How Did They Get Here?
Episode 1: ALI
Welcome to a new series here on All Things Combat, ‘How Did They Get Here’. In this series, I will be highlighting one superstar and looking at their journey to where they are today. Today we will be looking at a superstar that seemed to come out of nowhere, Ali. He has been dazzling viewers with his highflying moves on 205 Live and now Smackdown Live. But how did he get to this point? Well let's dive deep and see how Ali got to this point in his career.
There isn’t much known as to Ali’s training, but what is interesting is where Ali is from. Being from the Chicago Area, and that being the hot bed for professional wrestling it is, it only seemed natural for Ali to pick up wrestling and that is what he did. As a child, Ali gravitated towards the likes of Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Hayabusa. You can see the influences these wrestlers have influenced Ali in his in ring style. You see the high flying, and the story telling he is able to do in the ring.
Ali had his first match in the promotion called Insane Championship Wrestling at their ICW 420 Classic show on April 20th, 2007. Ali debuted under the name ALTO and under a mask, where he participated in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender for the ICW Midwest Championship, which was won by Silas Young. Ali’s first ever match was to determine who would get a title shot, it seemed people knew early on that Ali was going to be a big deal in pro wrestling. Ali then went on to wrestle at a show held by Brew City Wrestling and American Wrestling Association Superstars of Wrestling under the name Prince Ali, where he was victorious over El Vato. Ali then wrestled at the NWA Wisconsin event where he was victorious over The Great Malaki.
Ali received his first championship match on August 4th, at another NWA Wisconsin show. He unsuccessfully challenged for the NWA Midwest X-Division Championship at the time which was held by Jason Dukes. Ali got a second opportunity at the title, but once again was unsuccessful in winning it, this time from champion Egotistico Fantastico. While staying in the midwest area, Ali faced the likes of Sami Callihan, Bobby Fish, Ricochet, Kassius Ohno, Michael Elgin, Ricky Steamboat Jr. and many others. Ali was a name that was rising fast in the independent scene.
With his star rising, Ali received a shot at the Elite Pro Television Championship for Elite Pro Wrestling at their Off Script event on November 11th, 2008. Ali would defeat champion Brandon Thomaselli to win his first ever championship in professional wrestling. Ali would defend the title 5 times before dropping the championship. The most notable name that Ali would successfully defend the title against was Mike Quackenbush,who was recently a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center. Ali would drop the title on May 16th, 2009 in a triple threat to ACID. Who was the third man in this triple threat you ask? Just some guy named Jon Moxley who would go on to become WWE Champion Dean Ambrose, so nobody special. While Ali was enjoying his reign as Elite Pro Television Champion, Ali also won the vacant Jersey All Pro Wrestling Light Heavyweight Championship in a fatal four way at AJPW Wild Card 5 on January 24th, 2009 against the likes of Flip Kendrick, Louis Lyndon and Amazing Red. Alo would drop the title two months later to Flip Kendrick at AJPW Unfinished Business 2009.
With his star rising, Ali received a shot at the Elite Pro Television Championship for Elite Pro Wrestling at their Off Script event on November 11th, 2008. Ali would defeat champion Brandon Thomaselli to win his first ever championship in professional wrestling. Ali would defend the title 5 times before dropping the championship. The most notable name that Ali would successfully defend the title against was Mike Quackenbush,who was recently a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center. Ali would drop the title on May 16th, 2009 in a triple threat to ACID. Who was the third man in this triple threat you ask? Just some guy named Jon Moxley who would go on to become WWE Champion Dean Ambrose, so nobody special. While Ali was enjoying his reign as Elite Pro Television Champion, Ali also won the vacant Jersey All Pro Wrestling Light Heavyweight Championship in a fatal four way at AJPW Wild Card 5 on January 24th, 2009 against the likes of Flip Kendrick, Louis Lyndon and Amazing Red. Alo would drop the title two months later to Flip Kendrick at AJPW Unfinished Business 2009.
After dropping the titles, Ali continued to wrestle big names such as Matt Sydal, Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black (the future Seth Rollins) and even Jerry Lawler. He was wrestling predominantly for Elite Pro, IWA, and was starting to wrestle for Dreamwave wrestling at this time. He was also in a match for Dragon Gate USA on September 6th, 2009, a match that was won by Johnny Gargano. Ali even got a shot at the Dreamwave World Championship, which he lost via DQ to Austin Roberts. While he was pursuing his passion for Pro Wrestling, he was also a member of the Chicago Police Department. Many of Ali’s early matches were done during the day, and he would take night shifts at the police department.
