Mustafa Ali was the first wrestler to publicly confirm they had been let go by WWE during the company’s round of mass releases last September, catching many fans off guard. It was considered a big surprise at the time because he had already been announced as challenging Dominik Mysterio for the NXT North America Championship at NXT No Mercy later that month.
However, with him now free of his non-compete clause, he is seemingly wasting no time in re-establishing himself, as after wrestling for GCW a few days ago, he has now debuted for New Japan via a pre-taped vignette at Battle In The Valley, challenging Hiromu Takahashi to a match at Windy City Riot on Friday, April 12.
37-year-old Ali, real name Adeel Alam, signed with WWE in 2016 when they were looking for cruiserweight talents. And while never pushed prominently as a featured star, he was always over with fans who appreciated his in-ring ability and mic skills. Still, it is known he was sometimes unhappy during his run, going as far as to request his release in January 2022 after Vince McMahon pitched him a gimmick that he felt was offensive and against his principles.
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