As Ali, Finn Balor, Andrade, and Randy Orton prepare to take part in a Fatal 4-Way match on tonight’s SmackDown Live, Ali got a chance to speak to Comicbook.com about the upcoming Money in the Bank event, his future on SmackDown Live, and much more.
Speaking about the upcoming Fatal 4-Way match and what he’s doing to prepare, Ali made sure to note that his aim is to be careful about not losing momentum. “This is the last show before Money in the Bank. What’s on the line tonight is momentum. If you pick up a win tonight on SmackDown, you know that you can beat three other guys that are in the match.”
When asked what it would mean to walk away from Money in the Bank with the elusive briefcase, Ali noted that it would be “more than the opportunity of a lifetime,” and that he’d feel redeemed. “It’d be a story about redemption. Earlier this year, unfortunately, I suffered a pretty serious injury that took me out of the title picture and made me miss the Elimination Chamber, which undoubtedly would have been a night that could have changed my life. I could have been at a whole different level, I could be WWE champion. It’s a what if question that I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life,” he said. “Money in the Bank gives me the opportunity to right that wrong. As happy as I am for Kofi Kingston, as deserving as he is of the WWE championship and everything that happened with him, I’ll always have to carry that what if question with me. That’s a pretty heavy burden to bear for a performer, to know that that groundbreaking performance that you would have had was taken away.”
While Ali will have the chance to walk away a winner tonight and this weekend, he’ll have to make sure he can overcome his other competitors who are also gunning for the briefcase. In the meantime, though, he’s well aware of just how big of an opportunity this is.
