All Elite Wrestling talent Malakai Black gave fans an explanation for his name. In the WWE, his name was Aleister Black.
Comicbook’s Connor Casey interviewed Black about his name and the symbolism behind his black eye. Since his debut in AEW, wrestling fans have speculated about his face. In response, Black gave a unique explanation for his name change and appearance.
Casey transcribed the quotes from the interview.
“A lot of people started really digging through my old stuff and really found a bunch of really cool creative things. They haven’t completely discovered everything that I’ve did already with Malakai or am doing as Malakai, said Black.
He continued, “But, one of the things that I can tell you is that when I released ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ little movie, video trailer, teaser, whatever you want to call it. There’s a funny thing where a lot of people thought that it was a dig towards my former employer, but it was actually not at all. It was a creative way for me to ease out of Aleister and move into a different realm.”
While explaining the name change, Black revealed that a demon possesses him. The demonic possession is his way of acknowledging his time in WWE but evolving his gimmick in AEW.
“The idea behind it is that this greater entity known as Moloch or Malakai in this case, this messenger, orchestrated this whole idea that Tom was in a, what’s the best word to describe this, had this episode that lasted almost five years wherein he believed that he was Aleister and that he believed that he was a fallen angel with memory loss or Lucifer or Satan, however you want to call it,” said Black.
Malakai Black is Possessed
Black seems to have thought a lot about his gimmick in AEW. Black hasn’t clearly explained the reasoning for his name change and appearance on AEW television. However, he has continued to evolve the character slowly. His eye continues to look worse, and Black explains that it’s the result of the demon.
“He(referring to himself) had this episode, this manic episode, where actually it was Malakai who orchestrated all of this and through the injury in his eye was able to kind of like fracture apart in being able to manifest himself through the eye,” said Black.
He continued, “That’s also why this thing on my face keeps growing and growing because he becomes stronger and stronger, and it reacts to certain events and certain happenings. So in a way, it’s a continuation, but at the same time, there’s a layer above the layers.”
The Use of the Poison Mist
Black continues to add new elements to his gimmick. He has started to spew poison mist from his mouth into people’s eyes. Yesterday, Black used the poison mist to attack Julia Hart and blinded her. It’s unclear if the mist is due to Black’s demonic possession. However, it does seem Black has more ideas for his gimmick to continue to evolve.
