Mustafa Ali has a lot of trust in himself when he's in the air.
Speaking to Lillian Garcia on the Chasing Glory podcast, Ali was asked how much of a toll his high flying style takes on his body.
"It’s interesting. A lot of people will comment, ‘All the high flying will catch up to you.’ I think any form of wrestling will catch up to you," said Ali. "There’s some guys that are really into strikes. You take enough strikes, you’re taking that gamble each night. It’s the same thing with doing the spectacular moves to the outside. I feel comfortable in the air, me as a person. I feel very in control of my body. You can toss me from the weirdest angle. I just know where I’m at. I don’t even know how to explain it."
Ali then went on to discuss his finishing move, the 054, which is an inverted 450 splash. Ali revealed that a lot of trust goes into the move.
"I do this maneuver, my finishing maneuver. It’s called the 054 and it’s a 450 splash, but it’s going backwards," he said. "I'm sure my opponents aren’t going to be thrilled to hear this, but I don’t know what I’m doing up there. I literally close my eyes and I just jump. My body just takes over and thankfully I haven’t hurt anybody. I jump and I tuck. I don’t know what happens and somehow I land where I land. I know my body and I know what I’m comfortable with. People see these spectacular falls or these nasty bumps and I feel in control."
The podcast with Garcia was recorded prior to Tuesday's SmackDown Live, where Ali landed rough on Daniel Bryan.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) December 19, 2018
Bryan ended up being okay after the spot, but many backstage feared the worst. Ali immediately checked on Bryan in the ring and was said to be very apologetic.
Later in the interview, Ali discussed how you can't go into the ring fearing that you or your opponent will be hurt.
"I feel any form of wrestling is gonna catch up to you. You can say you’re gambling a little bit more when you’re doing certain moves. I’ve seen guys get hurt from strikes. I’ve seen guys get hurt from flips. It’s the risk we take. I feel the fear of getting hurt will get you hurt. I don’t second guess myself and I hope my opponent doesn’t," Ali said. "There’s 100 percent trust of each other to perform for these people obviously. The last thing I need be worried about is 'will I get hurt during this' because the minute you start thinking that, your mind goes that way. I go out with the mentality that 'we’re here, we’re professionals.' Accidents are bound to happen, accidents will happen, but let them happen and don't let that override your mentality. If you go in with that mindset of, 'I'm gonna get hurt doing this,' you’re gonna get hurt."
Ali became a permanent part of the SmackDown Live roster on Tuesday. After losing to the WWE Champion in singles competition last week, Ali scored a tag team victory over Bryan on last night's episode.