Ali’s first match for a big promotion was for Ring of Honor, where he won a dark match battle royal at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2. Ali then was a participant in a Loser Must Retire match against Acid at Dreamwave Immortality on June 5th 2010, which Ali lost. To Ali’s credit, he was away from wrestling for 18 months. While it is unknown if it was injury or something else, Ali was away from the sport until December 10th, 2011 where he returned at Chicago Style Wrestling Hornetmania in a loss to Marshe Rockett. Ali got back in the win column with a victory over Chavo Guerrero at Dreamwave Season Premiere 2012.
Ali went on to win six out of his next seven matches with the only loss coming in a tag team match. This dominance earned Ali a shot at the Dreamwave World Championship. Ali got that opportunity on July 7th, 2012 at Dreamwave Summer Spectacular, which he lost via DQ to Nick Brubaker. Ali would win the rematch via DQ on August 4th, 2012 at Dreamwave Adversity. With Ali and Brubaker trading DQ wins back and forth, the two met on September 15th, 2012 at Dreamwave Good as Gold in a No Disqualification Championship match, which Ali lost.
Ali went on to win six out of his next seven matches with the only loss coming in a tag team match. This dominance earned Ali a shot at the Dreamwave World Championship. Ali got that opportunity on July 7th, 2012 at Dreamwave Summer Spectacular, which he lost via DQ to Nick Brubaker. Ali would win the rematch via DQ on August 4th, 2012 at Dreamwave Adversity. With Ali and Brubaker trading DQ wins back and forth, the two met on September 15th, 2012 at Dreamwave Good as Gold in a No Disqualification Championship match, which Ali lost.
Ali then started his reascent up the card, and he did so in a big way on March 3rd, 2013. Ali won a 16 Man Misfortune Lethal Lottery Battle Royal at Dreamwave Road to Anniversary in a match that also featured Arya Daivari. Ali had to qualify for the match by winning a tag team Misfortune Lethal Lottery match with his partner CJ Esparza. The opponents in that match were Lince Dorado and Samuray del Sol (now known as Kalisto). Ali would then go on to Dreamwave AnnIVersery on April 13th, 2013 and participate in his first ever Tables, Ladders, & Chairs match and challenge for the Dreamwave Alternative Championship against Marshe Rockett which Ali lost. Now you might be thinking that the story of Ali is that he is always good, but never the guy. That would be where you would be wrong. Roughly a week later, Ali would win the Proving Ground Pro Franchise Championship on May 20th, 2013, at the PGP The Happening from champion TaDarius Thomas. Ali was able to defend the title successfully over Tony Koniza and Michael Elgin before vacating the title late in 2013.Ali teamed up with Juntai Miller to compete in the AAW Allegiance Tag Team Tournament on October 25th, 2013.. They were victorious in the first round over the team of Dan Lawrence and Markus Crane. The duo then fell to the team of Irish Airborne which was comprised of Jake and David Crist, who are currently in Impact Wrestling as a part of OvE.
Ali only wrestled six total matches in 2014 and 2015, with two of them being against Matt Sydal and AR Fox. 2016 however, can be considered the breakout year for Ali. He won a Gold Rush qualifying match on February 6th, 2016 at Dreamwave Immortality 2016 over Shynron to qualify for a number one contender ladder match on March 5th at Dreamwave Road to Anniversary VII. Ali received his championship match on April 9th at Dreamwave Anniversary VII against Christian Rose. This was Ali’s 6th chance at a championship with him coming up short the previous 5 times. Would Ali finally be able to win gold in a promotion that he had been wrestling for the past seven years? He was as he defeated Rose to finally reach the mountain top and become the Dreamwave World Champion. Ali would defend the title against the likes of AR Fox, Abyss, Mr. 450 and Ariya Daivari. Ali would be the promotions final champion as Dreamwave closed their doors at the end of 2016. Alos in 2016, Ali won the Freelance Wrestling Championship from Isaias Velazquez on June 10th at Freelance Wrestling vs The World: 2nd Anniversary. Ali would defend this title against the likes of Jonathan Gresham, DJ Z and Lio Rush before dropping the title to GPA on December 9th at FW Triple Triple Level Midnight.
