Mustafa Ali Did Not Want To Be WWE Royal Rumble 2022 Entrant - He Wants Release

The former RETRIBUTION leader again states his desire to depart WWE.

by Andrew Pollard
Mustafa Ali
WWE

Having previously gone public with his wish to be released by WWE, Mustafa Ali has again taken to Twitter to reiterate how he wants out of Vince McMahon's sports entertainment juggernaut.

Seemingly responding to those who had hoped the Chicago native would be an entrant in the men's Royal Rumble last night, Ali made it clear that his WWE release is his priority rather than any sort of Rumble appearance.

For those who missed it, the hugely talented Ali publicly requested his WWE release on 16 January. At the time, the former RETRIBUTION leader said how he no longer views WWE as the place where he can deliver his message. Likewise, he's said to have had a "heated" argument with Vince McMahon over a certain creative idea that was floated Ali's way.

In the weeks since that statement, WWE has refused to bend to Ali's request, with multiple reports claiming the company has no plans to release Mustafa right now.

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Due to all of this playing out in the public eye, the #FreeAli hashtag was trending on Twitter during both Raw and SmackDown last week.

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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 and Presenter, 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 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.