Mustafa Ali suffered a serious injury during last Sunday’s TNA Lockdown, but the spot responsible for the damage wasn’t the spectacular Crossbody that Jason Hotch delivered from the top of the Steel Cage.
Ali left the event as the new TNA International Champion after defeating Hotch, but he was hospitalized with a punctured lung and fractured ribs.
TNA confirmed on this week’s iMPACT that the champion is sidelined due to the lung injury.
Many initially assumed the injury happened when Hotch launched off the top of the cage and came crashing down onto Ali. Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, however, revealed that wasn’t the case.
“Apparently whatever it was that resulted in Ali fracturing his ribs and puncturing his lung, it was NOT the high cross spot off the top of the cage. It was, as is often the case in wrestling, just some random bump in the match.”
WrestlePurists @WrestlePurists Follow “Apparently whatever it was that resulted in Ali fracturing his ribs and puncturing his lung, it was NOT the high cross… Show more
10:34 PM · Aug 28, 2026There is no timetable for Ali’s return to the ring. He has already pulled out of independent bookings scheduled for September in Melbourne, Australia and Glasgow, Scotland.