When news broke that Mustafa Ali was released from WWE back in September of 2023, it was shocking, to say the least.

After failing to dethrone Gunther at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, the former Retribution leader was sent to developmental to feud with some of the best up-and-coming Superstars the WWE Universe had to offer, working a program with Wes Lee, Dragon Lee, and Dominik Mysterio that was supposed to culminate with a match at NXT No Mercy but instead resulted in a Trick Williams push following his release roughly a week before the show.

Now finally free to do as he chooses in the wrestling sphere, what with his 90-day non-compete clause officially over, fans across the IWC are interested to see where Ali works next and how he's able to showcase his incredible in-ring efforts, with no one more optimistic about his in-ring return than Mansoor, the another former WWE Superstar who was released on the same day.

Discussing his wrestling career past, present, and future in an interview with Bill Pritchard of WrestleZone, Mansoor put over Ali as one of the business' true professionals, as he played an important part in his professional wrestling career and helped to light a fire in the “International Hero” that still burns to this day.

“Oh, definitely [Mustafa] Ali. I always call him my work dad. Mace is my work wife, Ali, my work dad [laughs]. We have a very dysfunctional family, and Dijak is my weird uncle because he’s the weird one who’s always shouting and complaining [laughs]. So when we did that tag team, where it was sort of an odd pair where we had similar backgrounds, we both had the same faith, but I was a fresh face, blue-chipper, doe-eyed babyface, and he was sort of the bitter, resentful, had just gone through Retribution, so he had quite the axe to grind. That was kind of the dynamic in real life, too,” Mansoor told WrestleZone via Fightful.

“I remember Ali dragging me around all over backstage to writers and production guys, and important people in the office, Kevin Dunn, that I had never met before, even though I’d been called up for months, because I was too shy to basically introduce myself. He would drag me to all these places and go, ‘What are we doing this week? What are we gonna do this tonight? We filmed this vignette, can we get it on the show?’ ‘Okay, we’re gonna do our best.’ ‘Alright.’ He was the serious businessman, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I just need to try and be as professional as possible and do whatever he says.’ Because he’s so incredibly ambitious, and that definitely rubbed off on me. After that run, that’s when I really started to get involved and trying, rather, to get involved in the creative process.”

Could fans finally be afforded Mustafa-Mansoor III now that both men are free agents, following up a pair of interesting bouts at Crown Jewel and then SmackDown in 2021? Only time will tell, but with WWE Creative no longer the sole creative body deciding on who gets pushed and who doesn't, all it takes is one promoter wanting to see the bout, and with a few checks exchanged, fans could see the effort up close and person… or on Fite and/or IWTV.

Mustafa Ali is taking his show on the road after WWE release.

Speaking of Mustafa Ali's free agency, the 37-year-old from Chicago, Illinois, took to social media on January 5th to let fans know that he's campaigning for their support in 2024 and is willing to take his show on the road in order to earn their support.

“Esteemed citizens, I want to thank you for your continued support and contributions to the #MustafaAli2024 campaign,”  Mustafa Ali wrote on social media. “Together, we have grabbed the attention of corrupt industry leaders around the world. They know change is coming. In the next few weeks, dream matches that have been negotiated will be announced. These matches will have significant ramifications on our mission to restore honor, create an impact through action, take the industry to new horizons, and remove the elite who have ruled over us with an iron fist. The campaign for change begins now. Thank you, good night, and remember that #InAliWeTrust.”

Is Ali's political angle original? No. Is it low-hanging fruit in this presidential campaign year? Sure. But do you know what? That doesn't make it a bad idea. No, after introducing the idea on NXT a few months back, it's nice to see Ali get to see the concept through, for better or worse.