Mustafa Ali recalls a key piece of advice WWE Chairman Vince McMahon gave him during a time of confusion.
Ali has been seen on WWE TV since 2016. He made his Monday Night Raw debut the following year. Ali found himself in a big spot at the beginning of 2019 and was even scheduled to challenge for the WWE Championship in the Elimination Chamber match. Ali ended up suffering an injury and was replaced by Kofi Kingston.
Soon, Ali found himself appearing less on the main show and more on Main Event. Ali was confused by this and asked Vince McMahon what went south. Speaking to Metro, Mustafa Ali revealed what Vince’s answer was.
“Even pre-pandemic, I was struggling to maintain television presence – and I know it was all character-based. When you pitch a million and one ideas as far as stories, characters, promos, this and that – and you always get told that you’re good, but then nothing happens – you start pointing the finger at everybody except for you.
“After sitting at home for seven months and then finally coming back to Monday Night Raw, only to pick up a few victories and then to go back to not being on Monday Night Raw and now being stuck on Main Event, you’re kinda scratching your head.
“Like, what have I gotta do? And then you realize, you’ve gotta go ask the hard questions. I went up to Vince McMahon himself and said, ‘What am I missing?’ [He said], ‘Too polished, too clean, too nice, I don’t know if you have it in you!'”
Ali eventually made a heel turn. He became the leader of Retribution. Once the group disbanded, he began teaming with Mansoor. Lately, Ali has become frustrated with Mansoor, shoving him down to the mat after their tag team loss to Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander of The Hurt Business.
