Mustafa Ali was released by WWE in 2023, which came out of the blue as he was scheduled to face Dominik Mysterio at NXT No Mercy. However, the former Superstar is open to returning to the company, and he claims that he still has a good relationship with the promotion.

"Business is so good for them, I do think there is a pathway back there," Ali said on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet." "There's good relations, there's good contact there. Even the release was like very nice, a lot of nice messages were sent. At the end of the day, it's on me, right? If I built something that's profitable and something that they see, oh this plugs in. With wrestling, everything is right place, right time. It's gotta be right for them, it's gotta be right for me, it's gonna be at the right time, it's gotta be at the right place."

Ali notably requested his WWE release at one point, only to be denied at the time. While he hasn't shared all of the details about the situation, he revealed that he asked for it privately before he went public, so he felt that he had no other choice. However, the former Superstar went through spells where he wasn't on television, and his ill-fated tenure as the leader of Retribution wasn't met with much enthusiasm. What's more, some of the creative plans for him were canceled after being started, including his "New America" gimmick.

It remains to be seen if Ali will return to WWE, but he's enjoyed success in TNA Wrestling and on the independent scene since parting ways with the company. That said, never say never in the wrestling business.