Chase the Light: An Analysis and Summary of Mustafa Ali

There are some wrestlers where you remember the exact moments you became a fan of them; from the very moment I saw him on SmackDown on January 19th, 2007, Jon Moxley has been my favorite wrestler in the entire world. There are other wrestlers you don’t remember when you became a fan; I can’t remember the first Lita match I’ve ever seen, but she has been my favorite female wrestler ever since I can remember. Mustafa Ali is a wrestler and I remember the exact moment I became a fan of him.

My love of cruiserweights is so important to me that I felt it deserved to be the first article I wrote. It is easily one of the defining aspects of the way I watch and enjoy professional wrestling. And in my opinion, Mustafa Ali is one of the greatest cruiserweights of this generation.

A nearly 20-year veteran in wrestling, Mustafa would make his wrestling debut on February 2, 2003, and wrestled for promotions such as Dreamwave Wrestling, where he was a Dreamwave Alternative and Heavyweight Champion. Other promotions Ali wrestled in included GALLI Lucha Libre, IWA Mid-South, National Wrestling Alliance, and Proving Ground Pro. Fearing racial discrimination, for the first six years of his wrestling career, Mustafa wore a wrestling mask. Ali would wrestle during the day, and eventually, he had to turn to a second job as a police officer at night to help keep his family afloat.

Speaking to ESPN, Ali reflected on this phase of his life saying that “There were days I’d wrestle at 9 o’clock, and afterward, I often didn’t shower and would just throw on sweatpants. I had my police gear in the car and would rush to get to the station by 10:30, clean myself off as best I could, and be ready for my shift by 10:59.”

Mustafa would continue this routine for a few years until he got a lucky break in 2016.

Photo credit: The Express Tribune

WWE announced that they were unveiling a cruiserweight tournament, where the final two competitors would compete for the new Cruiserweight Championship. While he was not an original participant, Mustafa found his way in when Lince Dorado suggested him as an alternate. Lince and Mustafa had been friends for years at this point, having wrestled through different promotions throughout the years. Lince’s opponent for the first round, Brazilian wrestler Zumbi, could not compete due to Visa issues, and Mustafa took his place.

Ali would lose to Lince in less than 6 minutes. He wasn’t supposed to be there, after all, and he wasn’t supposed to survive. But Mustafa’s fighting spirit raged on, and he pushed through.

This is where I became a fan of Mustafa – similarly, their match was also how I became a fan of Lince Dorado. I am admittedly a huge fan of what my dad refers to as “flippy shit.” I love high-flying wrestling, I’ve always attached myself to wrestlers that aren’t afraid to fly. And Mustafa Ali, filled with heart, was never afraid.

Eventually, TJ Perkins would win the classic and the title against Máscara Dorada. Mustafa and the other new cruiserweights would sign deals and stick around for a while, typically moving to NXT. A few months later, Lince and Mustafa would team in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Once again fate had it out for him and the team of Mustafa and Lince would be eliminated first round. Instead, Authors of Pain, managed by “Precious” Paul Ellering, would win the Dusty Classic and eventually win the NXT Tag Titles from Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa (who had also competed in the Dusty Classic with Mustafa and Lince).

Eventually, TJ Perkins would lose his title to OG cruiserweight Brian Kendrick on October 30, 2016. Soon after, WWE would announce a new brand entirely for the cruiserweights, and on the main event of the first night, Rich Swann would be Cruiserweight Champion on November 29, 2016.

Photo credit: Voices of Wrestling

Mustafa would not have another opportunity for the title for a long time. Mustafa would debut on 205 Live on December 13, again wrestling Lince Dorado and losing to Dorado in a double count out. A month later on January 23, 2017, Ali debuted on Raw with TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher to defeat Ari Daivari, Drew Gulak, and Tony Nese; this started a feud with Gulak, who became increasingly insistent with his “No Fly Zone” campaign on 205 Live. Eventually, this feud ended in a two-out-three falls match on July 18th, which Ali would win. During this, Enzo Amore moved to 205 Live and won the title from PAC.

