Mustafa Ali (wrestler)

Mustafa Ali
Mustafa Ali at WrestleMania 34
Birth name Adeel Alam
Born (1986-03-28) March 28, 1986[1]
Bolingbrook, Illinois, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Alto[2]
Mustafa Ali[2][3]
Prince Mustafa Ali[2]
Billed height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[3]
Billed weight 182 lb (83 kg)[3]
Billed from Chicago, Illinois[3]
Debut 2003[1]

Adeel Alam (born March 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler of Pakistani descent. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the 205 Live cruiserweight brand under the ring name Mustafa Ali. He is the first WWE wrestler of Pakistani descent.[4]. He is also a former police officer.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2003–2016)

Alam worked in various promotions, including Dreamwave Wrestling, where he was a former Dreamwave Alternative Champion and Dreamwave Heavyweight Champion. He also appeared in other promotions, including All American Wrestling, Freelance Wrestling, GALLI Lucha Libre, IWA Mid-South, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance and Proving Ground Pro.

WWE

Cruiserweight division (2016–present)

On June 25, 2016, after Brazilian wrestler Zumbi was not able to participate in the Cruiserweight Classic due to visa issues, WWE announced that Ali would replace him.[5] On July 20, Ali was eliminated from the tournament by Lince Dorado in the first round.[6] On August 17, Ali appeared on NXT, where he lost to Hideo Itami.[7] On the September 28 episode of NXT, Ali and Lince Dorado entered the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, where they were eliminated by fellow Cruiserweight Classic competitors Kota Ibushi and TJ Perkins in the first round.

Ali made his Cruiserweight Division debut on the December 13 episode of 205 Live, wrestling Lince Dorado to a double countout. On the December 27 episode of 205 Live, Ali defeated John Yurnet In his hometown of Chicago turning Face (professional wrestling) in the process. On January 23, 2017, Ali made his Raw debut, teaming with TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher, defeating Drew Gulak, Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari. Ali began feuding with Drew Gulak in March 2017 when Gulak began his "no fly zone" campaign on 205 Live, with the two exchanging victories on 205 Live. The feud culminated in a 2 out of 3 falls match on July 18, 2017, which Ali won. Throughout the remainder of 2017 he would go on to have mini-feuds with the likes of Ariya Daivari and Enzo Amore. In December 2017, Ali began to develop a friendship with Cedric Alexander.

Ali participated in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament, in which he defeated Gentleman Jack Gallagher in the first round, Buddy Murphy in the second round, and former rival Drew Gulak in the third round to advance to the finals at Wrestlemania 34 where he lost the match to Alexander. On the June 5 edition of 205 Live, Ali wrestled Buddy Murphy to a no contest after Hideo Itami attacked both men, this led to a triple treat match were Itami was victorious. On the July 3 episode of 205 Live, Ali defeated Buddy Murphy in a No disqualification match.

Personal life

Alam is the first person of Pakistani descent to join WWE.[4] On January 25, 2017, prior to his debut on 205 Live, Alam was criticized for not displaying a Pakistani flag and representing his country by his Pakistani fans. He stated, "I don't care for nationality. I care for unity. I don't mean to offend anyone. This is just me stating that I feel nationality doesn't define us as people, it separates us."[8] Alam is a Muslim and was the subject of a 2009 documentary focusing on issues that Muslim wrestlers face when booked as heel characters, and get considered as terrorist by their gimmicks.[4]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 "Mustafa Ali". Cagematch. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Prince Mustafa Ali Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Mustafa Ali". WWE. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 Rahul Aijaz (July 13, 2016). "Meet the first Pakistani wrestler to compete in WWE". The Express Tribune. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  5. ↑ Caldwell, James (June 25, 2016). "Triple H – WWE to hold future editions of Cruiserweight tournament, why did one wrestler miss inaugural tourney?". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  6. ↑ Caldwell, James (July 20, 2016). "7/20 WWE Cruiserweight Results – Caldwell's Week 2 Report on Akira Tozawa, Tajiri, TJP, excellent Dorado vs. Ali match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  7. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2016-08-17
  8. ↑ "WWE wrestler Mustafa Ali criticised for not displaying Pakistani flag". The Express Tribune. January 25, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  9. ↑ "DREAMWAVE Alternative Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  10. ↑ "11/05/16. Dreamwave Wrestling in LaSalle, IL presents Dreamwave 100, the biggest show in the company's history. Prince Mustafa Ali will be defending the Dreamwave Heavyweight Championship. Also, the Kliq will be in the house!". Mustafa Ali via Facebook. October 28, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  11. ↑ "FW Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2018". cagematch.net. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ "PGP Franchise Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.