Mustafa Ali won a battle royal for the right to challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontinental championship. He got his shot at the longest reigning IC champ of this century at today’s (Sat., May 27, 2023) Night of Champions Premium Live Event at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Commentary made clear over and over again that Ali was a massive underdog with very little chance of actually pulling off the upset.
Sure enough, though he gave a valiant effort, he was pinned clean in the middle of the ring.
Ali was a fantastic underdog all throughout, and they played this beautifully as a smaller high athletic flyer trying to find any edge against a much bigger, much stronger foe. When he hit a sitout powerbomb from the corner and followed up with a 450 splash, it felt like he might really have a chance.
SO CLOSE!#WWENOC pic.twitter.com/7NtCy5x64W
— WWE (@WWE) May 27, 2023
And then GUNTHER clotheslined this head off. And again.
But Ali kicked out. And he kept right on battling, finding a way with a superkick and a tornado DDT. But the champion was just too much, and by the time he hit the big powerbomb, Ali didn’t have enough left in him to kick out this time.
Get complete Night of Champions results and coverage of every match on the card right here.
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