Mustafa Ali has recalled the moment WWE boss Vince McMahon questioned whether or not he had the grit to make it in his company.
The supremely talented star – who will face Mansoor at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia this week in the promotion’s first ever pay-per-view singles match between two Muslim wrestlers – has opened up about the ‘ebbs and flows’ which led to him being named the leader of RETRIBUTION and getting a chance to show an edge to his character in 2020.
He exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘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 realise, 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 now if you have it in you!” ‘
For many people, this could have been disheartening to hear, but it lit a fire under Ali as he urged the boss to leave him on Main Event and let him ‘slowly turn heel’ just through his matches.
‘I’ll still be presented as a babyface, I’ll still come out with the same look, I’ll still shake the guy’s hand at the end of the matches. But there’s a moment in the match where I’ve just had enough,’ he pitched.
‘And I did it! If you go back and watch these Main Event matches before I was revealed as the leader of RETRIBUTION, those were actually me auditioning to turn heel.’
There was more to his transformation, as Ali then started ‘cutting promos’ just for Vince in the billionaire chairman’s office as he tried to show his capacity for being much than just a clean-cut, talented performer.
‘Once he was satisfied with those [matches], I stared cutting promos for him. I would go into his office, I would cut a promo on him, this and that,’ he added, suggesting Vince knew ‘well in advance’ that Ali would be revealed as the RETRIBUTION leader.
‘I didn’t know, because I’d never asked – I didn’t say, “Hey I wanna be with RETRIBUTION”. I was just auditioning for my own thing. The day of the reveal is when I found out,’ he admitted.
‘I was thinking about going this way, but they went this way. At the end of the day, it was an opportunity to be on TV on Monday Night Raw weekly for multiple segments. That’s leaps and bounds from what I was doing the year prior.’
Unfortunately, the group didn’t hit the heights fans had hoped, with the faction’s early promise fizzling out – but Ali insisted that’s not down to the talent involved, with Mace, T-Bar, Mia Yim and Shane Thorne among its ranks.
‘I did the best that I could with what I was given, there was a lot of amazing talent in that faction. As with everybody – this is what I tell people – everybody could be so much more,’ he insisted.
‘Top to bottom of the roster, whether it’s the main event or the opening act, everyone is capable of so much more. That’s why they’re in WWE – they are capable.
‘But sometimes things take priority and we have to do the bare minimum sometimes, but even with that, the bare minimum, you’re expected to over deliver on that. So, we did the best we could with what we were given.’
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