Mustafa Ali's Name Shortened to 'Ali' on WWE's Website

Another WWE star fell victim to the company's trend of shortening a wrestler's name. Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin reported Mustafa Ali will now be referred to simply as Ali on WWE programming.

Ali's profile on WWE.com already reflects the change: "A veteran of the cruiserweight wars, Ali brought his years of in-ring experience to Full Sail University in pursuit of the Cruiserweight Classic crown during the Cruiserweight Classic."

This is nothing new. Big E, Elias, Andrade, Cesaro, Rowan, Harper and Rusev all saw their names shortened in recent years. Heavy Machinery hardly had time to establish themselves on the main roster before they fell victim as well.

It's anybody's guess as to why WWE insists on doing this.

Cesaro was originally "Antonio Cesaro" as he rose through the ranks in NXT and emerged on the main roster. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer reported in February 2014 that a WWE official thought "Antonio" didn't convey enough toughness, thus it got scrapped altogether (h/t Wrestling Inc's Marc Middleton).

Throughout history, though, almost every major star is identifiable by his first and last name: John Cena, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Randy Orton, Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho, among others.

There are obvious exceptions—The Rock, The Undertaker, Diesel, Triple H, Edge, Mankind, Batista—but those generally weren't an alteration to a previously established first and last name structure. In the case of Triple H, that was a clear upgrade over Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

Ultimately, fans are free to call wrestlers whatever they want. "Mustafa Ali" may be gone in the eyes of WWE, but that doesn't have to be the case with the WWE Universe.