10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (March 15)

4. Mustafa Ali's Racial Epiphany

Prince Mustafa Ali
WWE.com

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.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.