Wrestling fans, especially ones that are part of the infamous Internet Wrestling Community, are know for jumping the gun and throwing out inside wrestling terms like, “he got buried”. Mustafa Ali was the recipient of such flack this week after he got destroyed by Bobby Lashley for the second week in a row. Is it time for WWE to just release Mustafa Ali so that he can go elsewhere and make a name for himself or do wrestling fans just need to shut up and watch the show without jumping to conclusions for once?
Keep Them or Release Them: Mustafa Ali
A burial in wrestling is something serious. Wrestlers usually don’t get buried for no reason, even if it is revealed that they are leaving the company.
Burials usually happen when something that we don’t know about happens backstage or as payback for doing or saying something wrong to the wrong person or people.
When a burial happens there usually isn’t much hope that the wrestler will come back from it. This is why I found it laughable that, like Austin Theory last week, people were saying that Mustafa Ali had gotten buried by Bobby Lashley.
I think that you can look at it from two ways. First of all, if they are trying to get Bobby Lashley over as a monster, there are some wrestlers that have to be the sacrificial lambs to get destroyed.
Of course they have lesser known people on the roster that they could’ve done this with, but it is always more effective when you do this with someone who people have in their mind can either defend themselves or at least put up a fight.
Remember, this isn’t AEW, WWE knows how to build big men up to be monsters. Secondly, like Theory, if Mustafa Ali was really buried, would he be on television doing more of the same thing?
Would WWE really put someone who is buried in their very first Smackdown World Cup Tournament with a chance at the Intercontinental Champion, GUNTHER? Even though there is no chance that he will win, the answer is no.
Even though fans can’t see what they are doing with him at the moment, I think that he is right where he needs to be and the fact that they are actually putting him on television consistently is a good sign.
He don’t win the most matches but I think that HHH recognizes his talent and wants to keep him around. There is this strange thought throughout the wrestling community that if someone that is talented that they like don’t get pushed to the moon and have some title around there waist, that the company is wasting them.
To name a few, Cesaro, who was great in the ring but not so good on the mic. He shouldn’t have been World Champion… sorry.
Keith Lee had all of the tools to be a big player in WWE. Fans liked him and I think that Vince liked him too or else he WOULD NOT HAVE CALLED HIM UP FROM NXT, but he had one request, get into better shape and Keith Lee didn’t want to. Because of that, Vince had him lose.
The point of this is that everyone don’t have to have some title around their waist to be recognized as a great wrestler or a star. Realistically, everyone can’t be on top, some people have to be under the top and that is fine.
Mustafa Ali is young and talented. Even though I don’t see him as a future world champion, I can for sure see him as a staple of the Intercontinental or United States title picture, and even someone who is built up as a legit challenger for the World Champion in the future or even someone who gets paired with a young wrestler from NXT as a tag team and shows him the way to the top.
Mustafa Ali: KEEP HIM
What Else is Out There for Mustafa Ali
Mustafa Ali is very talented and someone that I can see fitting in wherever he goes. It is not that often that someone with as much talent as he has is just wasted completely.
There was once a time under Vince that Ali wanted to get released but I think that those thoughts have gone. People forget that instead of KofiMania, it was suppose to be AliMania and there was a reason for that.
He is great in the ring and got a good look. Personally, I would like to see more heel work from him, even though I think that he is a natural babyface.
He got the short end of the stick with getting paired in a stable with a bunch of jokes but the part that he did was actually pretty good.
He would fit right in with the AEW roster although I think that like anyone that they sign nowadays, he would get lost in the shuffle and wind up being Mr. Dark.
I think that he could thrive in Impact also. He might not make it to the Impact World Championship, but I don’t think that should be the goal for anyone leaving WWE or AEW and going to Impact.
The goal is to have a platform to show why the company that you worked for before should’ve given you a shot and Impact tend to give their talent the freedom to do their best even if it is for a much smaller audience.
Mustafa Ali would also fit into the indy scene perfectly. There aren’t that many indy stars left with NXT and AEW snatching them up for the most part so he would have his fill of bookings and high profile matches.
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