In the aftermath of widespread reports claiming that WWE head honcho Vince McMahon fired his son Shane from the company, it’s being reported that a WWE superstar who’d previously voiced his interest in leaving the company is still being denied a release. Mustafa Ali continues to publicly request his release from the WWE on social media, and despite his employers not using him on television for Raw or SmackDown, the organization appears to have a cryptic reason for why the superstar won’t be let out of his contract.
According to Fightful Select, the word is that the WWE still sees — and we’re putting spotlights on this word — “value” in keeping Mustafa Ali under contract, though there currently isn’t any further explanation on what kind of value is being referred to. Mustafa essentially hasn’t appeared on television since his heated dispute with Vince McMahon, and is reportedly not currently involved in any creative plans for the foreseeable future. What’s more, there is allegedly little correspondence happening between the two parties, if there’s any to speak of at all.
As for why the WWE sees value in keeping Mustafa Ali at this time, especially without an active narrative, we can only speculate. Perhaps the company has more far-future plans for the wrestler, or maybe he’ll eventually come around on his own. Perhaps he’ll get to perform the original gimmick that’s been teased but never utilized. There may just be more value in keeping Ali under contract rather than sending another disgruntled former employee over to AEW as a free agent. For now, all we know is that the WWE reportedly doesn’t plan on letting Ali go, despite his public requests.
Mustafa Ali made waves ahead of the Royal Rumble (which suffered from some planning issues) with a tweet about the event, which was reportedly prompted by an unnamed superstar’s creative pitch. Allegedly, the superstar brought up the idea of being eliminated by Ali in the Men’s Rumble Match, which then likely led to Ali’s response on Twitter.
no, i would not like to be in rumble. i would like my release.January 29, 2022
It’s of course possible that the WWE would utilize Mustafa Ali if there was an opportunity, but he doesn’t appear to be currently interested. Of course, this might’ve just been one specific situation, and based on what we know from the Men’s Rumble, it’s possible that idea might’ve immediately been thrown aside for something else on the fly.
The bad news for Mustafa Ali, at the moment, is that Fightful also reported his current contract will last “well over a year, at least.” That’s not great news for Ali if the WWE truly is intent on keeping him on the roster’s benches, for whatever reason the company has. Of course, things can change on a dime, and with the WWE still cutting talent in 2022, it’s hard to imagine top brass will keep him rostered just to get rid of more steadily featured athletes. Really, it all depends on that cryptic value statement, and until we have more details on that, it’s impossible to predict when or if Ali is released from his contract.
Mustafa Ali hasn’t been on WWE television for a while, but it’s worth checking out his match from the past Crown Jewel pay-per-view on the WWE Network. Anyone interested in checking that out can do so with a Peacock premium subscription, and check out what other shows are available to watch.