TNA Champion Backstage At Last Night's AEW Dynamite

This TNA title holder was in attendance for AEW Dynamite: Beach Break.

by Andrew Pollard
Mustafa Ali
TNA Wrestling

While WWE and TNA continue to have a working relationship, one TNA talent in attendance for last night's Beach Break edition of AEW Dynamite was Mustafa Ali.

As per PWInsider, Ali - the current TNA X Division Champion - was backstage at Dynamite visiting friends. Of course, Beach Break was held at Chicago's Wintrust Arena, and Ali himself is a native of the Windy City.

Having departed WWE back in September, Mustafa Ali has been on a tear in the time since, becoming a standout of TNA, working several shows for NJPW, and impressing for notable independent promotions such as House of Glory, REVOLVER, and PROGRESS. Despite being a stable of TNA, though, the 38-year-old is currently operating as a free agent.

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It's certainly fun to speculate about potential matches for Ali in AEW - Mustafa Ali vs. PAC and Mustafa Ali vs. Will Ospreay are just two matches that immediately spring to mind for your writer - but by all accounts, Ali was solely at Dynamite to visit some pals as AEW passes through his hometown.

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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.