Mustafa Ali has moved on to the main roster.
During tonight's WWE SmackDown Live broadcast, it was announced that 205 Live star Mustafa Ali has officially been added to the SmackDown roster as a permanent member. Ali was scheduled to compete in a tag team match on tonight's show alongside AJ Styles against former NXT Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas and the current WWE Champion Daniel Bryan.
TONIGHT: @AJStylesOrg teams with the NEWEST member of the #SDLive roster @MustafaAliWWE against The New @WWEDanielBryan & @AndradeCienWWE! pic.twitter.com/XxD1pUZzHw
— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2018
The Illinois native Ali had luck on his side in 2016 when a competitor in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic had visa issues which opened the door for Mustafa to be subbed into the tournament. Going from there Ali made an appearance on NXT TV and then made his 205 Live debut a few weeks after the debut episode of the show. While on 205 Live Ali has feuded with the likes of Hideo Itami and competed at WrestleMania 34 in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament finals against Cedric Alexander and Ali recently challenged the current Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy for the title at Survivor Series this past November.
Ali made his first appearance on SmackDown Live on the December 11th edition of the blue-brand exclusive show where he took on and fell in defeat to "The New" Daniel Bryan. With Ali's fall last week, more opportunities have arisen and that opportunity is a spot on the SmackDown roster. "The Heart Of 205 Live" is the first member of the 205 Live roster to be made a permanent member of a main roster brand and on his first night as a member of the SmackDown crew, Mustafa Ali hit his 054-splash on the WWE Champion Daniel Bryan to pick up the victory for himself and AJ Styles.
THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT!
— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2018
An 054 seals the deal as @MustafaAliWWE pins the #WWEChampion @WWEDanielBryan on #SDLive! @AJStylesOrg pic.twitter.com/5FC05yQYJq
To catch up on what has gone down thus far on this episode of SmackDown Live, head over to Fightful's live coverage article.