Enzo had declared himself the Best Cruiserweight in WWE, peacocking around and surrounding himself with 205 OGs for protection. Mustafa would align himself with longtime friend Cedric Alexander. Together, they taunted the “‘Zo Train” of Ari Daivari, Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, Noam Dar, and, of course, Enzo.

Mustafa’s promos and segments would have him speaking to the viewers at home. He begged them to remember always to chase the light. “Chase the light” became his mantra: always look for the good, especially in people, and never turn down the path of darkness; he promised viewers that he saw darkness in the world and that he would make it better. Mustafa believed in the good of people, and he promised the world that people were truly good at heart. Enzo would lose the title to Kalisto on October 9, 2017, and then win it back almost two weeks later. Enzo would be the champion for the rest of the year.

2018 saw great changes for 205 Live: they gained a new general manager, Drake Maverick, who was insistent that cruiserweights were just as good if not better than the heavyweights; but 205 Live also lost a champion. Drake Maverick announced there would be a 16-man tournament for the vacated championship, with the final two competing on the grandest stage of them all: WrestleMania.

Luck would finally come around for Mustafa: in February 2018, Mustafa would beat Jack Gallagher in the first round. Smiling, believing, hoping, pushing, Mustafa dominated his way through the tournament, even defeating newcomer Buddy Matthews. Mustafa questioned his intentions. In Mustafa’s mind, Buddy believed he deserved to win for no reason other than arrogance. Why now? Why did he suddenly want to become a cruiserweight? Meanwhile, Cedric was dominating his side of the tournament until the stage was set. On the pre-show of WrestleMania 34, Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali would fight for the title.

Promos before the match between the men solidified my love for both. Mustafa and Cedric were considered the Heart and Soul of 205 Live. I believe that a good testament to a wrestler is that they make you believe. Mustafa kept asking for people to chase the light, telling the viewers that people are good and that his heart was what drove him.

I think that the closest equivalent to what Mustafa makes me feel when he talks is how Dusty Rhodes must have been for others. Mustafa never said he was the best or the greatest, but that he was a good man and that he would always try. And to be a good man is more important than being the best.

I truly think that this match is one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time, and to this day I am devastated that it was on the pre-show and not the main show. The match was hard, with both men pushing each other to the limit and demanding to see why each man had their claim. Cedric was the Soul of 205 Live, but Mustafa was the Heart. Which would prevail? As it turns out, destiny intervened, and the Heart wouldn’t win. A new champion was crowned: Cedric Alexander.

Photo credit: Cageside Seats

Newly crowned Cedric and Mustafa remained friends, remained smiling, remained to chase the light, but all was not what it seemed. WWE was testing the waters, teasing that Cedric would turn heel and betray Mustafa. Once, after a tough match, when the crowd thought Cedric would hit his finishing move the Lumbar Check on Mustafa, screams of terror could be heard. But Mustafa’s good faith in his friend prevails, and the Heart and Soul continued to feud with Buddy Matthews and KENTA, who had tried interfering in Mustafa’s match against Matthews during the tournament.

Mustafa would never get another title opportunity against Cedric, because Buddy would take the title off him on October 6, 2018.

Mustafa and Buddy’s feud hit a boiling point, with the 205 OG and the newcomer clashing repeatedly until Survivor Series 2018 where Mustafa fought for the title on November 18th. The Heart wouldn’t win. It seemed destined that Mustafa would always come close, but never quite capture the title. But Mustafa wouldn’t let his downfalls get to him; he continued smiling, chasing the light, believing in the good of people.

