Mustafa Ali

During his time in 205 Live, Ali gained the attention of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who decided to put him on the SmackDown brand. According to former WWE writer Kazeem Famuyide, then-WWE Champion Daniel Bryan was pushing hard backstage for a "hot young babyface" to be on television, arguing that all the babyfaces they had were pushing 40-years-old; this led to management choosing Ali for this push. Ali made his first appearance on the December 11, 2018 episode of SmackDown Live, confronting Daniel Bryan and losing to him later that night. The following week on SmackDown Live, Ali was confirmed as a full-time SmackDown roster member and teaming with AJ Styles to defeat Daniel Bryan and Andrade "Cien" Almas in a tag team match, after Ali pinned Bryan. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 27, 2019, Ali competed in the eponymous match, lasting 30 minutes and eliminating Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe, before being eliminated by Nia Jax. In February, Ali was scheduled to compete in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship at namesake event, which would have been his first world title match; however, he was pulled out due to a legit injury, and replaced by Kofi Kingston. Ali made his televised return at the Fastlane pay-per-view, as a last minute addition in the WWE Championship match between Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens, which Ali lost after being pinned by Bryan. On March 25, 2019, his ring name was shortened to Ali.

On the December 13 episode of 205 Live, Ali made his debut for the brand, wrestling Lince Dorado to a double countout. On January 23, 2017, Ali made his Raw debut, teamed with Jack Gallagher and TJ Perkins to defeat Ariya Daivari, Drew Gulak, and Tony Nese. Ali began feuding with Drew Gulak, when Gulak began his "No Fly Zone" campaign on 205 Live. The feud culminated in a two-out-of-three falls match on July 18 episode of 205 Live, which Ali won. In February 2018, Ali began participating in the Cruiserweight Championship tournament; he defeated Gentleman Jack Gallagher in the first round, Buddy Murphy in the quarterfinals, and Drew Gulak in the semi-finals to advance to the final at the WrestleMania 34. At WrestleMania on April 8, Ali lost to Cedric Alexander, failed to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Ali then started a rivalry with Hideo Itami, who interfered in his match against Buddy Murphy. On the August 7 episode of 205 Live, Ali lost to Itami and collapsed afterwards, rendering him out of action for a short time. On the October 24 episode of 205 Live, Ali defeated Itami in a falls count anywhere match to end the feud. On the October 31 episode of 205 Live, Ali defeated Tony Nese to become the number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship, but failed to win the title from Buddy Murphy at Survivor Series.

Alam was criticized for not displaying a Pakistani flag and representing the country by his Pakistani fans in January 2017. He stated, "I don't care for nationality. I care for unity. I don't mean to offend anyone. This is just me stating that I feel nationality doesn't define us as people, it separates us."

On June 25, 2016, after Brazilian wrestler Zumbi was not able to participate in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament due to visa issues, WWE announced that Mustafa Ali would replace him. On July 20, Ali was eliminated from the tournament by Lince Dorado in the first round. Ali appeared on the October 26 episode of NXT, where he and Dorado entered the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but were eliminated by Kota Ibushi and TJ Perkins in the first round.

Alam is a Muslim. He met his wife in 2010. The couple got married in January 2011, and have a daughter and a son.

Ali made his video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K19 and has since appeared in WWE 2K20. He was the subject of a 2009 documentary focusing on issues that Muslim wrestlers face when booked as villainous characters and stereotyped as terrorists.

Prior to signing with WWE Alam worked on the independent circuit after his debut in 2003, while also working as a police officer in a Chicago suburb for four years. In 2016, he competed in the Cruiserweight Classic as a replacement and through his performances, earned a full-time contract with WWE. He initially worked for their new cruiserweight division as part of the 205 Live brand, but was moved to the SmackDown brand in December 2018.

Alam made his professional wrestling debut on February 2, 2003. He worked in various promotions, including Dreamwave Wrestling, where he was a former Dreamwave Alternative Champion and Dreamwave Heavyweight Champion. He also appeared in other promotions, including All American Wrestling (AAW), Freelance Wrestling, GALLI Lucha Libre, IWA Mid-South, Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Proving Ground Pro, and WrestleCircus. During his first six years as a professional wrestler, he used a mask so he would not face discrimination. He did it all during the day while working night shifts as a police officer.

Adeel Alam (born March 28, 1986) is an Asian American professional wrestler and former police officer, currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Mustafa Ali.

Adeel Alam was born on March 28, 1986 in Bolingbrook, Illinois, the son of a Pakistani father from Karachi, and an Indian mother from New Delhi. He was raised in Chicago, Illinois. He has two older brothers. Alam wanted to be a wrestler since his youth, idolizing first Bret Hart and later also Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, The Hardy Boyz, Chris Jericho, and Hayabusa.