Mustafa Ali has been a rising star for quite some time, but it wasn’t until Triple H took control of WWE 205 Live that we got to see Ali truly showcased. Since then, Ali has become one of the company’s brightest stars, and he’s only reached new heights this past week.
There’s little doubt that Seth Rollins and AJ Styles are on fire on the WWE main roster, and Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have produced a feud for the ages in NXT. But the best wrestler in WWE right now might just be a member of the 205 Live roster, because Mustafa Ali has inspired a large swath of fans throughout 2018.
205 Live became must-see TV around the time when Drake Maverick became the General Manager to usher in a new era for the Cruiserweight Division. Of course, the non-storyline change in leadership involved Triple H taking creative direction of the show from Vince McMahon, who didn’t do nearly enough to give the fans the breath-taking Cruiserweight action that they had craved for well over a year.
At the forefront of these sensational performances has been Mustafa Ali, who first made his presence felt in the Cruiserweight Tournament. Ali would lose in the finals to Cedric Alexander, but he was arguably the best competitor in the tournament. His ability to create sympathy for himself, tell classic babyface stories in the ring, and make you go “wow” with his selling and athleticism immediately made him a fan favorite.
Ali’s matches with Buddy Murphy have been particularly eye-opening, with the best of the bunch being their no disqualification match in early July. This featured some of the most hard-hitting and intense spots of the entire year, and it further cemented 205 as the show to watch. It also reminded fans that Murphy and Ali are at the top of their games, and few wrestlers in WWE can approach the consistency or the desire that these two have had in 2018.
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This week, I thought Ali reached new levels of greatness, which is somewhat hard to fathom, given how good he’s been this year. But his match with Hideo Itami was simply that good, and I can’t think of a single Itami match I’ve enjoyed more during his WWE career.
Itami faced Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight Championship this summer in a highly-anticipated match, and while it was a quality bout, I thought Ali vs. Itami was superior in every way. For the first time on 205 Live (or before that), I saw the bad-ass Itami, and I legitimately feared for the babyface going up against him. Itami actually seemed dangerous, and the finish of this match both blindsided me and left me scared for Ali. That’s how good of a seller Ali is.
See, Ali was great in the Cruiserweight Tournament, but what hurt the quality of his matches was the fact that some of his babyface/resiliency spots seemed contrived. He would repeatedly barely scramble into the ring at “ten” – sometimes via a generous count – and his matches would sometimes be choppy. But now, Ali’s story-telling is as smooth and intricate as anyone’s, and that includes the likes of Rollins, Styles, Gargano, and Andrade “Cien” Almas.
What has set Ali apart from the pack, too, is his promo work. A tireless athlete who always stands up for what is right, Ali takes things to the next level by taking the initiative to cut promos that provide life lessons. He’s cut promos about being an underdog, about his past as a police officer, and about building 205 Live brick by brick.
Ali is indeed the embodiment of what it means to be the “heart” of a brand, and he’s surpassed all of the other brilliant performers on this roster to be 205’s face. And it isn’t easy to top Murphy and Alexander.
With a nail-biting, gut-wrenching, and unselfish performance against Itami this past week, Ali provided yet another, distinct example of why he’s attained a level of quality that very few wrestlers in WWE have reached.
Mustafa Ali is one of WWE’s best wrestlers, regardless of how much the company chooses to brand its stars on 205 Live. On the strength of his own skills and hard work both in and out of the ring, Ali has built his own brand as a leader, humanitarian, and legitimate star in between the ropes. Every week he goes out there, Ali lays yet another brick, in sickness or in health.