More On WWE Unhappiness Over Mustafa Ali's Release

There was plenty of unhappiness within WWE following Mustafa Ali's release on September 21, with Ali scheduled to challenge for the NXT North American Title only nine days later at No Mercy. 

It was previously noted there were "several people unhappy" with Ali's release and there was notable frustration due to the lack of communication between WWE NXT. Some of the frustration stemmed from the effort to put familiar names on NXT and the planned North American Title match at No Mercy having to be changed at short notice. 

Alis's release also reportedly came as a surprise within WWE NXT, with people on the brand having been given no indication that Ali was set to be released. Plans for the former SmackDown Hacker had also been mapped out well into March 2024. 

In an update, Fightful Select reported that Mustafa Ali was originally booked to win the North American Championship from Dominik Mysterio at No Mercy, plans which ultimately had to be scrapped. This was one of the reasons for frustration amongst NXT higher-ups, Fightful noted. 

Dominik was always set to defeat Dragon Lee to retain the North American Title on the September 25 edition of Monday Night Raw but the original plan was for Ali to cost Dragon Lee the match. This would have set up a Triple Threat for the belt at No Mercy where Ali would have won. 

There has been a conflicting report from Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, who has stated that Ali wasn't originally scheduled to win the North American Championship at No Mercy.