Ali Returns to NXT to Face Ethan Page for NA Title as Page Retains

Mustafa Ali returned to WWE NXT on September 30 and, a week later at the NXT versus TNA Showdown special in Orlando, picked up the long-delayed singles title opportunity he said he had earned in 2023. Ali confronted NXT North American Champion Ethan Page on television and was booked to face Page for the championship on the October 7 show at the WWE Performance Center. Page retained the title in the main encounter, pinning Ali after a late sequence in which a commentary desk headset cord became entangled around Ali's foot as he stood on the top rope.

Ali said his NXT return and the match carried personal weight because he had been released from WWE in September 2023, days before a scheduled North American title match. Speaking about the segment he delivered on NXT, Ali described a backstage conversation with NXT creative head Shawn Michaels in which Michaels urged him to be candid about the circumstances. Ali recounted Michaels telling him, "You've got to be real on this one," and said the audience response during the on-air promo convinced him that authenticity was the right move.

Page, who posted a pre-match video calling himself "the greatest North American Champion of all...