Report: WWE 'Freaked Out' Over Mustafa Ali's Politician Vignette

After seven years with the company, Mustafa Ali is gone from WWE, having been released on September 21. Ali was the first talent to announce they were no longer a part of WWE on September 21 and over 20 wrestlers have been let go. 

Ali had been featured on WWE NXT TV in recent months and he was set to challenge Dominik Mysterio for the NXT North American Title at No Mercy on September 30. That match will, obviously, not be going ahead.

The former SmackDown hacker had recently introduced a politician gimmick to NXT and Haus of Wrestling has reported the act may not have been positively received. Ali debuted the character on August 15 in a vignette where he campaigned to be NXT North American Champion and some in WWE reportedly "freaked out" following the vignette as Fox (WWE's SmackDown TV partner) had "expressed nervousness about Ali heading in that direction."

Ali originally tried to introduce the politician gimmick in November 2021 but those plans were scrapped for reasons beyond his control. 

A WWE source told Haus of Wrestling they don't believe Ali was ever going to receive the opportunity to "really shine" but they don't know why that was the case. Ali was said to be always upbeat and smiling at NXT, even though some thought he was unhappy with his position. Ali was reportedly not caught totally off-guard by his release.