Report: Mustafa Ali Loses Part of His Name, He Joins the Infamous WWE Name Shortening Club!
Add Mustafa Ali to the list of wrestlers that have had their name shortened. The former heart of 205 Live that has done very well for himself on Smackdown in recent months has just one name now: Ali. Thanks to Pro Wrestling Sheet for reporting on it.
The updated Ali WWE.com profile looks like this now.
A veteran of the cruiserweight wars, Ali brought his years of in-ring experience to Full Sail University in pursuit of the Cruiserweight Classic crown during the Cruiserweight Classic.
For more than a decade, Ali has honed his craft all over the country, squaring off with some of the toughest competition that both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions have to offer. Hailing from Chicago, Ali exudes a quiet confidence that allows his action to speak louder than words.
An exciting competitor inside the ring, Ali now stands as an explosive member of the SmackDown LIVE roster, as he puts his extensive in-ring ability on full display when he executes the jaw-dropping 054, a reverse 450 splash on the Tuesday night brand.
Here’s a tweet from Ali about the name change.
Mustafa means the "chosen one" with an emphasis on being chosen from amongst the people.
Name or not, nothing has changed. I fight for the people. I am one of them.
— Mustafa Ali / Adeel Alam (@AliWWE) March 26, 2019
Some other name shortening “victims” in the last few years include:
Antonio) Cesaro
(Alexander) Rusev
Big E (Langston)
(Adrian) Neville – He’s now in AEW as Pac.
Elias (Samson)
(Luke) Harper
(Erick) Rowan
Andrade (Cien Almas)
Tucker (Knight)
Otis (Dozovic)
TJR Thoughts: This name change feels completely unnecessary, but for whatever reason, WWE likes one name only superstars. I thought the full name Mustafa Ali sounded great just like that, so I’m a little surprised. I’m not bothered by it all. I just don’t get why they decide to do it sometimes.