Shawn Michael had big plans for Ali before his departure.
Last night’s episode of NXT featured several TNA Wrestling cameos, including Mustafa Ali, who confronted NXT North American Champion Ethan Page. Ali had been released by WWE on September 21, 2023, just nine days before he was scheduled to challenge Dominik Mysterio for the same title.
Fightful Select have now revealed that Ali’s promo, which referenced the timing of his release, received strong approval from both NXT and TNA. The report also notes that Shawn Michaels opposed Ali’s release, having planned for him to capture the North American Championship.
“Mustafa Ali’s promo on NXT was well received by both those in NXT and TNA. We’d long heard at Fightful that Shawn Michaels was actually adamantly against his release, and had plans for Mustafa Ali, including him actually becoming North American Champion. To the point where Ali had North American Champion gear made.”
-Fightful Select
Ethan Page is scheduled to defend the NXT North American Championship against Mustafa Ali at NXT vs. TNA Showdown on October 7, a television special co-produced by the two partner promotions.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on future plans for Mustafa Ali in both TNA Wrestling and NXT as soon as we hear more.
