Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I a ia e mahi ana i te "205 Live", i aro atu a Ali ki te Tiamana o WWE a Vince McMahon, nana nei i whakatau kia whakauruhia ia ki te waitohu SmackDown. E ai ki te kaituhi WWE o mua a Kazeem Famuyide, i kaha te akiaki a te WWE Champion a Daniel Bryan i muri i te whakaaturanga mo te "kanohi peepi wera" kia puta i te pouaka whakaata, me te kii ko nga peepi peepi katoa i akiakihia e ratou he 40-tau te pakeke; na tenei i arahi ai te whakahaere ki te kowhiri i a Ali mo tenei akiaki. I puta tuatahi a Ali i te marama o Tihema 11, 2018 i te waahanga o "SmackDown Live", ka aro atu ki a Daniel Bryan ka ngaro i a ia i muri mai i taua po. I te wiki e whai ake nei i runga i te "SmackDown Live", i whakapumautia a Ali hei mema mo te wa-katoa o te "SmackDown" me te mahi tahi me AJ Styles ki te patu i a Daniel Bryan me Andrade "Cien" Almas i roto i te tukinga takirua takirua, i muri i te whiunga a Ali ki a Bryan. I te Royal Rumble i te Hanuere 27, 2019, i whakataetae a Ali i te tukinga o te ingoa kotahi, 30 meneti te roa me te whakakore i a Shinsuke Nakamura me Samoa Joe, i mua i te whakakorea e Nia Jax. I te marama o Hui-tanguru, i whakaritea a Ali ki te whakataetae i te whakataetae Elimination Chamber mo te WWE Championship i te huihuinga ingoa, koinei tana tukinga taitara tuatahi o te ao; heoi, i tangohia ia na te whara tika, ka whakakapihia e Kofi Kingston. I hoki mai a Ali i runga pouaka whakaata i te
Ko te utu-i-te-tirohanga tere, hei taapiri i te meneti whakamutunga i te whakataetae WWE Championship i waenga i a Daniel Bryan me Kevin Owens, i ngaro a Ali i muri i te whiu a Bryan. I te Poutu-te-rangi 25, 2019, i whakaitihia tana ingoa mowhiti ki a Ali.