-- Mustafa Ali hasn't been seen on WWE TV in several weeks though many fans expected him back in front of his hometown crowd in Chicago for this past Friday's Smackdown, which of course didn't happen. Fightfulselect.com reports that not only was Ali not on that episode of Smackdown, but he had no content filmed for next week's Smackdown (which was taped the same day) nor was he even physically at the show in a backstage capacity.
-- Ali requested and was granted time off for paternity leave but the amount of time he was granted has already passed so the assumption is that he's ready to return but that creatively, the company currently had nothing lined up for him for the Chicago Smackdown shows. The report goes on to state that when Ali requested his paternity leave, WWE actually granted him the leave ahead of time and sent him home early in the period before Survivor Series.
