Every Wrestler WWE Just Released

9. Mustafa Ali

Starting things off on this dark day for the wrestling industry, it was Mustafa Ali who was first to announce his departure from WWE.

Despite being previously scheduled to face Dominik Mysterio for the NXT North American Title at NXT No Mercy on 30 September, Ali took to X to state how he's no longer with the company.

The hugely talented 37-year-old had been with WWE since participating in the Cruiserweight Classic back in 2016. Most notable about Ali's time with the company, were the bangers he put on against Buddy Murphy for the Cruiserweight Title, his injury absence that opened the door for Kofimania, and for his time as the leader of RETRIBUTION.

It's worth noting, Mustafa has not specifically stated he was released, but just that he was no longer with WWE.

No longer*. Sorry for the confusion.
— Mustafa Ali / Adeel Alam (@AliWWE) September 21, 2023

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 21st Sep 2023

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Dolph Ziggler Elias Mustafa Ali