On December 11th of that year, 205 fans were shocked to see their Heart appear on SmackDown. He came out against Bryan Danielson (who, notably, called Mustafa a “fantastic wrestler”), who had once believed in the same things that Mustafa did. Bryan had lost his way, and Mustafa was there to bring him back. Even though Mustafa would lose the match, it was the spark in a potential huge push. He would compete in the Royal Rumble the next month, getting out huge stars like Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe. Mustafa lasted 30 minutes, an impressive feat for any superstar and incredibly impressive for someone’s first time in the Rumble. While he didn’t win, Mustafa would catch the eye of the greater WWE Universe, who demanded more of him. In interviews, Mustafa talked about how much it meant to him to be a good representation for brown kids everywhere. He played the bad guy before, he said, and he was tired of it. He didn’t want to teach kids that people who looked like him were the enemy.

In February, Mustafa was scheduled to compete in the Elimination Chamber and whoever won would receive a WWE Championship opportunity. If he won, Mustafa would have a WWE Championship opportunity after only 75 days on SmackDown. But his bad luck from 205 seemed to follow him, and he got injured. Kofi Kingston would take his place, lighting the fuse in KofiMania, one of the most emotional stories in WWE history.

Finally, after over a decade in the company, Kofi Kingston was WWE Champion. Mustafa, along with the WWE Universe, cheered for Kofi. But still… he couldn’t help that little voice in the back of his head, wondering if would it have been him. Would KofiMania be AliMania?

Due to his injury, Mustafa would be sidelined for a few weeks. During his absence, a mysterious hacker appeared. The hacker claimed to have eyes on all of WWE, particularly interested in Kofi Kingston. Suspiciously, when Mustafa returned the hacker disappeared, but it couldn’t be Mustafa (but it did have his logo…). After all, the hacker was against everything Mustafa stood for.

Mustafa continued chasing the light, continued smiling, and continued believing in people. When he came back, Kofi gave him a chance for the WWE Championship – but destiny came around again, and Mustafa would lose.

Mustafa continued to make new allies on SmackDown – powerful ones like Roman Reigns and Finn Balor. Allegedly, Mustafa Ali was told he would win the Money in the Bank – the winner of which could challenge a champion any time and anywhere they wanted – and fans anxiously watched as the Heart was fingertips away. But destiny intervened, the plans changed (Mustafa saying that he found this out before his entrance), and Brock Lesnar would win.

Photo credit: Wrestling Inc.

Fans of Mustafa were upset, but he didn’t let this get to him. He continued to tell the audience about the importance of chasing the light – in one promo, Mustafa told all those that were suffering that his hand was reaching out to theirs in true Dusty Rhodes fashion.

He continued to chase after big dreams. Mustafa would enter and lose the battle royal at Super ShowDown; he would challenge and lose to Shinsuke for the Intercontinental title; he competed in his first Survivor Series for Team SmackDown and be eliminated before his team would win. Destiny, it seemed, had it out for our Heart. Time after time after time, Mustafa would never get to have a full taste of glory; he would be fingertips, seconds away from winning, only for it to be ripped away. All the while, Mustafa continued smiling, pushing believing, and those hopeful promos would continue. But under the surface, something was beginning to bubble up. His words had venom.

Mustafa, now on Raw, had begun allying with Cedric and Ricochet, all three of them full of hope and positivity. Meanwhile, Retribution, a group determined to destroy WWE from the inside, would wreak havoc. While Mustafa, Cedric, and Ricochet tried to stop them, there was this strange glint in Mustafa's eye, this all-knowing smirk, like he had a secret card that we didn’t know about.

Mustafa knew something we didn’t know. Eventually, it came out: he was the leader of Retribution. Mustafa Ali was tired of smiling, believing, and more importantly: Mustafa was tired of being good. It got him nowhere on 205 Live and SmackDown, and instead Mustafa was injured, tossed aside, forgotten. He picked people from NXT, notably those who also did not have much “success,” and told them that they were also thrown away.

Mustafa would admit that he was the Hacker, searching for weakness in those that wronged him. Heartbreakingly, Mustafa blamed the fans for turning their backs on him – while he begged them to believe, they lost their faith in him. He blamed Creative for not knowing how to use a man named Mustafa Ali (Mustafa also now insisted that people pronounce his name correctly). Mustafa had truly lost his way – no longer the Heart of 205, who believed in the good of people; he convinced himself that no one is good. Cedric and Ricochet tried to save their friend, and convince him that not only were people good, but Mustafa himself was good.

