Mustafa Ali Requests WWE Release

Mustafa Ali officially wants out of WWE.

The former Cruiserweight star posted a brief video on Twitter on Sunday to request his release from the company:

Known as one of the best pure in-ring performers in all of pro wrestling, Ali has spent most of his WWE career being underutilized by the creative team. Though Ali always delivered in the ring and ultimately developed into a strong talker as well, WWE never got behind his character, which went through a number of directionless character shifts following his promotion from the Cruiserweight-based 205 Live to SmackDown in late 2018.

Perhaps the biggest swing-and-a-miss on Ali came in mid-2020, when he was positioned as the infamous and mysterious SmackDown hacker. Though his role as the hacker was never confirmed on WWE programming, Ali himself confirmed that he was indeed planned to be the one creating chaos on the blue brand in what could have been a breakthrough storyline. With that failing to come to fruition, WWE eventually revealed Ali as the leader of Retribution, which is widely considered to be one of the worst stables—and storylines—in recent history.

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WWE’s misuse of Ali made his eventual departure from the company seemingly inevitable.

Although Ali wasn’t one of the 80-plus superstars WWE released in 2021, he has failed to break through that proverbial glass ceiling—through no fault of his own—despite the condition of WWE’s depleted roster. Late last year, it looked like Ali would get yet another character makeover and a significant push, but he later revealed that WWE scrapped his new gimmick because it was deemed too “controversial.”

Shortly afterward, Ali was taken off TV due to planned paternity leave, and he never resurfaced on SmackDown, despite the blue brand losing top babyfaces Drew McIntyre and Xavier Woods to injury. A naturally likable fan favorite, Ali could have been a solid top star for either main roster brand, but ever since he was injured in early 2019 and essentially had his planned push go to Kofi Kingston and the #KofiMania movement, he was never able to gain any real traction on the main roster.

Now, here we are right where many incredibly talented stars found themselves in 2021: With a potentially significant departure from WWE looming.

WWE cited “budget cuts” for many of its releases last year, and though it’s unclear exactly what other factors played into the majority of those releases, what is clear is that many of them seemed destined to happen, whether for monetary purposes or not. Likewise, Ali’s departure from WWE feels like a virtual shoo-in as well.

Even though AEW has scooped up a number of prominent ex-WWE stars recently, WWE is reportedly more willing to grant release requests moving forward, a marked change from the strategy it implemented a few years ago when it largely refused release requests. The bottom line is that, as even John Cena recently alluded to, virtually everyone in WWE is viewed as an expendable these days.

That includes main event stars and midcarders, like Ali, who is a tremendous performer but has become, like many others before him, a victim of start-and-stop pushes in WWE. With WWE now more open to granting talent release requests depending upon who requests it, Ali may very well get his wish and have his request granted.

And if he does, rest assured that Ali will be a hot commodity on the free agent market—and will have a chip on his shoulder both to prove his worth and make an impact beyond the ring outside of WWE.