Mustafa Ali made his return to WWE this week during Monday Night Raw. It was Ali’s first appearance on WWE television in six months following a well-publicized spat with the company after he had requested (and been denied) a release from his contract.
Raw saw Ali come out during a Miz TV segment between The Miz and Theory. After requesting a match with Theory, Ali ended up wrestling (and defeating The Miz) instead. He was then attacked by Ciampa.
In an update on the story, Fightful Select provided a report on exactly how the return went down. WWE creative reportedly came up with plans last week for Ali to return. Originally, they had planned for him to lose to Miz. Thankfully, those plans were changed.
Ali was scheduled to meet with Johnny Ace when returning to Raw, and he was unaware of any creative plans at that point. Fightful notes that many backstage were happy to see him back, and when it came to the Miz TV segment, Ali was more than willing to reference his absence from television (Miz mentioned him taking his ball and going home).
The Fightful report also notes that Ali’s WWE contract runs through mid-2024. He had previously been frustrated with WWE creative and reportedly had some verbal disagreements with Vince McMahon over the booking of his character.
WWE could legally add time on to Ali’s contract due to his absence, essentially freezing his contract for the six months that he missed, however that option has reportedly not been exercised as of now.
Despite Ali’s release request, WWE never had any intention of releasing him as they see him as possessing a good deal of value. It seemed as the two sides were at an impasse as Ali had publicly said just three months ago that he had no interest in participating in the WWE Royal Rumble match.
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