Kofi Kingston Reveals Scrapped WWE WrestleMania 37 Plans With Mustafa Ali

With Kofi Kingston replacing Mustafa Ali at Elimination Chamber 2019 and then subsequently going on to WrestleMania 35 to win the WWE Championship, the two Superstars appeared to have a ready-made feud but WWE ultimately never committed to a programme between them.

A rivalry initially appeared to be likely in early 2021 after Ali accused Kofi of stealing his moment but the storyline did not progress from there.

WWE did have plans for Ali and Kingston to feud, though, and a match would have taken place at WrestleMania 37, the former WWE Champion revealed to Metro.

"It was perfect! It was written, you didn't even have to go out of your way to creatively write anything else, it was perfect. But alas, that's not the direction that 'the office', I guess, wanted to go in. That's just kinda the way that it goes. Maybe down the line we'll get a chance to revisit that opportunity," Kingston said before Ali requested his release from WWE.

"I was told a few things, and we start working towards those things that we're told, and then all of a sudden it's not those things. But that's really kind of standard fare for us. It was really disappointing, man, because I think he's so amazing in the ring and such an innovator. He finds ways to do the littlest things in such a different way, but he puts his own spin on it. He has a great mind for the business and a great mind for storytelling."

Kingston ultimately defended the Raw Tag Team Title with New Day faction-mate Xavier Woods against AJ Styles and Omos at WrestleMania 37. Ali, on the other hand, was a part of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the SmackDown before 'Mania. 

As mentioned, Ali requested his WWE release on Sunday, January 16. The former SmackDown Hacker has been off WWE TV for the past few months, reportedly following a heated argument with Vince McMahon.