Mustafa Ali Reveals Why He Almost Quit Wrestling
Mustafa Ali is currently the leader of RETRIBUTION. After years of being neglected by the company, he has come up with his own vengeance. But no matter how much he hates the company, Ali is grateful.
On his latest appearance in ‘After the Bell,‘ Ali spoke about how he became hopeless about wrestling. He debuted on WWE in 2016. But before that, he frequently wrestled in indie promotions all over the world since 2003. He initially wrestled during the day while working night shifts as a police officer.
“A lot of my friends were blowing up on the indie scene, and like you mentioned, I was a police officer at the time, so traveling all over the world, doing these tours in the UK and Japan just wasn’t feasible. The number one thing for me, at that time, was providing for my family as a man should, so my dream came second.”
Maintaining a dual life was becoming a struggle for him. So, he ultimately chose to quit his passion. However, Cruiserweight classics were just around the corner, and it was a huge decision for him.
“It was that typical indie wrestler moment. Anyone that’s done this can understand. I thought this was the year that I’m going to hang up the boots or the kick pads or whatever you want to call them because I wasn’t getting any traction.”
But eventually, he didn’t and sent an email to WWE. William Regal got in touch and explained the process. However, Ali did not make the final cut of the 32 participants.
Read more – “Give Us Time To Tell A Story” – Mustafa Ali Defends The RETRIBUTION Storylines
Mustafa Ali is forever indebted to Lince Dorado
After he did not make the initial cut, Ali was again disappointed. He got to know he was a backup to the tournament, and there were 10 more guys ahead of him. However, he still went ahead in the hopes of an opening.
Eventually, Lince Dorado’s opponent could not make it, and Dorado chose Ali as his opponent. They have known each other since their indie days.
“I owe the world to him because he immediately stepped up and said, ‘give me Ali.’ They reminded him that the segment that our match was, the time slot was very, very small, and he like, ‘yeah, that’s why I want him because I know he can get it done,’ and we went out there, and I think we tore it up. I mean, obviously, I’m here now, but they cracked the door open a little bit, and I kicked the damn thing down.”
After that, he went up to Triple H for a job. Although he was initially sent away, WWE offered him a full-time deal to work on their cruiserweight division, 205 live.
Learn more about Ali’s interesting journey in the video below –