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#4 Mustafa Ali
A prevalent criticism of WWE over the past few years has been the lack of fresh or new ideas. Many cite the company's formulaic programming pattern as one of their biggest drawbacks. However, the same can't be said about WWE in 2020. The company has come up with several out of box ideas since March. They've used some fresh and new concepts in 2020 like cinematic matches or RAW Underground. Still, the final product and their execution have left a lot to be desired.
The Hacker storyline on SmackDown is one of the best examples of a great idea that amounted to nothing this year. Late last year, WWE started airing a series of vignettes on the "blue brand". Initially, they appeared to be some sort of glitch Later, fans realized that there was a method to this madness.
The vignettes were emblazoned with a ring of light that resembled the light pattern on Mustafa Ali's ring gear. Later, someone created a Twitter account called "The Message WWE."
The character became known simply as "The Hacker." The anonymous hacker was a hooded vigilante who was on a mission to expose the wrongdoings in the WWE locker room. He notoriously exposed Sonya DeVille when she conspired to cause a rift between Mandy Rose and Otis. WWE fans theorized that "The Hacker" could be Ali because of the eerie similarity between the two but alas, nothing came out of it.
Mustafa Ali quietly moved to RAW where he is currently involved in some sort of feud with MVP and his stable. Nonetheless, there have been reports that WWE wanted to continue the hacker storyline on SmackDown.
It's a shame because Ali needed a new gimmick like this to sink his teeth into. The Chicago-native is an upstanding guy in real life, so using "The Hacker" persona to exposes the evil would have fit him perfectly.
Ali is someone many believed would have a standout 2020. The former cruiserweight was cut some stirring promos towards the end of 2019 on SmackDown. Many fans were excited about the possibility that he was "The Hacker" but sadly that wasn't the case.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
