WWE SmackDown star Ali was a recent guest on Edge and Christian’s Pod Of Awesomeness and talked about the growing difficulties of being a parent on the road. Ali cited his increasingly busy schedule as one reason, noting that he was fighting for position on 205 Live, but the upside to that was he was able to be home a bit more:
“It just started to get more difficult now within this year. Two reasons, one because of the schedule. Before, I was just doing 205 Live. That’s a difficult spot to be in because you’re literally scratching and clawing for every minute. The upside is since you’re not on as many events, the schedule isn’t nearly as demanding as SmackDown or RAW. I got called up this year, and my daughter is 5 years old. She gets it more when I’m gone and it upsets her more. We had a schedule going to swim class on Thursdays, but last week I couldn’t because I was in Europe. It’s getting more difficult because schedules change.”
Ali discussed his time on 205 Live, saying there are frustrations working with the brand because he feels like the show loses momentum week-to-week despite having great content and getting initial praise:
“Only being on Smackdown for a few months, I can see the difference. I feel like everyone in this industry is hungry, especially in WWE. It’s fast-paced and you never know when an opportunity is going to come up in this type of environment. But 205 Live is different because it’s kind of that feeling where you go out and have a great match and kill it and everyone backstage is happy. Then, the next week, that doesn’t carry over. It’s that frustration of “that wasn’t enough, I got to do more?” Or of them not having time to do promos with you because SmackDown guys need the pre-tape room. It’s like this feeling of being the red-headed stepchild, and that made the 205 Live roster bond together even more. We gotta push each other and take care of each other. There’s an intense brotherhood back there, and you can tell. The main event of 205 Live every week, you can tell that it’s a match that people take notice of.”
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Ali said the show is in a tough spot by going on last in some markets, adding:
“This was summarized by Jack Gallagher one time by saying ‘We’re the opening act that goes on after the headliner.’ And it’s true, on long weekends, all the shows are in the same town. So sometimes, a crowd will see Takeover, the PPV, RAW, SmackDown and then last but not least, here comes the Cruiserweights! It’s a really tough spot. We just have to have the confidence that we end every main event winning over the crowd.”
