Despite publicly asking for his WWE release, Mustafa Ali made his return to TV on Monday’s episode of Raw when he interrupted a Miz TV segment that featured Theory. He is now a babyface.
He traded words with Miz and said if he wanted to laugh then he would watch Miz wrestle. Theory and Miz made fun of Ali for taking his ball and going home. Miz wondered if he still “worked here.” Miz said that he was going to make Ali wish he got his walking papers. This led to a match between Ali and The Miz.
Ali hadn’t been seen on WWE television since early November. WWE did have plans for him to start a “New America” storyline where Ali talked about being stereotyped, but the angle was scrapped. It was later reported that something was pitched to him that he was adamant about not wanting to do. As a result, it led to him having a heated argument with Vince McMahon.
Ali stated on the day of this year’s WWE Royal Rumble in January that he didn’t want to be in the Men’s Royal Rumble match before doubling down on wanting his release from the company, indicating the company tried to bring him back for the bout.
WWE reportedly didn’t intend to grant him his release. In various reports, WWE had used the term “value” as the reasoning behind keeping Ali under contract.
