In a move that came completely out of nowhere, WWE kicked off a heel alliance between Sami Zayn and Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown Live last night. They teamed up to take out The Miz and it now appears as if he will challenge the King of Strong Style for the title at Clash of Champions.
This leaves Ali high and dry as WWE was clearly building to a match between him and Nakamura for the title (which was rumoured to take place at SummerSlam but never happened).
When one fan asked Ali on Twitter whether the storyline and his shot at the Intercontinental Championship had been dropped by WWE, he simply replied, "Yes." Ali did, however, work a dark match which saw him lose to Samoa Joe but it's been a while since he's been seen on TV and WWE's plans for him are now unclear.
On the plus side, he is part of the King of the Ring tournament!