Not good news for Mustafa Ali.
The new Smackdown star has had a rough bout with injuries of late, and it's going to keep him out of the WWE Title match at Elimination Chamber. Sources backstage at today's WWE Raw confirmed with Fightful that the up-and-comer's mounting injuries have proven too much and WWE is pulling him. This news was first reported on Fightful Select this afternoon.
Ali had been working through an injured tailbone that got hurt again at WWE's Royal Rumble show, but he had continued working through it. Last week on Smackdown live, the injury woes continued when Ali's eye was swollen shut after sitting up into Randy Orton's boot on the Garvin Stomp. We're told that another injury was accelerated on Sunday night's live event, and that he's likely not to be cleared for action all week long.
The plan is for WWE to run a storyline that blames Randy Orton for the injuries, but as of now we have no news on a potential replacement for Ali.
We're told that Ali has assured WWE officials that he can work, but WWE is planning to err on the side of caution.
Fightful will have full, live coverage of this weekend's WWE Elimination Chamber show, including a live, post-show podcast immediately following.
