WWE Twitter rallies around Mustafa Ali asking for release

WWE fans tweeted out #FreeAli in support of wrestler Mustafa Ali, who has been denied his release from the company.

On Jan. 16, wrestler Mustafa Ali publicly requested his release from his WWE contract on Twitter. Ali has not been used on WWE television since the Oct. 29, 2021 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, where he lost to Drew McIntyre. Based off his latest update, his release request is not being granted any time soon.

Ali posted an update on Saturday, Feb. 12, saying “I’ll see ya all in like 2 1/2 years,” hinting that the company is still not budging on granting him his release. That caused the “#FreeAli” hashtag to trend on social media once again.

What does #FreeAli mean?

#FreeAli is a hashtag that fans are using to show their support for Ali as he requests his release from the WWE. Fans have used it on numerous occasions since his public statement asking out of his contract.

Who is Mustafa Ali?

Mustafa Ali is a professional wrestler, who began his career back in 2003. After wrestling on the independents, Ali joined WWE in 2016 to be a part of the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic tournament.

Ali was used prominently on 205 Live, where he competed for the Cruiserweight Championship on numerous occasions, including at WrestleMania 34. He wrestled on the SmackDown brand in 2018 before moving over Raw in 2020, where he was revealed to be the leader to the Retribution stable. The stable disbanded in March 2021.

Fightful Select (paywall) reported shortly after Ali’s request for his release was not granted by WWE and that he had multiple years remaining on his contract. Additionally, the report notes that Ali and chairman Vince McMahon got into a heated argument over creative direction. Ali was not used on television since.