Mustafa Ali Appears At NJPW Battle In The Valley

Mustafa Ali will face Hiromu Takahashi at NJPW Windy City Riot.

by Andrew Pollard
Mustafa Ali Dominik Mysterio
WWE

In addition to Jack Perry appearing at NJPW Battle in the Valley, former WWE star Mustafa Ali also had a role to play at last night's stellar event.

Ali appeared in a vignette where he called out Hiromu Takahashi for a match at NJPW Windy City Riot on 12 April, stating how Takahashi is mentally unstable due to how he wears a stuffed animal on his arm.

With the match having since been made official by NJPW, it certainly seems as if Takahashi is up for the challenge, with the five-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion quick to respond to Ali on X.

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Windy City Riot will mark Mustafa Ali's in-ring debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, with Ali currently embarking on a campaign to bring his talents to promotions across the globe.

Part of WWE's mass releases of September 2023, Ali's non-compete clause has now expired and he made his return to the ring earlier this month for APC in Paris, France, before then also competing for GCW this past Friday. Prior to that, the hugely talented Chicagoan had been with WWE since 2016 and the Cruiserweight Classic tournament.

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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, Jamie Hayer, 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.