Mustafa Ali wants to face Hiromu Takahashi in 2025 NJPW Best of the Super Juniors

Mustafa Ali is shooting his shot.

Ali came up short in his match against Hiromu Takahashi at Friday’s NJPW Capital Collision, losing after Takahashi countered Ali’s 450 splash and hit the time bomb for the win. After the match, Ali could be heard shouting at the announcers, who later said that Ali wanted a match against Takahashi at next year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, noting that he and Takahashi were currently tied at one win each.

The two first faced off at Windy City Riot earlier this year in Chicago, with Ali scoring the win.

Since being released by WWE last fall, Ali has worked the independent circuit and TNA, where he won the X-Division title in February. After losing the title to Mike Bailey in July he departed TNA, losing to Nic Nemeth in a match that had been for the TNA World Championship.

Coming up short in this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, Takahashi has spent most of the summer working both in NJPW and CMLL, where he’s faced off against the likes of Mistico and Templario.