Malakai Black (FKA Aleister Black, Tommy End) hosted Thea Trinidad’s (Zelina Vega’s) Twitch channel yesterday. During the stream, he spoke about how his AEW debut all came together.
“Once I found out that my contract was a tad different than the usual, I just came up with this idea,” said Black (transcriptions via Wrestling Observer). “We made it a thing to make it available to as limited people as possible because that’s how you keep it under wraps. Security, Cody Rhodes, and a few others. It may have been five or six total people.”
On AEW Dynamite this week, Arn Anderson was in the ring when the lights cut out. When they returned, Black was in the ring. He attacked Anderson and then Cody Rhodes as well.
“I pitched that idea and said, ‘What if we do multiple blackouts throughout the show and insinuated the technical difficulties?’ Commentary did a great job getting that over and it came off great,” he continued. The lights also went out during the Rhodes vs QT Marshall strap match, with commentary alluding to there having been technical difficulties throughout the day.
Shortly after Black was released from WWE, there were rumors that some in the company were pushing for him to be brought back. Black also addressed his decision to sign with AEW during the stream.
“It was the right move for me to make for me, my family, my career, the state of mind I’m in. It’s just a really good company. I can’t say enough good things about it. They have a bright future.”
“Last night was top three one of my favorite moments of my career… It was the cumulation of months and months and months and having this big payoff was worth the pain, chaos, and perseverance,” Black concluded.
