WWE has shortened Mustafa Ali’s name because of course they did
Wrestling fans can alway count on WWE unnecessarily shortening names, and SmackDown Live superstar Mustafa Ali is the latest victim of Vince McMahon’s eccentricity.
Since joining the SmackDown Live roster last December, Mustafa Ali has become one of the most beloved wrestlers on the main roster, carrying over what made him special on 205 Live to the WWE main roster. A series of injuries prevented Ali from making an impact in the Elimination Chamber or the preceding Gauntlet Match, but he did shine in a difficult position at Fastlane and looks poised for a huge 2019.
He’ll shine this year, however, under a different name. Just as former NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas had his name shortened to just “Andrade” months into his main roster run, Mustafa Ali will now be referred to “Ali”.
This news was first reported by Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin, who pointed out to fans that the superstar’s WWE.com profile now simply refers to him as “Ali”.
It’s a quizzical decision on WWE’s part, and fans and analysts had plenty to say about it:
I'm gonna guess Ali goes back to being Mustafa Ali by Summerslam.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) March 25, 2019
making mustafa ali drop the mustafa is the worst one of the fed single name things yet. they should be arrested
— john (@toshanshuinLA) March 25, 2019
mustafa ali was perfectly fine !
— alisha | nrw: hart of dixie (@haleysfaran) March 25, 2019
If Fightful.com’s Sean Ross Sapp’s prediction comes true, I think we’d all be better off…heck, maybe they’ll make the switch back by Backlash.
Shortening Andrade “Cien” Almas to “Andrade” was bad enough, but now Mustafa Ali only has three letters to his name. “Ali” just seems so generic and glib in comparison, and, as pretty much every wrestling fan said, there was absolutely nothing wrong with “Mustafa Ali”.
In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t the worst change in the world, but it’s still puzzling. WWE’s need to shorten names, especially names that “sound foreign” (Antonio Cesaro, Alexander Rusev being others), doesn’t sit right and may be another example of the promotion assuming fans can’t “handle” a longer name.
Adam Cole should win the NXT Championship. dark. Next
Whatever the case, Ali has been amazing on SmackDown Live over the past several months, and he looks like a future WWE Champion. His road to the title will happen well after Kofi Kingston is crowned at WrestleMania 35 after 11 years of hard work, but Ali’s time will come. He’s too incredible in the ring and on the mic to not be a big star in WWE, and the fans seem ready will him onward, regardless of what name the promotion gives him.
(Also, his real name, Adeel Alam, is one of the most beautiful names on this earth.)