Quotes from Mustafa Ali

At a young age, I was very aware I was different and not perceived in a good way. For a lot of my adolescence, I struggled with that, trying to identify where I belong and who my real friends are.

I was in high school after 9/11 happened. I didn't get bullied. I didn't get treated differently, but I definitely felt people looked at me differently.

My message to everyone is that we truly are one, and the minute you see me as the person, not just as the Muslim - when you see me as Adeel Alam and not just the character on TV - when you see past all of that, we are all the same, and we are all just one.

Embrace your colour, heritage, whatever you want, but don't let it confine you. Just live without labels.

Nothing hits harder than that: nothing more frustrating than your body giving up on you before your heart does.

When I was trying to achieve my goal, I started training. I became a character, and everyone was expecting me to become the 'Prince of...' or the Middle-Eastern, and I wanted to wear a mask, and I wanted to be like a luchador from Mexico. And people asked me, 'Why are you putting a mask on?' And the truth is, I did not want to deal with who I was.

There's a level of exposure that 'Smackdown' and 'Raw' get that other brands like 'NXT,' 'NXT UK,' and '205 Live' do not get. But at the same time, I feel like I would not be who I am without '205 Live.'

I was like, 'Prince, prince. Prince Ali. People know that from 'Aladdin.' I'm a big fan of Muhammad Ali. I can't be Muhammad Ali. I'm looking up royal - Mustafa. Mustafa's a royal name. Prince Mustafa, OK fine.' Prince Mustafa Ali came from that, and it's an easier name for people to remember, too: Prince Ali.

I think '205 Live' is the ultimate underdog story. This isn't a knock on any other brands; you have your stars on 'Raw,' you have your stars on 'SmackDown Live,' and I almost feel like NXT already has this amazing face to continue building stars, but '205 Live,' that is not the case. There is no foundation. We are not capitalizing off of stars.

All the love in the world for Kofi Kingston, but I'm coming back for my spot.

I am the guy who always gets put in the tough spots. I'm the guy who gets put in these really dark spots, yet somehow, I shine through.

In the initial stages of my career, I was actually hiding behind a mask to hide who I was, but I was getting frustrated. I wasn't getting better bookings; I wasn't competing at bigger events.

What happened was like any guy on the indie scene - I've been wrestling for 16 years; everybody thinks I'm this new, young. I'm like, 'I'm 32. I've been at it for 16 years. I just couldn't get to the next level.'

The biggest thing with the '205' guys is that we are trying to build the brand and each other, which makes it more difficult, but we are all stepping up to the plate.

I've had nights where it's very obvious that I'm the good guy, but I'm still booed, and you can kind of make a checklist about reasons why they're booing me, and one of the evident ones is because of my name and where I'm from.

My wife herself had an upbringing where she wasn't allowed to pursue what she wanted to do because of her parents. She wanted to go into photography and journalism, but because classes ran so late, she had to be home at a certain time. We don't want that for our daughter.

Someone with my name and my appearance comes with preconceived ideas attached. My mission is to erase as many preconceived ideas, barriers, and stereotypes as I can.

I'm oddly comfortable in the ring.

When 9/11 happened, it affected everything. It affected me. I'm an American, and I'm like, 'Oh my God, this is evil. This is terrible.'

My daughter's absolute go-to is Sasha Banks. However, we did do the 'Dance Break' one time in Chicago, so she keeps talking about Carmella.

I've seen guys get hurt from strikes. I've seen guys get hurt from flips. It's the risk we take. I feel the fear of getting hurt will get you hurt.

The whole idea of 'Secret Life of Muslims' is that we're just ordinary people. We're your neighbors; we're your coworkers. We like coffee, you know? We're everyday normal people with hopes and aspirations and fears.

One week, you're facing Daniel Bryan, and next week, you're teaming with AJ Styles. You're in the ring with the best in the world. Part of me wants to tell myself they don't just put anybody in the ring with them. I obviously want to be as good as them, and I feel like I can be and I can hang with them.

I want people to hear the name Mustafa Ali and want them to know that I'm a proud American. I'm from here, I'm from Chicago; I'm just like one of you.