Mustafa Ali Reveals He Was Told He Wasn't Winning 2019 Money In The Bank Just Before His Entrance
He'd been told a different result previously
The ending of the 2019 men's Money in the Bank ladder match is quite unforgettable - Mustafa Ali seems to have an unimpeded climb to the briefcase, when he's suddenly rendered frozen by the screech of Brock Lesnar's entrance theme. An intruding Lesnar then hits the ring, clears Ali from his path, and wins the briefcase himself, despite not being an official match entrant.
Ali revealed in an interview with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT that he was told he would be winning the ladder match - only to learn the truth just before he made his entrance.
"We got nothing other than, "You’re in the match’ the week-of. Day-of, I’m winning it!" Ali recalls. "Man, this is my moment, this is everything I’ve been working for, I can’t believe it, this is awesome.
"Then the match is about to start, so the entrances have started. I may be wrong about this, but Baron Corbin is making his entrance and I’m soon to be making my entrance, and that’s when I get pulled that I have to go see the boss.
"[Vince says] ‘This is what I want. Grab the briefcase. Shock. Then you’re frozen. This is what I want.’ And you have to realize, right before you’re about to go out through the curtain is not the time to argue. You’re getting a direct order about what is to be expected of you. I know some people say 'Why didn’t you just grab the briefcase?' [laughs]. I was more concerned with grabbing my check that week! So I grabbed my check."
Ali added, "At the end of the day, it’s not my show. The guy who writes this, who owns this, who decides what happens told me specific instructions and I said ‘OK, not a problem boss.’ And I went out there and did exactly what I was asked to do. At the end of the day, like, hey, it worked right? People are still talking about that moment years later. Everyone’s sad about it, but guys, we got Brock listening to the briefcase like a boombox and dancing – I gave you that gift! [laughs].”
(Credit to Fightful for transcription)
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
