Mustafa Ali Explains RETRIBUTION’s Names In New Promo

There is a method to the madness behind the oft-mocked names of RETRIBUTION’s members, according to Mustafa Ali. Ali posted a video to Twitter on Monday ahead of Raw in which he addressed the names of his acolytes in the stable, namely T-BAR, MACE, SLAPJACK, and RECKONING. The names have been the subject of heavy criticism online and as Ali tells it, that was an intentional effect.

Ali says in the promo,

“I want you to imagine something. I want you to imagine being judged because of your name. I want you to imagine being mocked because of how you look. Now I want you to imagine a man named Mustafa Ali, that has given names and masks to members of RETRIBUTION so that they too can know how he feels. So that they too can be judged because of their names; they too can be mocked because of how they look. And they too can see the world the way he sees it. Imagine that.”

Ali Tweeted yesterday and said that he would be turn[ing] this ship around” on tonight’s Raw. As you can see below, Ali tweeted from his “The Message” account that was used for the Smackdown hacker gimmick before it was revealed to be him and the message was shared by several RETRIBUTION members.

Imagine that. #RETRIBUTION #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/fZIgd0Om5W

— The Message (@TheMessageWWE) November 2, 2020

Imagine that. #RETRIBUTION https://t.co/MNoWPFilJ9

— T-BAR (@TBARRetribution) November 2, 2020

Imagine that. #RETRIBUTION https://t.co/4oXQazV7OA

— Reckoning (@ReckoningRTRBTN) November 2, 2020

Imagine that. #RETRIBUTION https://t.co/VDptmabHg7

— Mustafa Ali / Adeel Alam (@AliWWE) November 2, 2020