Ali and Buddy Murphy competed last night in a first-round matchup for the King of the Ring tournament. Despite having momentum on his side, Buddy Murphy would lose to Ali.
Following his victory, Ali caught up with WWE.com to discuss his mindset going up against Murphy. He also spoke about advancing in the tournament, and his next opponent.
“I’ll be honest with you, a lot of people thought I had some sort of advantage knowing Buddy Murphy, having past battles with Buddy Murphy. Listen, over the past few weeks, we’ve seen the best version of Buddy Murphy. And I won’t lie, heading into this match, I didn’t know how I was going to overcome that.”
The Superstar highlighted Murphy’s recent run of success, culminating in his victory over Daniel Bryan:
“I mean he just pinned Daniel Bryan last week, and he took Roman Reigns to what people are calling ‘Match of the Year.’ So I won’t lie to you, he had all the momentum on his side.”
For him, however, the people helped carry him through. He reflected on his time on WWE’s recent South American tour, recalling how one kid told Ali how he gives him hope.
“I’ve said this before, Buddy can have all the momentum. I’ve got the people.”
Ali will face Elias in next round of King of the Ring tournament.
