More details regarding Mustafa Ali requesting to be released and his recent absence from WWE have been revealed.
According to Fightful Select (subscription required), an argument between Ali and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon may have led to Ali’s recent absence from WWE TV. Per the report, Ali’s ‘New America’ gimmick was originally accepted by the company but plans were soon changed. It was noted that in return, Ali was pitched an idea that was deemed ‘something Mustafa Ali never would’ve done’ which led to a ‘heated exchange’ between him and McMahon.
Ali hasn’t appeared on WWE TV since November, and he’s been available since early December but was not brought back. Fightful explained that Ali asked for only one show off for paternity leave, but he had not been backstage since November, including being absent for Survivor Series and the SmackDown show in Chicago, his hometown.
Last fall, Ali told Metro UK that McMahon told him he was ‘too polished, too clean and too nice’ and was told ‘I don’t know if you have IT in you’.
Following the interview with Metro, Ali was brought back to TV to be the leader of the Retribution faction but was of course again taken off TV just months later when the group was taken apart before Ali was put in a shortly-lived tag-team alongside Mansoor which culminated in the latter defeating him at Crown Jewel, late last year. Ali hasn’t appeared on WWE programming since.
Wrestlezone will provide any and all updates on the Mustafa Ali-WWE situation as they become available.
