Mustafa Ali was a last-second addition to the WWE Title match at Fastlane this past weekend. Initially, Daniel Bryan was scheduled to defend his title against Kevin Owens in singles competition. However, earlier in the night, Kofi Kingston pleaded his case to Vince McMahon for a title opportunity.
McMahon agreed to make the WWE Title match a Triple Threat, before sending Kingston out to get destroyed by The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) in an impromptu handicap bout. Instead of adding Kingston to the WWE Title match, Mustafa Ali was named the third man for the contest.
Speaking to Uproxx recently, Ali revealed he found out an hour and a half before the match that he’d be added in. The pay-per-view (PPV) had already gotten underway when he received the news:
I would say I was told about an hour and a half, maybe, before that match went on. So the pay-per-view had started, and I still didn’t know that I was competing in that match. So yeah, talk about getting ready really quickly and having your mind in a whirl. Watching the show, I kind of went in expecting more of what’s happening with Kofi — and I’ve got all the love and respect in the world for Kofi Kingston — but I knew what I was going up against coming out that night.
Obviously it’s one thing to get thrown into a championship match last minute, but we always have to stay ready. And I was ready, I went out and gave it everything I had. But I knew as soon as I walked out, they were not going to be happy to see me, because they wanted to see Kofi right now.
And that’s been the story of my entire life! People have a negative reaction towards me, I get put in a really tough spot, I get thrown into a really dark spot, but somehow some way, my light will shine. Somehow I still can overcome. And at the end of the day, yeah I walked out to boos, but when I walked out of that arena, they were cheering.
