Mustafa Ali On Very Last Minute Change That Led To Brock Lesnar Winning 2019 Money In The Bank

No one knew Brock Lesnar was going to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match in 2019, not even the guys in the match.

Brock Lesnar was not the original winner of the 2019 Men's MITB / WWE.com

When he arrived at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut back in May of 2019, Mustafa Ali was informed he'd be winning the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match. A potentially career altering accolade, but unfortunately there's an old saying in WWE - plans change, pal.

They certainly did that night as Brock Lesnar shocked everyone in the building when he walked out with the briefcase in his possession. That includes most of the men who were involved in the match.

During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Ali said the change to Brock winning the match was so last second, that Mustafa himself was the only one who knew he wouldn't be winning when the bell rang.

"All day we’re putting this match together. Everyone’s like, 'Hey, man, Congrats.' Yeah, man, this is awesome. I was like, 'Oh, maybe I can get this briefcase to light up,' because I was wearing the light of stuff at the time. I’m thinking this is one of those cloud 9 moments, I can’t believe this is happening, because it’s not happening."

Ali was moments away from making his entrance when he was approached by backstage producer Jamie Noble. Other Superstars were already in the ring when the man they believed to be winning the match was informed of a new finish.

"I’m wearing this light-up mask and I’m wearing this jacket that lights up and I have a glove, and they all kind of pulsate with lights, obviously. And Jamie Noble comes up. ‘Hey, boss man wants to talk to you. Go talk to the boss.’" Ali recalled. "Now, mind you gorilla is completely dark, so I just have these red lights that are flashing on Vince’s face. And he’s all shadowy. So you can see the picture that I see right looking up him, he goes ‘Change of plans. Do the match, everything you called. When the time’s right I want you to climb up the ladder and grab the briefcase. Someone’s going to come out. I want you to hold the briefcase and just have shock on your face. He’s gonna run down, tip the ladder over, and you stay down. Do you understand?’"

While he wasn't outright told that Brock Lesnar was going to be the guy to win the match, Ali told CVV that he knew immediately who was going over in the end. He agreed to do the spot and left to go to the ring.

The finish of that match was heavily criticized for a number of reasons. Many fans, justifiably so, believed that Mustafa was screwed out a golden opportunity that he had earned. Making matters worse, is that he had more than enough time to just pluck the briefcase down before Brock ever got to the ring. A full 10-12 seconds.

For years Ali has had to endure the question of, "why he wouldn't just grab the case?" That was his first thought as well, but there was literally zero time to make his case to Mr. McMahon.

“My music’s playing and he’s got a vision. There’s no point in arguing this time. So what you didn’t see is, I climb up the ladder. I got my fingertips on the briefcase. Brock’s music hits. I do the shock thing like I’m asked, and I’m like, they’re gonna cut to Brock, but at some point they’ll come back to me."

Spoiler alert, the production crew did not go back to Ali. Not until Brock was in the ring and ready to tip the ladder over.

"I did the slip thing where I try to get it, which you don’t see on camera, the briefcase slips out of my hands. So when Brock gets in the ring, you see me trying, it just slipped up. I’m trying to regain possession of it so that I’m not just holding it for the whole time. That was my, 'I’ll cover it up this way,' and then I would just tell Vince, 'Oh, it slipped out of my hand.'"

What he wishes he could have told fans at the time, was that he didn't pull down the briefcase, because his boss told him to hang on to it.

The Latest On WWE, AEW & More

WWE Raw Results (12/23/24): Drew McIntyre Speaks, Jey Uso Returns, Iyo Sky Advances In Tournament

WWE Raw On Netflix: Date, Start Time, Match Card, How To Watch & Live Stream

WWE Rumors: Talent Frustrated With Raw Runtime; Charlotte Flair Character Tweaks?