Mustafa Ali opens up about not being where he wants to be in WWE but understanding that working for WWE has given him a great deal of confidence.
Ali has been with WWE since the Cruiserweight Classic in 2016. In that time, he has been featured on all major brands and even earned a pinfall victory over Daniel Bryan while Daniel was WWE Champion.
Despite the ebbs and flows of being a WWE Superstar, Mustafa says that working for the sports entertainment juggernaut has given him so much confidence and the belief in himself that he is one of the best in the world in every aspect of the industry.
Mustafa explained this gained sense of self-confidence during his recent appearance on Sean Waltman’s Pro Wrestling 4 Life Podcast.
“I can only speak on my experience and like my perspective of the business and WWE and the industry. It's so funny because I always remember like, ‘If I just had one match in WWE, I'd be so happy just one match,’ and then that match happens. Then, you know, some of your friends start getting contracts. So, you go, ‘I don't care if I lost every match. If I just had one contract with WWE, I would be so happy.’ I'd get the contract. Then, you're in NXT. Like, ‘If I had one match on Monday Night Raw, just one. One time. Now it's to the point where like, ‘I'm not on the pay-per-view, what do you mean!?’ So, it's such a goal-oriented business, but it's like, you're constantly chasing this next level of gratification.”
He continued, “Some of it's earned, some of it is delusion or whatever, but like, I'm at the point right now where I could sit down with anybody, and look them in the eye and tell them I'm one of the best in the world. There's no hesitation. In the ring, on the microphone, doing the media, like, whatever it is, throw it at me, I don't drop the ball. I would never have said that eight years ago, maybe, six years ago, maybe. But I feel like WWE just makes you up your game, like no other.
“I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. At the age that I am right now, the time that I started the company, am I where I want to be? Absolutely not. I feel like I'm supposed to. Here's the camera. I'm supposed to be way up here. But I'm not and some of that is out of my hands. But, you know, I could sit and complain, or I can go out there and create and that's what I choose to do. If one door closes, I'm going to try to find the next door and if that door is not available, I'm going to make a door So I'm still on that path to finding my spot at the top of the card. But yeah, it's been wild, man.”
Later in the podcast, Ali opened up about his current run on WWE Main Event against Ricochet, revealing that he pitched that program to Vince McMahon himself just as a means to continue growing and plying his trade. Learn more here.
Should you use any of the above quotes, please make sure to credit the original source and link back to this article to credit Fightful for the transcription.
