WWE's experiment with the Retribution faction led by Mustafa Ali didn't go as planned, with many members of the group failing to be elevated during that time, while it was also not well-received by the audience.

In a recent interview on "Insight," Ali opened up about his struggles as the leader of Retribution, specifically explaining that the group failed to succeed due to being held back by former WWE CEO Vince McMahon. He stated that some of the fault was their inability to provide reasons for Retribution's heel antics.

"Did I know it was going to fail? I know we had our work cut out for us. I know the names weren't pleasant, the masks weren't pleasant, and it was kind of even more frustrating because there were so many talented individuals underneath these things. I had tried to save Retribution and Vince approved it at first but it just never made air." Ali said. "Retribution failed because there wasn't a why, there was never a why, Vince lost interest in it, not my story to tell. There was a power struggle between people and Retribution was affected because of that." 

Ali explained that he created a promo that revealed that he purposely gave his Retribution members horrible names and told them to wear ugly masks to make them experience the negativity that the WWE Universe initially showed him. Despite the writers loving the idea, McMahon wanted the promo to be done across social media and didn't allow it to be aired on television in a much more efficient and thought-out segment.