4 Ups & 10 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 5)

2. Ali Gives RETRIBUTION A Face

Until this point, RETRIBUTION has been a masked and hooded group of NXT stars who either remain shrouded or have renamed themselves with ridiculous monikers. Their promos have been insanely over-complex and nonsensical, and it’s tough to determine what their purpose is.

Mustafa Ali was unveiled as their leader Monday, which changes the dynamic. It’s also a shocking development, which is something these days. If his reasoning is sound and if he is able to give the group some real purpose, then it could at least right the ship a bit.

Perhaps he was tired of being an overlooked punching bag, a guy who saw his opportunities given away to other wrestlers (he was rumored to be pegged for a mega-push last year before he got injured, and Kofi Kingston got the chance and ran with it, leaving Ali with nothing). He has preached being the light for WWE, while RETRIBUTION talks about darkness. As someone who already had a contract, he could be seen as the “in” for the group to gain access to the Performance Center and ThunderDome before they got their contracts.

However, we’re putting a lot of faith in the writers to have thought-out and plausible reasons for Ali to lead this band of masked wrestlers. That’s a huge leap of faith. But at this point, it’s a development that moves the ball down the field, and in an era where wrestlers face each other in never-ending feuds, that’s gotta count for something.