New AEW star Malakai Black (Tommy End, fka Aleister Black) says his debut on Wednesday night during the Road Rager edition of Dynamite on TNT was one among his career highlights.
Black appeared on his wife Zelina Vega’s Twitch account last night and gave insight into his debut, why he visited AEW, his new Malakai character, and more. The stream are often seen here. While Black’s debut was rumored on Wednesday afternoon, he noted that only a couple of people knew he was debuting that night. As noted, Black was ready to debut so early, after being released from WWE on June 2, due to a clerical error together with his non-compete clause, which made him a free agent before expected.
He commented on how they made the debut happen.“Once I acknowledged that my contract was a tad different than the standard, I just came up with this concept,” Black said. “We made it a thing to form it available to as limited people as possible because that’s how you retain it covert. Security, Cody Rhodes, and a couple of others. it's going to are five or six total people. “It was all previous second. I desire, in modern-day wrestling, there are few moments to form a real surprise and obtain people to seem your way. on behalf of me to sneak in, not be seen, dip and dive in order that they wouldn’t see me, that took some skill.” Black revealed his new character earlier that day with a well-produced but graphic Instagram vignette, which you'll see at this link.
He noted on Twitch that his creative vision for his character has him playing the heel. He’s had that concept since debuting in WWE NXT a couple of years back, but Triple H always saw him as a babyface in NXT, therefore the character never made it to the storylines. Black also confirmed that he has new entrance music and ring gear to debut.
Dynamite featured lighting issues to tease Black’s eventual debut, which the announcers blamed on the weather in Miami. the primary blackout came during the Strap Match between Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall. Black later debuted during an in-ring interview with Tony Schiavone and Arn Anderson, attacking Arn until Cody made the save. Black then took out Cody, fixing his first feud. Black revealed that the blackouts were his idea.
He praised AEW for the creative freedom. “I pitched that concept and said, ‘What if we do multiple blackouts throughout the show and insinuated the technical difficulties?’ Commentary did an excellent job getting that over and it came off great,” he said. “It feels good where I’m during a place where my creative mind are often utilized rather than stopped and controlled and knowing that things weren’t getting to work.” Black continued to praise AEW and said the move was the proper one for multiple reasons. He also said this debut was one among the highlights of his career, and one among his top three favorite moments.“It was the proper move on behalf of me to form on behalf of me, my family, my career, the state of mind I’m in. It’s just a very good company. I can’t say enough goodies about it. they need a bright future,” he said. “Last night was top three one among my favorite moments of my career… it had been the buildup of months and months and months and having this big payoff was well worth the pain, chaos, and perseverance.” Black continued the praise when talking about AEW President & head Tony Khan. “My first impression of Tony is great. What a f—ing wonderful dude. very nice guy. Loves his company, loves wrestling,” Black said when a lover asked about Khan.
As noted yesterday afternoon, AEW made a Twitter post to officially announce that Black has signed with the corporate, noting that he's All Elite. you'll see that post below, along side a glance at Black’s debut and his first piece of AEW merchandise. you'll click here for details on how Vega publicly reacted to his debut.