Mustafa Ali was recently interviewed by Lilian Garcia for her podcast, Chasing Glory. During the podcast, Ali spoke on a wide variety of topics.
One of these topics was about 205 Live airing after Smackdown went off the air (before it was changed). He also opened up about fans leaving during the show.
Here is what Ali said (h/t to Wrestlezone for the quotes below):
“When 205 started we were going on after SmackDown. I don’t know if you ever been to a concert, but the opening act starts and then the headliner comes out. We were reverse. I remember standing in Gorilla. It was me vs Ariya Daivari and we’re watching the monitor and it’s John Cena vs Randy Orton in a 2 out of 3 falls match and we have to go out after that. If there’s ever crew of guys that are behind the 8-ball every night that have their work cut out for them, respectively, it’s the 205 Live guys.In the early stages of things, there was some genuine interest: what is this show about? But as time progressed, I think people did lose interest in it. We were in a tough spot. Like I said, John Cena vs Randy Orton in a 2 out of 3 falls match, so some would stay and some would leave.
Yeah, it’s a little disheartening when you want to give your heart and soul in this ring and you look up and half the arena is gone. It reminds you of how much work you have to put in. It doesn’t matter if there are 500 people in the stands or 50,000. The 205 Live guys stick to the script and we’re gonna tear it down each night and now it’s nice to kinda see the way this is turning so to speak.
Now people are staying for 205…205 guys are on pay-per-views now, so we’re putting in the work. We’re not done yet by any means. The biggest thing is the 205 Live guys are trying to build a brand and each other at the same time which makes it even more difficult, but we’re all stepping up to the plate”
Your thoughts on his comments?
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