Paul Heyman: Mustafa Ali Is One Of The Foremost Talents In WWE

Paul Heyman has singled out Mustafa Ali as one of the 'foremost talents' in WWE, because of his desire to do something new.

Heyman, special counsel to Roman Reigns on WWE SmackDown, was asked about the recent budget cuts and departures from the roster, and the former ECW boss believes new names need to look at it as an opportunity.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani for BT Sports, Heyman said: "Every single time someone is out the door, it enables someone else to come in the door, kick open the door, or at least say, 'That guy is gone, screw him, give it to me.'

"If I was a young guy, I wouldn't even wait for the entry-level positions, I'd come in pitching for the top. Put me in there. Don't fill the seventh spot with someone with tenure, put a new guy in there, put me in there, see if I sink or swim. If I sink, get rid of me, I'll just be another guy out the door and this one, it doesn't have the emotional attachment with the audience that the other guy who just left or you just fired has had for years. I'll be a new guy who gets shown the door, who cares about the new guy.

"What if I hit, I score, I connect, I draw money, I'm box office? Now you have a brand new guy who can move up to the top that's fresh, new, and different. Imagine somebody new, fresh, innovative ideas. Somebody new walks in the door and says, 'let me oppose him and bring a different perspective. Let the audience look at me and go these guys are opposing each other and this guy is a disruptor.'"

To illustrate his point, Paul Heyman singled out Mustafa Ali as somebody who is consistently looking to change the narrative and do something different.

"Look at Mustafa Ali. He is one of the foremost talents in WWE. Why? He constantly pushes against boundaries. He is going to be a sensation. One day or the next, he is going to be. Why? He's not held to convention or what's been done already.

"He looks and says, 'this is what I can do in the next 36 months and nobody else is doing it.' We need more people like that.

"We need more people like in NXT. Young talent sitting there and saying, 'I'll do it better than what anybody else is doing. Glad these guys are doing so well. Put me in there. I'll change the game and disrupt the industry.'"

H/T Fightful