Mustafa Ali Reveals TNA Was Forced to Edit Promo After Donald Trump Assassination Attempt

Mustafa Ali had a stellar run during his time in TNA Wrestling earlier this year as he got to explore his political character for the first time. However, it appears TNA had to edit out a promo with Mustafa Ali because of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump earlier this year.

While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Mustafa Ali shared a story about how TNA had to change a segment because of a real-life event. During his feud with Mike Bailey, they created a scene where Ali, playing a cocky politician, arrived at the arena in an SUV with his campaign manager.

Ali about how much the fans loved him while shaking their hands, only for Mike Bailey to appear in the crowd, grab him by the throat, and try to pull him out of the SUV. Security stepped in, and Mustafa Ali managed to escape Mike Bailey.

“In TNA I had a feud going on with Mike Bailey. Weeks and I’m talking about weeks before a real life event happened, we came out with this idea where after I’d been torturing Mike Bailey for weeks, I’m pulling up to the arena in an SUV and I have a campaign manager with me called Campaign Singh. I’m like, ‘Man, these idiot voters love me. Watch me put this window down,’ and he’s like, ‘Sir, I don’t think that’s a good idea.’ I’m like, ‘Shut up, they love me.’ And we have all these fans going, ‘Yeah yeah!’ and I’m shaking their hands, these idiots. As I’m shaking their hands I’ going back and say, ‘They love me.’ Appears Mike Bailey within the crowd, and Mike Bailey grabs me by the throat and is trying to pull me out of the SUV. Secret Service jumps on him and I’m like, ‘Drive! Drive! Drive!’ We drive away.”

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Later in the show, Ali’s character called the attack an “assassination attempt” during a promo. However, just before the segment was set to air, there was a real assassination attempt involving Donald Trump on July 13th.

Ali realized people might think they were mocking the situation, so he asked TNA to edit the scene. They removed the reference to avoid any misunderstandings. Ali explained it was an unfortunate coincidence and stressed that he didn’t want anyone to think they were making fun of something so serious.

“Later that night in a promo, I say Mike Bailey tried to attack me, which the public has deemed an assassination attempt. We tape this. The week that’s gonna go live, which is a Thursday, earlier that week the incident happened with Trump. The assassination attempt. So I’m sitting and I’m watching this, ‘Oh no.’ Some people had nothing to do with it, right? A genuine coincidence. So I had to text TNA cause some people would think we’re parodying it or making fun of it and no matter how you feel about someone, death is death. I don’t wish that upon anybody. So, I made the call, ‘Hey I think we should edit this” so we edited that part out. It just goes to show you the volatile nature of this character.”

This simply goes to show just how unpredictable the world of professional wrestling can be and how the business can be affected by real-life incidents. Regardless, Ali eventually parted ways with TNA Wrestling and is now working in the indies again, but he will always remember how Trump’s assassination attempt made him change such a crucial promo.

What do you think about Mustafa Ali’s decision to edit the segment? Should wrestling companies take more care when addressing sensitive topics, or was this just an unfortunate coincidence? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.