Booker T Weighs In On Mustafa Ali Asking For WWE Release

Booker T recently shared his thoughts on Mustafa Ali announcing that he’d asked for his release from WWE. As previously reported, Ali announced over the weekend that he’d requested his release, noting:

“I have a message that is much bigger than my dreams in pro wrestling. Despite my best efforts, I will not be able to deliver this message while working with WWE.

“Therefore, I am requesting my release from WWE.”

Booker discussed the matter on his latest episode of the Hall of Fame Podcast. You can check out some highlights below, per Wrestling Inc:

On Ali requesting his release: “If you don’t feel happy somewhere, the best thing for you is to get up out of there, I think. But sometimes, you can be not too happy and if the cheque is right, you can look past all that. Maybe the check wasn’t big enough to make him happy enough to look past that.”

On Ali saying he couldn’t tell the message that he wants within WWE: “Sometimes bringing the ideas to the company saying, ‘Hey, this is what I want to do, this is what I think can get over.’ That just may not be their vision, that may not be the way they want to go. As well as, it might be something that’s good that they want to give to someone else. Because, this is entertainment, this is not reality TV.”

On Ali’s talent: “Mustafa Ali, is he a good wrestler? No doubt. Can he go out and perform? No doubt. Did Mustafa Ali get a chance in WWE? Well, he was there from 2016 to 2022, between 205, SmackDown, the Retribution thing, he’s done a lot. Did Mustafa Ali do the stuff he wanted to do? Probably not.

“But you can probably ask 90% of the guys in this business, Aare they doing the things they wanted to do?’ Like a Ricochet, they’re probably going to tell you, ‘No, I’m not doing what I want to do. But hopefully, I’ll get there in due time.’”

On the vignette Ali posted: “I saw the vignette that he did, but I thought it was actually pretty good work. I thought the character that he wanted to deliver to the world, I thought it was pretty interesting. Let’s just say that. Would it have worked is the question.

“How long would it have worked, there again, with a gimmick like that, for someone like Mustafa Ali? I hate booking shows or anything like that. You would have to put a title on him. That’s the question, what title does fit for Mustafa Ali? I would say the US Championship, if that character was played the way he presented it. It probably could have worked, it probably could have got some heat.”