Mustafa dug in his heels, convincing himself that everyone that was friends with him before was out to get him. Specifically, Mustafa blamed Kofi Kingston, citing Kofi taking his place in the Elimination Chamber and the start of KofiMania to be the cause for everyone to stop believing in him.

Photo credit: Cageside Seats

Eventually, Mustafa’s paranoia overcame him, he started lashing out at his stablemates, and he caused Retribution to turn against him (just as he convinced himself they would). Then, enter our next hero: wide-eyed, undefeated cruiserweight Mansoor, fresh from NXT who smiled, who chased the light, who believed in the good of people.

Mustafa chased after Mansoor, determined that Mansoor would not end up like him. Because obviously, the crowds would turn against Mansoor too. “You can’t wrestle with your heart, you’ve got to wrestle with your mind,” he would repeat to Mansoor. This became Mustafa's new mantra, with chase the light being put far, far behind him. Mustafa Ali, the man who encouraged people to chase the light, now spent his time trying to reach Mansoor to turn his back on others before they could do it to him.

In return, Mansoor became determined to bring back the old Mustafa, the man who believed, chased the light, and smiled. Each week, Mustafa and Mansoor would engage in this dance, begging each other to see their side. It seemed that we were getting flashes of the old Mustafa back: he smiled, fought, believed. He protected Mansoor against Mace and T-Bar, especially vicious Retribution members.

But paranoia overcame him, and Mustafa began to berate and push Mansoor away. He told Mansoor that people would turn on him, and he in turn turned on Mansoor. They fought at Super ShowDown, the first time two Muslim men would have a match. Destiny came again, and Mustafa would lose. Mansoor said he was done with Mustafa, leaving him and their friendship behind.

Once again, Mustafa was all alone. He burned all his bridges and returned to SmackDown soon after, back to where his main roster journey started, But the difference between Mustafa and Mustafa 2 years ago, is it seems that Mustafa caused the very thing he feared: no one trusts him, no one believes in him. I think that was the saddest part of our hero. As fans, we watched him go from wide-eyed and hopeful, to angry and bitter, causing his own worst fears. It seems the only place for him to turn is to go back to where he was before and chase the light again. He needed to find his heart.

For a little while, Mustafa disappeared from WWE tv altogether and requested his release. Eventually, Mustafa returned to RAW on April 26. 2022 during a MizTV segment with The Miz and WWE United States Champion Theory. This was a Mustafa who was once again smiling, believing, hopeful. In his time away, Mustafa’s heart seemed to return to him.

I think what makes wrestling great is the characters. You can claim to be the Best Wrestler in the World, but if your character is lacking that will greatly lessen my interest in you. I place a lot of this in the fact that my dad liked wrestling – but to me, it seemed like he only liked the big strong dudes of the 70s and 80s because their character was “I am bigger and stronger than you.” My dad is never interested in “flippy shit” wrestlers, so he doesn’t bother to learn about their character. There are some exceptions but my dad and I’s tastes in wrestling have always been very different from one another. Namely, my dad doesn’t get what I see in Mustafa Ali.

Everything that Mustafa says, I wholeheartedly believe. I genuinely think he is one of the most underrated wrestlers right now, and that he is easily one of the best cruiserweights of this generation. Mustafa is magnetic, every time he appears on my screen I cannot pull away from him. No matter if he’s reaching his hand out to my own for comfort, or he’s lashing out against Creative, I believe whatever he’s saying. Because Mustafa makes me believe. His promos on 205 Live where he just talked, often in parking lots or somewhere secluded backstage, are powerful to me. I think Mustafa is a wrestler that defies just being “flippy shit.” Mustafa’s ability to make me believe, no matter what he’s saying, is what keeps me coming back to him again and again.

His Heart is the best aspect of Mustafa Ali.

Photo credit: 411 MANIA