen to “Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia” on Spreaker.

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