Exclusive: Mustafa Ali Says He Is The Leader TNA Needs As He Officially Signs With Company

Mustafa Ali just needed a little bit of trust to prove he was one of the best professional wrestlers in the world. One company was willing to listen.
"I started out this campaign last year with a simple slogan, a simple catchphrase if you will. And that's 'In Ali We Trust.' And TNA has made the smart decision, placing their trust in me," Ali said.
The 38-year-old made that apparent when he made an unexpected return to TNA on the Jan. 23 live edition of TNA iMPACT!, confronting Mike Santana.
"We have put pen to paper, we have shaken hands, and we have committed," he told The Takedown on SI, revealing he has signed an actual contract with the promotion (the terms of which he declined to divulge). "I am now officially a part of the TNA party, and I believe there's only one man responsible for all of TNA's success: and that is me," he said.
"TNA is on the precipice of greatness, and it needs a great leader, and, I, Mustafa Ali, am that leader."
Ali first appeared in TNA a year ago, just a few months after his unexpected release from WWE. He would have his in-ring debut at No Surrender, defeating TNA legend Chris Sabin for the X Division Championship in his very first match with the company. He remained with TNA into the summer, dropping the title to "Speedball" Mike Bailey, then ddeparting in August.
Even so, his short stint was impressionable on both parties.
"TNA was the right fit for, me, and I was the right fit for TNA," he said. "As you know, in wrestling in general and the industry of entertainment, sometimes it's right place, right time, but it's got to be for both parties," the former X Division Champion said. "I absolutely love what the industry is today. I love that one roster has several options, several big time options to go make big time money, and not just the wrestlers. I'm talking about medical staff, producers, people behind the scenes, even people that cover the the industry. There's so much to do that, if you're not successful somewhere, it's it's really on you."
Like current TNA World Champion Joe Hendry also told The Takedown on SI, the TNA staff and infrastructure has proven to be a welcoming place for many of the talent on the roster.
"I felt like TNA was going to provide me with a platform to creatively really expand, some of these other organizations, I don't want to say 'bottleneck,' but there's a certain process there," Ali said. "The one thing that I really enjoyed about my previous stint at TNA is that if I wanted an answer, if I wanted to do something, if I needed a 'yes' or 'no,' I knew who to talk to and I would get that answer within minutes."
But a taste of nearly capturing the TNA World Championship in a TV match against Nic Nemeth before he left last summer may have been a foreshadowing of where Ali's path could travel this time around. Gone are his days being cast as just a cruiserweight. In TNA, he believes he can be as big as his abilities let him be. He pointed to former world champion Moose now holding the X Division title, noting there are plenty of chances for mobility throughout the card.
"This is actually an opportunity that most wrestlers don't get in other organizations. Not that they're typecast, but once you're, like you said, you're a heavyweight champion, you're usually in that picture or you're a tag team wrestler, you're in that picture," Ali said. "I think with TNA, you know, a few months you might be doing something, and then six months down the road, you could be in the main event scene."
Ali noted he intends to compete for the TNA World Championship and is in the process of evaluating the TNA roster to decide who he would like to associate with moving forward in his pursuit of that. Winning it would be one of the most significant accomplishments of his career, as he fell short of capturing gold during his seven-year WWE tenure.
In TNA, that doesn't matter.
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"I'm just relishing the opportunity here with TNA," he said. "I have an intense gratitude for time. You know, I've been wrestling since I was 16 years old, and the locker rooms I've belonged to, with the Hardy Boyz and Nic Nemeth, or whether it was sharing the ring with Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton. The fact that when I talk to these gentlemen or perform with them, I may not have a worldwide adulation and respect, but I do have it from the industry. I do have it from my peers. Like, people that I care about, that I respect, that I admire, that I look up to have said some awfully nice things to me that really make my heart complete.
"I'm still chasing, I'm still striving, I'm still dreaming. And I'm still competing for what I feel my place in this industry is going to be. And I feel like TNA is the vehicle, is the path, is the horse for me to jump on. It's going to get me to where I need to be."
Do not mistake his gratitude for passiveness, though. Ali is fully aware of his abilities and prowess. He has spent years crafting his current character, pulling influence from global politicians (for better or for worse, as he notes). Regardless of how long this TNA tenure may last, he knows the promotion can run through him.
You can trust that.
"I fully believe that Mustafa Ali could be the face of a company, could be the world champion of a company," he said. "You could sit me down with any sponsor, with any publication, with any TV show. And I and I dressed like a star. I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm mentally. Physically, healthy. You're not going to hear anything bad about me in the news. I'm not getting arrested. I'm not failing a drug test.
"I'm the epitome of a professional. And I'm one of the best performers in the world. So I think TNA's hit the jackpot."
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