Mustafa Ali is set to challenge for the NXT North American Championship, and the road to next week’s NXT vs. TNA ShoWDown featured a highly personal moment with Ethan Page on this past Tuesday’s episode of NXT.
During the confrontation, Ali reminded fans that he had originally earned a North American title opportunity in 2023, but his WWE release came before the match could ever happen. The real-life circumstances gave the promo an authentic edge, and according to Ali, that was thanks to Shawn Michaels’ guidance.
Speaking with Denise Salcedo for an in-depth interview after this week’s NXT on CW show, Mustafa Ali explained that his original vision for the segment was closer to his current TNA Wrestling character, but Michaels convinced him otherwise.
“It wasn’t that I wasn’t comfortable with it, it’s just that I feel like I’ve said this before and I’m at a stage in my career, especially with TNA, where I feel like I’ve presented this politician, very powerful, very confident individual that kind of condescendingly weaves and snakes his way into the match,” Ali said. “So, when I got there, I did meet with Shawn and I kind of pitched a different version of the same promo but what I thought would be more in line with [my TNA character].”
Instead, Michaels encouraged him to be as real as possible with the audience.
“He pulled me aside with the writer,” Ali revealed. “He goes, ‘I’m telling you, you got to be real on this one. You got to let people know what happened. You got to trust me on this. Start off how you want, but then midway through just take the mask off and look him dead in the eye and tell everybody what happened.’ He’s like, ‘I’m telling you, you got to trust me.'”
Although hesitant at first, Ali admitted the live crowd’s reaction quickly changed his perspective.
“I thought he was wrong initially and then I went out and as I’m cutting the promo I myself started to feel it and there was this pin drop silence. I think I said something along the lines of ‘My dream was on the horizon but that day Mr. Page, the sun did not rise,’ and you could just hear like everyone felt that was real.
“So when I came back, I looked at Shawn, I go, ‘You were right,'” Ali concluded.
Mustafa Ali vs. Ethan Page for the NXT North American Championship is advertised to take place at NXT ShoWDown next Tuesday, October 7, 2025, live at 8/7c on The CW Network from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
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(H/T to Ian Carey and F4WOnline.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
