6 Biggest Missed Opportunities From WWE Fastlane 2019

2. Putting Mustafa Ali In The WWE Championship Match

WWE Fastlane 2019 Daniel Bryan Kevin Owens Mustafa Ali
WWE.com

Look, there's no denying that Mustafa Ali put on one heck of a showing in the WWE Championship match. Some of the feats that he performed alongside Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens downright stole the show. Nonetheless, he shouldn't have been a part of the match in the first place.

Now don't get the wrong idea, this isn't a rant about how he stole Kofi Kingston's spot and doesn't deserve to be featured on such a huge stage because, it's quite the opposite. Ali is one of the company's most talented stars and, when he performs, people pay attention. The problem here is that those people wanted Kofi Kingston in the WWE Championship match and would have automatically turned on anyone who dared take his place.

From a narrative standpoint, it actually makes sense to keep Kofi's big title shot until WrestleMania, so it's hard to fault what actually went down. However, it would have made much more sense to utilize a heel that was already used to receiving negative reactions.

Instead, Ali was the unfortunate victim of circumstance and, from the moment that he was announced as the final participant in the Triple Threat match, the audience showered him with a much less-receptive response than usual. It was a complete misfire that risked damaging his popularity by making him an unfair target of the WWE Universe's ire because, as we've all seen in the past, their response can make or break a superstar.

 
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Michael Patterson is an experienced writer with an affinity for all things film and TV. He may or may not have spent his childhood obsessing over WWE.