Mustafa Ali was among the recent mass WWE talent releases that affected both the main roster and NXT. As a result, NXT had to make changes to its plans.
Ali was supposed to challenge Dominik Mysterio for the North American Title at the WWE NXT: No Mercy pay-per-view event. However, Dominik ended up defending the title against Trick Williams instead and lost, making Williams the new champion.
According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio, Ali was not originally planned to win the title and the decision to give it to Williams was made late.
