Mustafa Ali revealed he was the only man in the 2019 Money in the Bank ladder match who knew Brock Lesnar was winning.
The Beast was a surprised last-minute entrant into the 2019 Money in the Bank ladder match. Mustafa Ali looked like he was about to win before Brock Lesnar ran in to take him out and take the briefcase for the first time in his career.
Mustafa Ali recently appeared on Insight Chris Van Vliet about that match. He revealed that he was originally told he was winning the match before Vince McMahon told him he wasn’t going home with the briefcase.
“I show up to Money in the Bank, and they’re like, ‘Hey, you’re winning it.’ I go, ‘What? Okay, cool.’ So, this is so funny because, you know, I’m one of the shorter guys in the match. They actually had me climb up the ladder so they could adjust the briefcase to make sure it was within grabbing distance.” Mustafa Ali said.
“All day, we’re putting this match together, and everyone’s like, ‘Hey man, congrats, congrats.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah man, this is awesome.’ I was even thinking, ‘Oh, maybe I can get this briefcase to light up,’ because I was wearing all the light-up stuff at the time. It felt like one of those cloud-nine moments, like, ‘Man, I can’t believe this is happening.’ But deep down, I’m like, ‘This is not happening.'”
“So, the match is about to start. Entrances have begun, and I want to say Baron Corbin is making his entrance—I don’t know why, I just have his music in my head. Here’s a funny visual for you: I’m wearing this light-up mask, a light-up jacket, and a glove that all pulsate with lights. Jamie Noble comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, boss man wants to talk to you.'”
Mustafa Ali: Nobody In The Match Knew Brock Lesnar Was Winning
“I go to talk to Vince. Gorilla is completely dark. So, the only thing lighting him up is the red lights flashing from my gear. He’s wearing his little cheaters, looking up, and I approach him. He says, ‘Change of plans. Do the match, everything you called. When the time’s right, I want you to climb the ladder and grab the briefcase. Someone’s going to come out, tip the ladder over, and you stay down. Do you understand?'”
“And again, my lights are just flashing on his face, alternating black and red, so I’m taking this in, like, ‘Copy that, sir.’ Then I walk away, thinking, ‘It’s Brock. Who else could it be?’ I’m walking and walking, and then my music hits. He literally told me right before the match started.”
“None of the other guys in the match knew. Finn didn’t know. Randy didn’t know. Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, Andrade—none of them knew. I was the only one. As I’m walking down, I’m not saying anything to anyone. I’m just focused on the match. The match happens, and I’m climbing up the ladder, and man, I know people are like, ‘Why didn’t you just grab the briefcase and win?’ It’s because my boss told me not to!”
‘Brock Lesnar Is A Pro’s Pro’
“My music’s playing, and I’m thinking, ‘He’s got a vision; there’s no point in arguing this time.’ So, here’s what you didn’t see. I climb up the ladder, get my fingertips on the briefcase, and then Brock’s music hits. I do the whole shock face, like I’m supposed to. I’m thinking, ‘Okay, they’ll cut to Brock, and at some point, they’ll cut back to me.’ But they didn’t.”
“Now, what you didn’t catch on camera is that I tried to do this slip thing where the briefcase slips out of my hands. It was my way of covering for the fact that I couldn’t just stand there holding it forever. So, when Brock gets into the ring, you see me fumbling to regain possession of the briefcase. That was me trying to sell it, so later I could tell Vince, ‘Oh, it slipped out of my hands!’ You know, just in case.”
“So, I climb up, grab the briefcase, and Brock’s music hits. They cut to him, and I do the slip thing. While I’m looking down, Brock comes in like a freight train. He hits a ladder, and it completely annihilates a cameraman named Rico. The ladder smacks him in the head, and he goes down. Poor guy needed stitches. I’m standing up there, thinking, ‘Oh man, Brock’s going to murder me.'”
“And I hope I’m not ruining the mystique of Brock here, but what a pro. He gets in the ring, grabs the ladder, looks up at me, and says, ‘Hey kid, you ready?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ And he goes, ‘Okay, nice and easy. One, two…'”
“And the thing is, he was so nice about the push that I overcompensated. I was expecting this violent shove, so I launched myself off the ladder. I hit the top rope with my mouth, cut it open, and hurt myself pretty bad—all my fault. Meanwhile, Brock was just a total pro about the whole thing. Absolute class act.”
