WWE superstar Ali recently sat down with The Independent to talk about fulfilling his life goal of being a wrestler and growing up deciding to be a police officer.
Ali stated that he never left his dream of being a wrestler go away. “I’d always had the dream that when I closed my eyes, I could see myself vividly, wrestling on pay per views and doing media calls like this. But when I opened my eyes, I didn’t see it and reality would set in – money, a house, a sick family member; real life stuff would get in the way.”
When it did not seem like the possibility of being a wrestler was going to be realistic, Ali says he turned to law enforcement. “An opportunity came up to be a police officer – I had a friend who was an independent wrestler and a cop, and he was telling me how much he loved the job and how meaningful he found his work. That was it – I went into it with the intention of making it my career and retiring at whatever [age] and having a full law enforcement career. But, for some reason, I couldn’t let go of wrestling.”
Ali admits that while being a police officer, he did not stop thinking about wrestling. “While I was a police officer, I’d do independent wrestling shows on the side. That was a crazy schedule. I was working as a cop the entire time I was doing the Cruiserweight Classic and the NXT stuff, and, on the side, I was doing independent wrestling shows! I always showed up for the roll call with a minute to spare and I’d be sweaty and have a black eye, and guys were like ‘what is wrong with this kid?! It wasn’t until the official offer came from WWE that I resigned”.
When Ali decided to pursue his wrestling career full time, he said “I left the law enforcement career behind, but my last day at work was a Friday, and the following week I came to TV on the Monday to start.” It looks like everything worked out in the end for Ali, who continues to work on being a prominent star on SmackDown Live. Check out the complete news article online now.
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