10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (March 15)
4. Mustafa Ali's Racial Epiphany
Deadspin's Splinter: The Secret Life Of Muslims series aims to show the struggles those following the religion can experience in everyday society. It's generally uninteresting to anyone who doesn't have a passing interest in such things, but Mustafa Ali's video is well-worth watching for WWE fans because of how engaging he is.
The SmackDown star did a lot of soul searching before making it in the company.
He remembers finding bookings on the indy scene hard to come by, and he has a hunch his hesitancy to play a racial stereotype had something to do with that. Finally, Ali gave in and developed a character based on misconceptions about the Muslim faith. Within a few weeks, his diary was busy, but it felt hollow.
Then, Mustafa noticed that a six/seven year old boy had hate for him in his eyes at ringside, and enough was enough. Ali, who had been trying to break into WWE for years, realised that he couldn't do the 'foreign menace' gimmick anymore. That was the genesis of his current superhero-style persona.