Mustafa Ali has high praise for a wrestling pioneer like Amazing Red.
Ali successfully defended his TNA X Division Championship against Red at the REVOLVER x House Of Glory event in Philadelphia this month. Ali spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about the match and said it was an honor (for Red to step in the ring with him) before praising the effect the X Division legend had on many careers.
“What an honor for him [to step in the ring with me],” Ali quipped.
“So, Amazing Red, like you had mentioned, is a pioneer in our industry. He’s done so much. Not just for TNA and the X Division, but I would say the industry as a whole. A lot of people may not remember, but he had announced his retirement, I want to say in 2019,” Ali explained. “And Red told me this, I had gone around the WWE locker room and gotten like Sonjay Dutt, Rey Mysterio, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, a slew of WWE Superstars to kind of send him like a, ‘Hey, thank you Red’ . Like, Sasha was in it, Bayley was in it. And we sent it… I tweeted at Red. And Red said, ‘Man, that video had really got me out of a slump.’”
There’s only one Amazing Red
Mustafa Ali said that Red told him he felt like nobody cared about his career, so the video had a domino effect of online support for him. Because of that, Red re-evaluated his position.
“Red’s very selective of who he gets in the ring with now, at this stage in his career. So the fact that he was so eager to get in the ring with me was cool,” Ali said.
“When I started out 20 years ago, when I was 16 years old, training for independent wrestling. My trainer at that time had handed me a VHS Tape. Yes, folks, a VHS Tape. He’s like, ‘If you wanted to be good, you gotta study this guy. This is the guy right now.’ And the piece of tape on the VHS tapes [said] ‘the very best of The Amazing Red.’ I remember popping that VHS tape and just watching. So I got to tell Red this in person in Philadelphia in the ring,” Ali explained. “I told him, ‘I watched that VHS tape.’ And I knew when I was 16 that I would be great, but I don’t think I’ll ever be amazing. Because there’s only one Amazing Red. So I got to tell him that, which did mean a lot on a personal level.
I want someone to challenge me
“On a professional level, I gotta be honest with you, Amazing Red, he’s a legend, he’s the man, he’s done a lot… The man didn’t put a scratch on me. Not a dent in my armor. Never at one point in the match did I question myself if I’m good enough to hang with The Amazing Red. Just like Mr. Alex Shelley, just like Mr. Chris Sabin. Just like all these legends beforehand that I have decimated in my path. There is no one on my level right now. I am the best Super Junior Heavyweight in the world right now. I am the TNA X-Division Champion. I’m undefeated,” Ali said.
Ali then called for somebody, anybody, to give him a real challenge for his title.
“Please put a dent in my armor. Scratch me at least. A little bit. But make me doubt myself for once in my life. I haven’t found that man. I thought maybe Mr. Red would do it, but he failed. Mr. Shelley failed, Mr. Sabin failed. Mr. Something will also fail. All these men will try and they’ll fail. But my plea, I am a charitable man. I hope someone gives something back to me. I want someone to challenge me. Make me doubt myself. For the first time in my existence, make me doubt myself. Anybody? Nobody.”
Watch our full interview with Mustafa Ali below:
