A former WWE star opened up about how Randy Orton regretted not losing to him in a match that is talked about to this day.
Mustafa Ali had a fairly short yet sweet run in WWE. Wowing audiences with his athleticism, Ali ended up looking good even when he took a loss.
Although he had several memorable matches during his run, the one that got talked about most was his singles loss against Randy Orton at Hell in a Cell PPV in 2019. The 39-year-old recently spoke about that clash and what went on behind the scenes.
Randy Orton Regrets Defeating Mustafa Ali At WWE Hell In A Cell 2019, Said “We Should Have Put The Kid Over”
One of the most memorable spots in the singles match was when Ali beautifully countered an RKO.
Speaking about the spot on the latest episode of Casual Talks With Classic, Ali spoke about how The Legend Killer initially did not want to do the spot, adding that he was worried about what would happen if the younger star botched the move. However, he managed to convince Orton to do the spot and executed it perfectly. He added that after the match, The Apex Predator regretted winning the bout and told officials that Ali should have been put over.
He also praised Orton and said he was happy that The Viper was a mentor to him:
So Randy Orton’s the GOAT obviously. He’s the man. I had pitched doing this reversal to him, and at first he goes, ‘Hey, listen. I know you want to do this like handstand block thing.’ But he’s like, ‘If you fu** that up, like if you botch that.’ Yeah. He’s like, ‘This crowd’s going to boo you.’ Like he’s like, ‘They’re just going to think that you took a really bad RKO.’ And he’s like, ‘You’re in this position where you don’t want [to be].’ So, I kind of got in my head for a second, but then, for some reason, something told me. I go, ‘Randy, I promise you I won’t mess this up.’ So, he was like, ‘All right, like we can try it.’
So, we did it. Hit it perfectly. Rolled him up. The crowd came alive over there. Two seconds later, I get the RKO, and then Randy wins the match, obviously. But in the back, he kind of jokingly came up and put his arm around. He’s like, ‘Sh**, we should just put the kid over. That was great.’ He walks away. I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, that would have been great.’ But yeah, Randy is a constant professional. He’s a great guy. He’s been a bit of a mentor to me. So, yeah, I’ll always have that moment with him, and yeah, he’s the man.”
You can watch Ali’s response in the video below beginning at the 12:20 mark:
Mustafa Ali has always been spoken of as one of the biggest ‘ what-ifs’ in WWE. But it seems that Orton’s mentoring has paid off well, as Ali is currently one of the top stars in TNA.