Mustafa Ali Talks Losing Big WWE Opportunity Earlier This Year, Being A Force For Change
Early in 2019, Mustafa Ali suffered an injury that took him out of the Elimination Chamber match in February. Kofi Kingston replaced Ali leading to Kingston's huge push that led to him winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.
Ali had spoken about his injury and the "What If?" scenario of the whole situation previously, but in an Instagram post, Ali talked in more detail about his injury, the talk of him missing a huge opportunity and his fight to come back.
He wrote, "What people don't know is I tried to fight through the injury. I wrestled another 3 shows (my choice) before finally collapsing backstage. I tried so hard to get to my feet because I knew if I didn't get up this opportunity will be gone. I guess I took too long to get to my feet. And just like that, the opportunity was gone."
Ali reflected on the injury acknowledging his current place in the WWE. He has yet to reach those same heights in the second half of 2019, and Ali felt that 2019 was a lost year for him.
However, Ali was able to find a positive out of the situation as the photo he posted with his caption is one of a young fan holding his hand out for a high-five. He wrote, "Then, I see a photo like this. I see what I want this world to be. I see who I want to be. I see I've got to travel the world and breakdown barriers and shatter stereotypes."
Ali, a Muslim-American, wrote about that moment looking back on his time as a stereotypical heel that he used to play. He talked about how his heel character taught a young boy to fear people that looked like him. That moment forced Ali to change his character and create a goal for himself to be a face for change.
He ended his Instagram post writing, "I may have missed out on an opportunity, but I didn't miss out on my purpose."
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Mustafa Ali / Adeel Alam (@aliwwe) on