At a young age, I was very aware I was different and not perceived in a good way. For a lot of my adolescence, I struggled with that, trying to identify where I belong and who my real friends are.
Mustafa Ali
Lince Dorado and I go way back.
What happened was like any guy on the indie scene - I've been wrestling for 16 years; everybody thinks I'm this new, young. I'm like, 'I'm 32. I've been at it for 16 years. I just couldn't get to the next level.'
I am the guy who always gets put in the tough spots. I'm the guy who gets put in these really dark spots, yet somehow, I shine through.
Anything worth changing is not easy to change.
As a child, I was a victim of bullying because of my cultural background. I didn't look like all the other kids. I had a funny name.
There wasn't a defining moment or match or even a person that made me want to wrestle. It all just sort of happened. Kind of like puberty.
One of the funny lines that Daniel Bryan said in a promo is that he made fun of me for driving in an SUV, and he asked why such a small man like myself needs to drive an SUV, but we're standing literally eye to eye, and I'm like, 'Ummm.'
One week, you're facing Daniel Bryan, and next week, you're teaming with AJ Styles. You're in the ring with the best in the world. Part of me wants to tell myself they don't just put anybody in the ring with them. I obviously want to be as good as them, and I feel like I can be and I can hang with them.
If anything, who I am and my background helped propel me and helped me stand out.
If anyone understands the enormous mountain that cruiserweights like myself have to climb, it's WWE champion Daniel Bryan - who not only climbed that mountain but now stands atop it.
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.
I think being the only Pakistani wrestler in WWE will bring some attention from the country as well. I'll do my best to do Pakistan proud and give them something to cheer about.
I still hold that pen; I still write my own story. So it's going to take a whole lot more than Samoa Joe running me over. And it's going to take more than Randy Orton kicking my face in. It's going to take more than Erick Rowan slamming my head through a table. You guys keep trying to put me down, but I will not stay down.
If I hear about a big match coming up, I'll get anxiety about it, and I'll start thinking about it, like, 'What's gonna happen? Is this my shot?'
The biggest thing with the '205' guys is that we are trying to build the brand and each other, which makes it more difficult, but we are all stepping up to the plate.
I've seen guys get hurt from strikes. I've seen guys get hurt from flips. It's the risk we take. I feel the fear of getting hurt will get you hurt.
My favorite wrestler growing up was Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.
I can't tell you the amount of support I'm getting from WWE. They're allowing me to express myself freely, they're promoting me, and they're letting me be me.
I always knew I wanted to be a pro wrestler for as long as I can remember.
My message to everyone is that we truly are one, and the minute you see me as the person, not just as the Muslim - when you see me as Adeel Alam and not just the character on TV - when you see past all of that, we are all the same, and we are all just one.
I want to be the physical embodiment of light, you know? And I feel like now people know, when they see the lights go off and this light-up figure appear on stage, they know that's Mustafa Ali.
I want people to hear the name Mustafa Ali and want them to know that I'm a proud American. I'm from here, I'm from Chicago; I'm just like one of you.
Sometimes you have to create your own chance.
Wrestling is a reflection of society, and it does have an impact on people.
Embrace your colour, heritage, whatever you want, but don't let it confine you. Just live without labels.
Every single person in the Chicago independent scene said, 'You've got to be a bad guy. You're a Muslim. We're gonna make money. We're gonna call you Sheik Abdullah something. You're gonna wear a turban.'
My daughter's absolute go-to is Sasha Banks. However, we did do the 'Dance Break' one time in Chicago, so she keeps talking about Carmella.
Mustafa Ali is who I wanted to see when I was growing up. I'm not wearing anything on my head; I'm not saying anything in Arabic. I'm just going to come out as Mustafa Ali.
My name doesn't exactly shout 'babyface.'
There's a level of exposure that 'Smackdown' and 'Raw' get that other brands like 'NXT,' 'NXT UK,' and '205 Live' do not get. But at the same time, I feel like I would not be who I am without '205 Live.'
I'm oddly comfortable in the ring.
What people don't realize here in WWE is, you can go out in any company, and you can have these crazy, five-star matches, and you can do all this stuff, and you don't have chains on you. The trick in WWE is to do it within this confined little box.
I was that 16-year-old who loved WWE, and I wanted to be a pro wrestler, but I didn't understand why I had to be the bad guy. I wanted to be like Jeff Hardy - I wanted to be like Rey Mysterio - but I was told I had to be the guy who screamed terrible things about America and attack people from behind.
My wife herself had an upbringing where she wasn't allowed to pursue what she wanted to do because of her parents. She wanted to go into photography and journalism, but because classes ran so late, she had to be home at a certain time. We don't want that for our daughter.
I was like, 'Hey, I love highflying. I love lucha libre. Can I just put on a mask and pass myself off as a luchador?' Everyone was like, 'You're going to do what you want to do,' so that's what I did for the first four or five years. I just put on a mask and pretended to be this luchador.
The way '205 Live' came about, there was a lot of trust put into our roster. Because if you look at it, the majority of our roster had not been in the developmental system and NXT. And the majority of us had not been on TV prior to that. So for WWE to trust us and literally hire us and throw us on live TV, it was very, 'Whoa!'
It took me 16 years to get to the WWE. And the reason for that is that I did it - I don't want to call it the responsible way, but I'm going to call it the responsible way. I went to school, I worked multiple jobs, and yeah, I chased my dream.
I will always rep '205 Live.' I will always support '205 Live.' I will always be the heart of '205 Live.' I will always be watching because you will never know when the heart of '205 Live' will beat again.
There are no limitations. There are no barriers. Nothing can stop you, and nothing can define you but you.
My dad is really the reason I have this hard work ethic. I can fully remember him leaving home at 5 o'clock in the morning and not coming back until midnight.
Nothing hits harder than that: nothing more frustrating than your body giving up on you before your heart does.
I feel like a lot of Indian fans don't know about my Indian background, so it's funny online that a lot of fans call me this Pakistani dude. No, I'm Indian, too.
I want to change how people perceived me when I came over here, change how the people perceive South-East Asians or Middle Eastern or Muslim or Hindu or whatever their identity is. I want them to just let that go and treat the performer as a performer.
All the love in the world for Kofi Kingston, but I'm coming back for my spot.
It's very hard to be a family man, a father, a husband, an independent wrestler, and a police officer.
I think '205 Live' is the ultimate underdog story. This isn't a knock on any other brands; you have your stars on 'Raw,' you have your stars on 'SmackDown Live,' and I almost feel like NXT already has this amazing face to continue building stars, but '205 Live,' that is not the case. There is no foundation. We are not capitalizing off of stars.
I'm a proud Muslim. I'm proud to have a Pakistani origin. And I want this country to accept me. I want to bring to light the fact that we are all the same.
I feel comfortable in the air, me as a person. I feel very in control of my body. You can toss me from the weirdest angle. I just know where I'm at. I don't even know how to explain it.
The whole idea of 'Secret Life of Muslims' is that we're just ordinary people. We're your neighbors; we're your coworkers. We like coffee, you know? We're everyday normal people with hopes and aspirations and fears.
