Is there a world where Mustafa Ali could defeat Gunther at Night of Champions?

Sure; WWE has taken big swings with booking in the past, and while Ali wouldn't be quite as popular as, say, Kofi Kingston or Big E, giving him a win in front of a Jeddah Superdome crowd that was clearly on his side wouldn't have been the worst idea, especially if the plan was to immediately put Gunther into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture.

Unfortunately for Ali, this was not his night.

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Now granted, Ali did get some offense in, hitting a sweet Neck Breaker and even sweeter Powerbomb, and one of the smoothest 450 Splashes you will ever see on Gunther that got fans rallying but at his core, the former leader of Retribution's best trait is his selling, and sell he did, looking like an absolute rag doll as the “Ring General” threw him around.

If the goal of this match was to make Ali look like he belongs, then mission accomplished, as he was involved in one of the most important matches of his career, but considering he explicitly noted that this match could make or break his career, one has to wonder how the Chicago native will handle the L. Will he remain positive? Or will he instead spiral out in a sort of “Bumba**” Corbin way, living in a production truck and eating cold soup he opened by smashing the can on the ground? This has the potential to be very fun after Night of Champions if Paul “Triple H” Levesque leans into it.