"You just killed the dude" – Veteran slams Triple H's booking of 36-year old on WWE RAW (Exclusive)
Triple H has received plenty of plaudits since taking over WWE's creative responsibilities. However, after the most recent episode of RAW, his booking of Mustafa Ali was criticized by former writer Vince Russo.
Mustafa Ali took on Bronson Reed on the Monday night show. During the match, the former NXT North American Champion tossed his 36-year-old opponent into the timekeeper's area. Ali returned to the ring and attempted to mount a comeback, but Bronson Reed finished off the match with a Tsunami Splash.
RIP Mustafa Ali https://t.co/MdBbVDAmnN #WWE #WWERAW
Speaking on Sportskeeda's Legion of RAW, former WWE writer Vince Russo criticized the fact that Mustafa Ali was involved in a painful spot but didn't sell it sufficiently.
"We all know my history with Muhammad Ali. Let me make one thing very clear, this was not his fault. This is the agent of the match, this is the agent of this match. This is not Ali. I doubt he’s laying out his own matches. I don’t think he’s got that kind of stroke. Bro, who’s this guy, Bronson Reed, Reed throws Ali in the chairs, looks like he killed him and I’m saying bro, that had to hurt."
He added:
"Those chairs are not worked, he did not know how he was gonna land, that had to hurt. They came back and he no sold it. How did he not get counted out after that? You just killed Bronson Reed. You just killed the dude. A 160-pound guy would be able to come back after that." [1:12:00 - 1:13:30]
Bronson Reed revealed that Triple H called him to discuss a WWE return
Bronson Reed is one of the many previously released WWE superstars who have returned to the company after The Game took over the helm of creative. He recently opened up on how his return transpired.
"I was actually here at home and it was Triple H that called me. So I always had a great relationship with him and at the time I was working with New Japan Pro Wrestling and it looked like I could do one of two things, I could have signed on with them, stay longer or I could have came back to WWE..."
Reed went on to say:
"And I sent a text to Hunter just to see if he was interested and he was and so he set up a time to call me, called me, and we had a great chat about about everything, not just coming back to WWE, but wrestling in general, what I've been doing and yeah, it just felt right." [22:55 - 23:34]
I could honestly see Johnny Gargano or Bronson Reed winning the Elimination Chamber Match
#WWERaw #EliminationChamber https://t.co/JAmanSWfdD
Bronson Reed has been booked as a monster since returning to the global wrestling juggernaut and will be a part of the Elimination Chamber match for the United States Championship.