When I was growing up, I loved wrestling,
I loved everything about it.
One character that reached
out through the screen
and spoke to me was
Brett "The Hitman" Hart.
He was that classic
good guy and despite his
foes using underhanded tactics,
he never compromised who he was.
I was born in Chicago
with two older brothers.
I would make these
makeshift wrestling costumes
and we'd pretend we're at Wrestlemania.
But, when I tuned in, anyone
of Middle Eastern heritage
was always portrayed as the bad guy,
the evil foreigner,
[Clip]: (yelling in foreign language)
the terrorist.
And I knew I didn't want to do that.
The initial stages of my career,
I was actually hiding behind
a mask to hide who I was.
But, I was getting frustrated
and I wasn't getting better bookings,
I wasn't competing at bigger events.
Several of my friends in
the industry kept saying,
"You know, now is the time,"
"you should try out
doing an evil character."
And so was born Prince Mustafa Ali.
[Clip]: "Prince Mustafa Ali!"
You just add the whole head garb thing,
yelling in a foreign language,
[Clip]: (yelling in foreign language)
My bookings went up.
I was getting flown all
over the U.S. to compete.
But something inside of me,
there was always an uneasy feeling.
[Clip]: "What?"
[Clip]: "USA! USA!"
I remember seeing a young boy,
maybe six, seven years old,
and as I approached the guard rail,
he jumped out of his chair
and he put his hands up.
And I remember looking
into this kid's eyes,
and I remember seeing hate,
and right then and there
it hit me, I was like,
"Did I just teach this kid"
"to hate people that look like me?"
And from that point forward,
I created a new character: Mustafa Ali.
[Clip]: "Mustafa Ali!"
Mustafa Ali is who I wanted
to see when I was growing up.
I'm not wearing anything on my head,
I'm not saying anything in Arabic,
I'm just gonna come out as Mustafa Ali.
A lot of promoters were not
happy with the new direction.
It took me almost a year,
really working hard for my
actual in-ring performance,
night in and night out.
I have to prove myself all over again.
I remember performing in Paris.
[Clip]: (booing and negative yelling)
And I'd never heard that many
"boos" for me in my life,
and then I performed.
[Clip]: (crowd cheering)
Despite loosing the match,
they still chanted my name.
And I remember just taking
a moment to realize,
"This is what you're doing,
you're changing peoples' minds."
That's what the character's all about,
being the light in the dark.
[Clip]: "Mustafa Ali!"
I turned this public opinion
about me all the way around
and become one of the top
good guys in the industry.
[Clip]: "Mustafa Ali is
headed to Wrestlemania!"
And I got to compete at Wrestlemania 34.
For 20 minutes, the entire world,
millions of people, were watching me.
It's a dream come true.
[Clip]: "Oh no! Oh!"
[Clip]: "John Cena, standing up."
[John Cena]: "Well done!"
I represent the kids
that sit in the third row
that look like me, and they
got a funny name like mine,
and they get go, "Hey, Mustafa
Ali, he wrestles for WWE!"
There are no limitations,
there are no barriers.
Nothing can stop you and
nothing can define you but you.
[Clip]: "Here is your
winner, Mustafa Ali!"
