10 Predictions To Bring WWE Raw Back From The Brink
6. Mustafa Ali Gets REAL Retribution
Fans have done far more work than WWE themselves in making sense of the mess that is Retribution. False start upon false start has revealed what this was all along (a way for Vince McMahon to mock what little he saw of the outside world) rather than what Slapjack stan accounts desperately want it to be (a logical and well-thought-out story).
But Mustafa Ali plugs away at it anyway, talented as he is to make credible something which can never be. We may now be at Retribution's ceiling anyway - bothersome midcard heels that ruffle zero feathers and occasionally win titles that have zero value before and after their reigns. But things might be different for Ali.
He will survive this time, not least because there is evidence that he's tried desperately to thrive during it. A promo chastising audience for mocking the stupid names and stupid look of his stablemates was pathetic rhetoric from WWE creative delivered by the former Cruiserweight as if he meant every g*ddamn word. Ali will survive burial boot camp and live to dazzle another day. Having watched this journey, his eventual successes will mean even more.