With his spot on the Night of Champions card officially secured, Mustafa Ali was ready to discuss his forthcoming feud with GUNTHER has just how excited he was to take a shot at the Intercontinental Championship in Saudi Arabia with Byron Saxton on the go-home edition of RAW.

… unfortunately, that conversation didn't happen.

No, mere moments into his conversation, who but Brock Lesnar burst through the scene to cut a promo in front of the fans in Hershey, Pennsylvania himself, telling Ali he needs to “get a life, kid” despite being a 37-year-old man. Dejected, Ali left the backstage area and wasn't seen again for the remainder of the show, opting instead to take to social media to share his thoughts without the restraints of a script or segment time.

“Earlier tonight, I was trying to say something, but I didn’t really get the chance to say what I wanted to say. So I’ll say it now. I don’t want to continue to pretend to be something that I’m not. My whole life, I’ve dreamed about doing something great, about being a champion. When I look back at my career, I haven’t even gotten close to being any of those things. You’ve all seen. It’s been failure after failure. This is why no one believes that I even have a chance in h*ll at defeating Gunther and becoming the Intercontinental Champion,” Ali said.

“But for some reason, I still believe I can. I know I can. I’m still Mustafa Ali. I’m still the guy that was the ultimate underdog, that would never stay down. I www the heart of the cruiserweight division. I was the guy that pinned a reigning WWE Champion. That was me. I was doing that while I was breaking down barriers and shattering stereotypes. That was me. Night of Champions takes place in Saudi Arabia. There’s gonna be kids out there that look just like me, that have a name just like mine. They need to see the real Mustafa Ali. I need to see the real Mustafa Ali, too, because I need to finally look in the mirror and be proud of the man that’s staring back at me. I’m laying it all on the line. At Night of Champions, if I can’t be great if I can’t be a champion, then I don’t deserve to be here. This Saturday, either my dream finally comes true, or my dream dies, and if it’s gonna die, then I’m going down with it.”

Though Ali has wrestled for titles many times during his WWE career, wrestling for the IC Title on 31 occasions on the house show circuit alone, Night of Champions serves as arguably the biggest spotlight of his career, with a chance to jumpstart a Sami Zayn-esque second act instead of playing out his contract at the bottom of the card. Needless to say, this is going to be interesting.

Mustafa Ali wants to become a champion for the fans.

Discussing his forthcoming match with Gunther at Night of Champions on Wrestlesphere, Ali noted that, after almost seven years in the company, the fans are ready to see him go over and finally become a champion.

“In this industry and what we do, there are a lot of highs and a lot of lows,” Ali said via Fightful. “I've been riding a couple of lows, especially since the beginning of the year. To see that putting your head down, putting in the work, reinventing yourself, showing up to work with this positive mindset has finally paid off. I have this huge opportunity to finally become a champion in WWE. I've been with the company since November 2016, and I've yet to capture a championship. I know a lot of fans have been calling for it and hoping for it. I've been calling for and hoping for it. At Night of Champions, I can make that a reality.”

Though Ali has won championships in the past, with nine different title reigns during his indie run largely under the Prince Mustafa Ali moniker, he's never held a title in WWE, be that on the main roster or in developmental. If he can pull out the W in Saudi Arabia, Ali will finally be able to burst that bubble, break that proverbial seal, and progress forward with a completely different career trajectory known as the man who dethroned Gunther to become the new Intercontinental Champion. But if he loses, he'll just be the 11th failed challenger in Gunther's reign, a list that will likely grow even larger over the coming months.