Ali only wrestled six total matches in 2014 and 2015, with two of them being against Matt Sydal and AR Fox. 2016 however, can be considered the breakout year for Ali. He won a Gold Rush qualifying match on February 6th, 2016 at Dreamwave Immortality 2016 over Shynron to qualify for a number one contender ladder match on March 5th at Dreamwave Road to Anniversary VII. Ali received his championship match on April 9th at Dreamwave Anniversary VII against Christian Rose. This was Ali’s 6th chance at a championship with him coming up short the previous 5 times. Would Ali finally be able to win gold in a promotion that he had been wrestling for the past seven years? He was as he defeated Rose to finally reach the mountain top and become the Dreamwave World Champion. Ali would defend the title against the likes of AR Fox, Abyss, Mr. 450 and Ariya Daivari. Ali would be the promotions final champion as Dreamwave closed their doors at the end of 2016. Alos in 2016, Ali won the Freelance Wrestling Championship from Isaias Velazquez on June 10th at Freelance Wrestling vs The World: 2nd Anniversary. Ali would defend this title against the likes of Jonathan Gresham, DJ Z and Lio Rush before dropping the title to GPA on December 9th at FW Triple Triple Level Midnight.
While Ali lost the FW Championship and a promotion he had called home for seven years was shut down, 2016 also saw the creation of something that would change Ali’s life forever, the Cruiserweight Classic. The field consisted of names like Kota Ibushi, Zack Saber Jr., Noam Dar, Brian Kendrick, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Tajiri, and so many more. Ali was on the list as one of the best 38, but there was an issue. It was a 32 man field. Ali was an alternate and was not in the initial field. That must have been heartbreaking for him to be told that he is one of the best but there's no room for him in the field. But then there was some luck for him, as Brazilian wrestler Zumbi had visa issues and couldn’t participate in the field. Ali was the first alternate, and he got the call to be in the field. Some of the other alternates were Aaron Solow, Jessy Sorenson, Jesus Yurnet, Kai Katana and Vandal Ortagun.
Ali didn’t let this opportunity go to waste as he showed the entire world just what he could do in a first round loss to Lince Dorado. It worked because at the tournament finale, Triple H announced that Ali was one of the 16 wrestlers from the tournament that had signed a WWE contract. Ali would team up with Dorado and be a part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but fell in the first round to TJ Perkins and Kota Ibushi. Ali, along with the other 16 signees would go on to make the brand 205 Live. While on the show, Ali caught the attention of the WWE fans with his high flying arsonal, including his finisher, the 054 which is an imploding 450 splash. His dedication to the Cruiserweight division earned him the nickname ‘The Soul of 205 Live’ to go along with his friend Cedric Alexander who was nicknamed ‘The Heart of 205 Live’. The two met on April 8th, 2018 at the Wrestlemania 34 Kickoff Show to crown a new Cruiserweight Champion after Enzo Amore had to vacate the title due to him being fired. Alexander would win in a fantastic match. Ali also made two appearances at Evolve shows, picking up wins against DJ Z and Darby Allin. Ali would then get another shot at the Cruiserweight Championship on November 18th at Survivor Series against Buddy Murphy. The two stole the show with an amazing match that Murphy won. What came next for Ali, nobody saw coming.
For the December 11th edition of Smackdown, WWE Champion Daniel Bryan was advertised to have a one on one match with a superstar he had never faced before. Speculation was running wild, with it being either an NXT Call Up, or a possible new signee. When Bryan was in the ring, cutting a promo, and the Ali’s music hit. Nobody from 205 Live had ever made the jump to the main roster before, but Ali had done just that. He lost to Bryan that night, but would actually pick up a pinfall victory over Bryan a few weeks later in a tag team match when teaming with AJ Styles. Ali was a participant in his first Royal Rumble where he looked really impressive. Entering at #13, he picked up two eliminations, Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura, before being eliminated by Nia Jax. Ali was in the match for 30:05, the second longest of anyone in the match. The only person to last longer was the eventual winner Seth Rollins who entered at #10 (43:00). Ali was slated to be a participant in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship, but suffered a concussion a few weeks before the event, which lead to Kofi Kingston taking his place. Ali returned to the ring on March 2nd, 2019 at a house show in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ali returned to television screens on March 10th, when he was added to the WWE Championship match at Fastlane with Bryan and Kevin Owens. Bryan would retain by picking up the fall over Ali. Ali was a participant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which he was one of the final 10 participants in the match which was won by Braun Strowman.
Looking at where Ali can be headed now is very interesting. He has so many different routes that are possible, it is very intriguing. Does he stick around in the main event scene like he has since coming to Smackdown? Does he go after the Intercontinental Championship? Or does he possibly form a team with someone and go after the Tag Team Championships? The possibilities seem endless, but I want to leave you all with a question. Let’s say that hypothetically Ali doesn’t suffer that concussion and isn’t replaced in the Elimination Chamber match. Who would challenge Bryan for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 35 then? I would be willing to bet that it would have been Ali, and he may have ended up as our current WWE Champion instead of Kofi Kingston. I love that Kofi won the championship, don’t get me wrong. But if that opportunity wasn’t there for Kofi to be in the match, what would have been the WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania 35?
