Eric Bischoff comments on Mustafa Ali's release from WWE.
On Thursday, September 21, Mustafa Ali took to social media and revealed that he is no longer employed by WWE. This shocked many fans, as Ali was set to challenge Dominik Mysterio for the NXT North American Championship at NXT's upcoming No Mercy event.
On the latest edition of the Strictly Business podcast, Eric Bischoff stated that Ali is an amazing talent and revealed that he's kept regular contact with Ali since departing WWE in 2019.
“I think he’s an amazing talent. I’m pretty good friends with him, I’ve stayed in regular contact with him since I’ve left in 2019. I think the world of him, he’s an amazing talent and I know he has an amazing amount of drive and ambition. My guess, what I’ve come to know of him, suggests to me that if anything, he will be even more motivated and inspired than he was two days ago. I would not be shocked at all, based on his own desire, ambition, and abilities, to see him in AEW.”
Bischoff went on to say that he thought Ali was very frustrated in WWE based on the conversations that he had with him over the years.
“[He was] very frustrated, wanted to do more, [and was] constantly trying to figure out a different and better approach to his character. Frustrated with himself to a degree, frustrated with finding a way to crack the code and to make it happen. But that’s probably true for almost everybody in the talent business, whether you’re an actor, actress, musician, whatever you are. It’s a very tough business and a competitive world and you’ve got to figure out ways to reinvent yourself. So I think if there’s frustration, there may have been a time along the way — I don’t know this, he never expressed it to me, when he may have been thinking about leaving. I’m sure he’s very disappointed at this point. I think that disappointment will evolve into intensity and determination to prove that WWE made a bad choice.”
