SmackDown Live Superstar, Ali, continues to establish himself as a top WWE talent ever since his move up to the main roster from 205 Live. But his journey into wrestling for the promotion hasn’t always been an easy one, especially when he was competing in the Cruiserweight Classic.
Sitting down with The Independent, Ali discussed striving to achieve his life goal of becoming a professional wrestler whilst simultaneously juggling his duties as a police officer.
“That Was A Crazy Schedule”
His ambition to wrestle never left him, as Ali claimed that he “always had the dream that when I closed my eyes, I could see myself vividly, wrestling on pay per views and doing media calls like this. But when I opened my eyes, I didn’t see it and reality would set in – money, a house, a sick family member; real life stuff would get in the way.”
Despite that, he said he continued to “chase this dream on the side and, eventually, I thought this dream wasn’t going to happen and it was kind of one foot in, and one foot out with it.”
However, when an opportunity arose to become a police officer, he took it.
“I was at the stage where I felt like law enforcement would be meaningful work – you could actually do something and change somebody’s life. That was it – I went into it with the intention of making it my career and retiring at whatever [age] and having a full law enforcement career. But, for some reason, I couldn’t let go of wrestling.
He reflected on his time working as a police offer, wrestling on independent shows on the side, confessing “That was a crazy schedule.”
“It wasn’t until the official offer came from WWE that I resigned. I was working as a cop the entire time I was doing the Cruiserweight Classic and the NXT stuff, and, on the side, I was doing independent wrestling shows! I’d do a show at 9pm, jump in my car and race to the police station to make it for 11pm for when my shift started.”
Going Full-Time
When the chance to wrestle for WWE full-time presented itself, Ali knew he couldn’t turn it down. He recalled his last day as an officer, saying:
“I left the law enforcement career behind, but my last day at work was a Friday, and the following week I came to TV on the Monday to start [with WWE.] I worked all the way up to when my contract started and left nothing to chance. Somehow I held on to the dream and, in the end, I’d say it all worked out.”
Ali has impressed and entertained the WWE Universe ever since his debut and continues to grow and solidify his place as a top Superstar with each passing week. He is currently performing for the company on their European tour.
