Quotes from Mustafa Ali

I was like, 'Hey, I love highflying. I love lucha libre. Can I just put on a mask and pass myself off as a luchador?' Everyone was like, 'You're going to do what you want to do,' so that's what I did for the first four or five years. I just put on a mask and pretended to be this luchador.

Wrestling is a reflection of society, and it does have an impact on people.

If you ever dissect '205,' take a hard look at it, it's always been a fantastic show. Regardless of what's been going on, the wrestling has been the best not only in the company but on the planet. The only critique, if you really dissect it, is that the crowd isn't into it; the crowd doesn't care.

Everyone in the world, regardless if they're Muslim or not, does not have to adhere to the label society slaps on you.

I will always rep '205 Live.' I will always support '205 Live.' I will always be the heart of '205 Live.' I will always be watching because you will never know when the heart of '205 Live' will beat again.

There were days I'd wrestle at 9 o'clock, and afterward, I often didn't shower and would just throw on sweatpants. I had my police gear in the car and would rush to get to the station by 10:30, clean myself off as best I could, and be ready for my shift by 10:59.

There wasn't a defining moment or match or even a person that made me want to wrestle. It all just sort of happened. Kind of like puberty.

My favorite wrestler growing up was Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.

It's very hard to be a family man, a father, a husband, an independent wrestler, and a police officer.

I always knew I wanted to be a pro wrestler for as long as I can remember.

I think being the only Pakistani wrestler in WWE will bring some attention from the country as well. I'll do my best to do Pakistan proud and give them something to cheer about.

I'm out here for opportunity and championship and a belt that spells my name, but on a bigger stage, my bigger goal, my mindset is to completely eliminate any doubt in some of the minds that, 'Hey I don't want to take my dream to WWE. Where I'm from, what I believe in, it could cause any trouble.'

The way '205 Live' came about, there was a lot of trust put into our roster. Because if you look at it, the majority of our roster had not been in the developmental system and NXT. And the majority of us had not been on TV prior to that. So for WWE to trust us and literally hire us and throw us on live TV, it was very, 'Whoa!'

I was that 16-year-old who loved WWE, and I wanted to be a pro wrestler, but I didn't understand why I had to be the bad guy. I wanted to be like Jeff Hardy - I wanted to be like Rey Mysterio - but I was told I had to be the guy who screamed terrible things about America and attack people from behind.

Prior to the Cruiserweight Classic, I had a tryout with WWE in 2013 and was told that I wasn't what they were looking for at the moment.

It took me 16 years to get to the WWE. And the reason for that is that I did it - I don't want to call it the responsible way, but I'm going to call it the responsible way. I went to school, I worked multiple jobs, and yeah, I chased my dream.

If anyone understands the enormous mountain that cruiserweights like myself have to climb, it's WWE champion Daniel Bryan - who not only climbed that mountain but now stands atop it.

What people don't realize here in WWE is, you can go out in any company, and you can have these crazy, five-star matches, and you can do all this stuff, and you don't have chains on you. The trick in WWE is to do it within this confined little box.

I can't tell you the amount of support I'm getting from WWE. They're allowing me to express myself freely, they're promoting me, and they're letting me be me.

I loved wrestling, and I wanted to go out and entertain people and all that stuff, so I get trained, and when they decided, 'Hey, you're ready for a match, and you've got to start thinking about a character,' I was thinking this guy and this guy, and they go, 'No, no, no - you're a Muslim. You've got to be a bad guy.'

Every single person in the Chicago independent scene said, 'You've got to be a bad guy. You're a Muslim. We're gonna make money. We're gonna call you Sheik Abdullah something. You're gonna wear a turban.'

I won't tell you that I'm lucky to be here because I know I'm skilled, and I know I'm talented in the ring. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the opportunity.

My entire life, I've had one mission to prove. It doesn't matter what your name is. It doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't matter what the color of your skin is. All that matters is what's in your heart.

I still hold that pen; I still write my own story. So it's going to take a whole lot more than Samoa Joe running me over. And it's going to take more than Randy Orton kicking my face in. It's going to take more than Erick Rowan slamming my head through a table. You guys keep trying to put me down, but I will not stay down.