Ali looks at the positives of his name being shortened.
The former "Heart And Soul Of 205 Live" Mustafa Ali was one of a handful of WWE superstars that had their names altered or changed this year. Mustafa Ali was shortened to just "Ali" and there was a immediate reaction from fans of Ali's that questioned why WWE shortened his name. Ali himself, does not see it as a negative nor does he think it matters and feels that he has been hearing his name being chanted more now that he is just being referred to as "Ali".
"In the scheme of things, it doesn't matter," Ali said during an interview with Comicbook.com. "And that's the thing. I saw the ... I don't want to call it outrage, but the public concern about it and a lot of people pointed it out... was it a thing that Mustafa was too hard? WWE has been in this game for a very, very long time and they know how to market their guys. I can tell you there's been a dramatic vocal increase of my name getting chanted during matches because it's Ali. As a performer, sometimes I'd be wrestling and one side of the ring would be chanting Mustafa, while the other side of the ring would be chanting Ali and then it just gets muzzled out because no one knows what to chant. Ever since they dropped my first name, the chants have gotten louder I've noticed," Ali said. "And it can be for a number of reasons, it's easy to remember, what not. Mustafa had a close meaning to me, but at the end of the day, like I said on social media, I'll bring it up again, the name might have changed, but the man behind the name hasn't. I'm still Ali. I'm still the same person and to me, that's what's most important. WWE isn't making me change. I'm the same guy that broke it on 205 Live, I'm the same guy on social media. They're not changing who I am as a person. So the name change, no, it doesn't bother me."
Ali is not the only name from the 205 Live brand that has made their way onto the main roster as former WWE Cruiserweight Champions Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy were moved to RAW and/or SmackDown by way of the Superstar Shake-Up.