Mustafa Ali Recalls Original Concept Behind Light Up Mask, Working With Daniel Bryan

Mustafa Ali wore a light-up mask early in his WWE run, something he recently discussed the concept behind. Ali wore the mask as part of his entrance, and he spoke with Insight With Chris Van Vliet about what the idea behind the mask was intended to be.

Ali noted that it was an attempt to emphasize his babyface status as “the light.” He also spoke about Daniel Bryan helping him get an early push. You can see the highlights below:

On the Original Concept For the Mask:

“So it’s long gone now, but everyone thought it was Sub Zero. I think some people thought it was Iron Man. The idea that I sat down and kind of presented to Vince at the time was that I want to be the light. And what I mean by that is everyone was just such a badass. No one was like genuine babyface. The idea behind it was I wanted to be the light. He said, ‘Well, how do we convey that you’re the light? Why are you just walking around saying that you’re the light?’ So the idea about the light was, ‘Oh, I’ll be the physical embodiment of the light.’ So it’s like, you know, when you’re going through dark times, my hope was to motivate you through a promo. That’s why all the 205 Live matches, I got my ass kicked on design so that you can see that this guy will not stay down. He has something that he’s fighting for. So just that idea of, like, light being a symbol, you know, the whole idea, there’s light at the end of tunnel, there is hope. That was the idea behind it.”

On Working With Daniel Bryan:

“The quick little Daniel Bryan story, I was never supposed to be on SmackDown. I was on 205 Live, doing my thing, and one day I’d like to reenact this, but there’s not enough room. A writer told me this story. They’re all sitting in the writers room, and Daniel Bryan comes in. He kicks the door and he goes, ‘Hey, we don’t have any hot young babyfaces for me to work. I want a hot young babyface! Give me a good-looking baby face for me to beat the sh*t out of.’ The next week, they’re like, ‘Hey, you’re wrestling Daniel Bryan.’”