Mustafa Ali recalls losing out on the Money In The Bank briefcase.
Ali had a ton of momentum headed into the Money In The Bank event in 2019, as some fans believed that he had a chance to win the contract and solidify his rising babyface status on the main roster.
Instead, things went sideways, as Brock Lesnar won the briefcase after entering the bout as an unannounced competitor.
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet for a new interview, Mustafa Ali recalled the funny story about how he was told he wasn't winning the Money In The Bank match anymore.
“I show up to Money In The Bank and they’re like, ‘Hey, you’re winning it.’ I go, ‘What, cool!’ I’m one of the shorter guys in the match, so they actually had to climb up the ladder so they could adjust the briefcase so it’s within grabbing distance. All day we’re putting this match together, everyone’s like, ‘Man, congrats.’ This is one of those cloud nine moments, ‘Man, I can’t believe this is happening.’ The match is about to start, entrances are starting. I want to say Baron Corbin is making his entrance, I don’t know why, I just have his music in my head. I got a very funny visual for you — I’m wearing this light-up mask and I’m wearing this jacket that lights up and I have a glove and they’re all kind of pulsing because lights obviously. Jamie Noble comes and is like, ‘Hey, bossman wants to talk to you, go talk to boss.’ I come over, gorilla is completely dark. So I just have these red lights that are flashing on Vince’s face and he’s all shadowy. He’s looking up and he goes, ‘Change of plans. Do the match, everything you called. When the time is right, I want you to climb up the ladder and grab the briefcase. Someone’s gonna come out. I want you to hold the briefcase and just have shock. He’s gonna run down, tip the ladder over, stay down. Do you understand?’ Again, my lights are just flashing on his face. I see what he’s saying but there’s a moment where it goes black and then it’s red. I’m like, ‘Copy that, sir.’ I just walk away and I’m like, ‘It’s Brock.’ Who else could it be? He literally told me — none of the guys in the match knew. Finn didn’t know, Randy didn’t know, Baron Corbin’s in the match, Drew McIntyre, Andrade, no one knew. I’m the only guy that knows. I’m walking down, it’s not like I’m just like, ‘Hey guys.’ I’m focused on the match at this point. Match happens. Everyone’s just like, ‘Why didn’t you just grab the briefcase?’ I wanna be like, ‘Because my boss told me.’"
Ali then gave credit to Lesnar for how he handled a specific spot during the match,
“When I’m looking down, Brock hits a ladder out the way and it just completely annihilates a cameraman. Hits him in the head, he goes down, he needs stitches. I’m watching this and I’m like, ‘He’s gonna murder me.’ I hope I’m not like destroying the mystique of Brock here, but what a pro, he gets in the ring, looks up at me and goes, ‘Hey kid, you ready?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ ‘Okay, nice and easy, one, two, three.’ The thing is, he was so nice about the push that I was expecting a violent thing that I hurdled myself off the ladder and I end up hitting the top rope with my mouth, completely my fault. Pro’s pro man. But you can see it, if you watch it back, if you cut to the clip of the guys on the floor selling, they’re all very unamused that this match happened that way.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Mustafa Ali recalled filming a controversial angle with Mike Bailey in TNA. For full context on those comments, click here.
Ali is currently a free agent in the world of wrestling, as he departed from TNA Wrestling after Slammiversary in July.
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