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This week's episode of WWE RAW was a very lopsided affair, where the good was good and the bad was pretty bad. And then, out of nowhere, Mustafa Ali became a part of the RETRIBUTION faction.
A lot of you may be wondering why Mustafa Ali, of all people, was chosen to be a part of RETRIBUTION after watching WWE RAW and be assured that all of us in Sportskeeda have as many questions as we have answers. But if you take a minute to think about it, it makes all the sense in the world, and we will tell you why in this article.
Be sure to leave a comment and let us know why Mustafa Ali is the right choice for RETRIBUTION or not, based on whatever your personal opinion is.
#5 RETRIBUTION needs a familiar face in its ranks and Mustafa Ali fits the bill
Mustafa Ali is a fantastic promo and can be the mouthpiece for RETRIBUTION on RAW. Yes, of course, we are familiar with the members of RETRIBUTION because they are established NXT Superstars, but one has to remember that there is a significant audience that watches RAW, that does not watch NXT. The faction needed someone that the mainstream audience is familiar with, in Mustafa Ali, as the mouthpiece and the face, when the rest of the men are masked.
In fact, because every member of RETRIBUTION is masked (even though a one-eyed luchador would be able to tell their identities), the addition of Mustafa Ali into their ranks adds a huge human touch to the whole thing. Yes, one can even imagine them becoming babyfaces going forward because Mustafa Ali has a wonderful babyface quality to him that may actually serve the faction very well indeed.
#4 Mustafa Ali has cause to want retribution against those part of WWE RAW management
Even though reviewing wrestling is what we do at Sportskeeda, we have to admit that because of the volume of pro wrestling out there, we do not always have the time to actually watch WWE Main Event. Mustafa Ali has been tearing it up on Main Event with some of the most talented men in the WWE RAW roster, and if you look at his social media, he is constantly encouraging more and more people to check the show out. But despite all his accomplishments on Main Event, the man has not received his due on the WWE RAW roster. Such a man who is overlooked and undervalued will always demand retribution.
If someone from the WWE RAW roster had a natural grouse against management, it would be Mustafa Ali. One has to wonder whether others like Bo Dallas and maybe even Drew Gulak, who has been relegated to the 24/7 Championship picture, when he is so good, will join RETRIBUTION someday.
#3 Mustafa Ali needed a character after the recently dropped hacker gimmick and joining RETRIBUTION works
In case you have forgotten already, there was a hacker storyline happening on SmackDown and everyone assumed that it would be Mustafa Ali, who would eventually be revealed as the man who was leaking footage of WWE Superstars. There are a lot of theories doing the rounds about Mustafa Ali still being the hacker and how it ties in with RETRIBUTION, and while that may very well be the case, the man did not benefit from the gimmick as we'd assumed he would and hence, this feud needed to happen.
Listen, we all know that when the bell rings, there is none better than Mustafa Ali when it comes to putting on a great match, but at the same time, the audience has not been able to gravitate towards him as they have with other babyfaces because he's been portrayed as little more than a 'wrestler'. Thankfully, as a part of RETRIBUTION, this is pretty much guaranteed to change for the better, and Ali will be able to reach new heights.
#2 Takes the RETRIBUTION vs. Hurt Business feud to the next level
The Hurt Business and RETRIBUTION have been feuding on RAW, but The Hurt Business has also been feuding with Mustafa Ali, Ricochet, and Apollo Crews. In a lot of ways, by having Mustafa Ali join forces with RETRIBUTION, it actually allows for the feud to reach the next level, especially if he comes after the US Championship. Sure, a heel vs. heel feud is always awkward, but at the same time, a RETRIBUTION member fighting with a Hurt Business member for the WWE United States Championship just elevates the title.
Also, from a storyline perspective, now one understands how RETRIBUTION was able to sneak into so many episodes of RAW, especially if you consider that they had a man on the inside.
As Byron Saxton said during the course of RAW, this was a well laid-out plan from Mustafa Ali and did not happen overnight. The question in everyone's mind is whether or not the plans for Ali will change overnight, in terms of creative, after he shocked the world.
#1 Is Mustafa Ali the first of many Superstars that could join RETRIBUTION?
If you grew up in the 90s, the nWo was probably a big part of your childhood and the biggest thrill in their case was not knowing who would sign up with the heel faction next. While RETRIBUTION is nowhere in the same league as the nWo in terms of legacy, Mustafa Ali could the first of several Superstars to join the heel faction. In fact, Mustafa Ali could extend the olive branch to his friends Apollo Crews and Ricochet to join RETRIBUTION in the weeks to follow. The only thing we know at this point is that with Mustafa Ali joining RETRIBUTION, we may never hear the 'Imma Go Hard' theme again, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.
If you want to hear more thoughts about Mustafa Ali joining RETRIBUTION and everything else that happened on WWE RAW this week, be sure to check out Legion of RAW with Chris Featherstone where he has a very special guest for this special episode.
