Mustafa Ali returned to WWE on the April 25 episode of WWE Raw after publicly asking for his release in January. He had not appeared on WWE TV since October 2021.
Fightful Select reported that he had an argument with Vince McMahon, which led to him being off television.
Ali made his return by interrupting MizTV with WWE United States Champion Theory.
Speaking to WWE El Brunch, Ali commented on his return and why his feud with Theory works.
"Everything kind of came together last minute and I had been eying the roster up and down. I had been making jokes at Theory and taking shots at him, but the reality of the situation is, a guy like Theory and a guy like me, it's a situation everyone can relate to. There's a guy in Theory that is, no doubt, an amazing competitor, but he's gotten to the head of the line by kissing up to the boss, cutting corners, being the suck up and that corporate employee, the perfect model employee who will tattle behind your back. We all know a guy or girl like that who will do anything to get ahead in the corporate world. Then there's a guy like me, who will call it down the middle. If I think it's bullcrap, I'll say it's bullcrap. I have to be true to myself at all times. If you look at our careers, that's been one of the defining factors. Theory has been the youngest United States Champion in WWE history. I've been in the company six years and have never held a championship, but I'm widely regarded as one of the best in-ring performers that we have. When you compare the two, that's the glaring difference and the story we're trying to tell. One guy is a corporate suck up and one guy is not. When I came back, that's who my eyes were on, Theory and the United States Championship," said Ali.
Ali picked up a victory over The Miz in his return.
Fightful Select published the following report regarding Ali's return on April 26:
We're told last week creative came up with ideas to bring Ali back to WWE television. As of Sunday afternoon, plans actually called for Mustafa Ali to lose the match against The Miz, but virtually everything played out as it was planned. Ali was scheduled to be at Raw Monday, and meet with Johnny Ace according to people within the company, and had yet to be informed of the creative plans at that point. Those that we've spoken to said that he was more than comfortable referencing his absence and why it happened.
After Ali's victory over the Miz, he was attacked by Ciampa. He continues to feud with Miz, Ciampa and Theory on WWE TV.
On Monday's Raw, he faced Ciampa with The Miz as the special guest referee. If you missed anything from Monday's WWE Raw, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.
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