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Elias progressed to the semi-finals of the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Ali on the September 3 episode of WWE SmackDown Live.
The match received a lot of praise on social media after the show, with many fans believing that it was among the best that both men have been involved in so far in their main-roster careers.
Writing on Fightful Select, Sean Ross Sapp has revealed that Ali and Elias not only impressed fans with their performances, but they also caught the eye of three of the most important people in WWE.
Sapp says WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff both walked up to Ali backstage and congratulated him on the match, while Executive Vice President Kevin Dunn was also happy with the King of the Ring encounter.
Bischoff has been so impressed by Ali that he is said to be keen on pushing the former 205 Live Superstar on SmackDown, and it was also noted that “everyone seems to want to work with” both him and Elias.
Ali's WWE run in 2019
Ali has been regularly involved on SmackDown throughout 2019, despite struggling to hold down a meaningful storyline for much of that time.
One of the biggest moments of his career came in February when he suffered an eye injury in a match against Randy Orton.
This meant he was replaced in the Elimination Chamber match by Kofi Kingston, who later went on to take advantage of the opportunity by winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 before holding onto it for several months.
During this time, Ali briefly re-entered the WWE Championship picture before ‘Mania, losing in a Triple Threat match at Fastlane, while his Intercontinental Championship storyline with Shinsuke Nakamura abruptly ended shortly before SummerSlam.
Looking ahead, Ali is without a match at Clash of Champions on September 15, but fans can expect to see him a lot more on SmackDown if Eric Bischoff gets his way.
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