Ali has been ready to bet on himself.
After his seven-year run with WWE came to an end in late 2023 and he officially became a free agent, he sent out his world tour campaign video which highlighted his upcoming dates, appearances and he named potential dream matches.
Fast forward to present day, Ali is working a handful of independent dates along with being the reigning TNA X Division Champion. He appeared on Straight Talk Wrestling and stated that his 2023 release from WWE was expected.
Ali added that there was no sadness attached to it and he’s been ready to bet on himself since he requested his release in January 2022.
Expected, but there was no emotional, like, sadness associated with it. I’m a very business-oriented person. I know what I’m capable of. WWE is a huge entity, it’s a promotional machine and oftentimes what happens is guys at the top of the card are in those positions for a reason and obviously, we always hear about the revenue breaking-records that they’re making. So they obviously know what they’re doing. I, as an individual, always believed in the mantra of if you really believe in it, you’re willing to bet on yourself, right? And I was willing to bet on myself a year-and-a-half or two years ago, whenever it was (that I first asked for my release) and that’s all it really came down to. I know what I’m capable of. In two months, I’ve already taken over the industry. Sold-out show after sold-out show. I can’t keep enough merchandise. It’s like I’m the hottest free agent in the world right now… in like 60 days? So, I bet on myself, it’s already paid dividends and I’m excited for what the future holds.
He admitted that he’s surprised at how quickly he’s been able to gain the traction he has as a free agent. Ali has been told by promoters that they have not seen someone move this amount of tickets since Cody Rhodes was on the independents.
Ali shared that he takes a lot of inspiration from Rhodes, adding that his 2024 world tour promotional video was a 2024 version of Cody’s list that he put out when he left WWE.
The only thing that I’m surprised about is how quick I was able to reap the rewards of my risk. Usually, this takes a while and we’re talking about a few months in… When I announced this run and I saw sold-out after sold-out after sold-out, these promoters started contacting me that they haven’t had someone move tickets and have these sell-out crowds since a Cody Rhodes. So to have that comparison and look where he’s at. Literally, the top of the business, heading into WrestleMania, the talk of the industry and deservingly so and Cody was a guy that I take a lot of inspiration from and what I mean by that is what set this all up was the launch of my campaign video which was released on December 21st… The concept behind it was who was the last guy that really made that impact of like, what’s gonna happen? And this is when Cody Rhodes released the list and I remember everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, these dream matches, but where? And how? How are we gonna see them?’ And I go, ‘What’s the 2024 Mustafa Ali version of the list?’ So the campaign video came about of, you know, calling out guys like Will Ospreay and ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey and (El Hijo del) Vikingo and (Matt) Cardona and all these notable names and that’s what happened is it became a frenzy of people wondering how is this gonna — where is he gonna go? Where is this gonna happen? And it’s happening, it’s happening so a marketing campaign well done.
Coming up for Ali on April 12th is NJPW Windy City Riot in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. He’ll be going one-on-one with five-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi.
On April 21st, Ali will be in action at TNA Rebellion where he’ll be putting the X Division Title on the line against Jake Something.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Straight Talk Wrestling with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
