Recently released WWE Superstar Aleister Black signed with AEW as Malakai Black. While he’s doing well with his new contract at a new company, there are lingering questions about Aleister Black’s character.
One such is how he got the name ‘Aleister Black’. During a conversation with Chris Jericho on Talk is Jericho, Black explained how Triple H and he together you with parts of the name.
“Initially, me and Hunter started talking about a name. And he coined, ‘Allister Black’ and I didn’t want to be, especially because my style is more martial arts, Muay Thai and a little bit of kickboxing, compared to Alistair Overeem. I knew that if I would coined the name ‘Aleister Crowley’, I knew that certain individuals were going to go, ‘Oh, he’s trying to’ and it worked because I got conspiracy things written all about me.”
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He expected the fans to strike a connection between him and the occultist. And this is exactly what happened. Not only did the name get everyone talking, but also some said he was paying homage to him. Black constantly tried to keep up with his name, and try to connect with the darker side of things.
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Malakai Black compared his current character to a previous one
During the same conversation with Chris Jericho, he revealed that the Tommy End gimmick he did was a version of the Aleister Black character. In fact, that gimmick has similarities with Malakai Black in terms of sadism.
Read More: AEW Superstar Malakai Black Reveals Vince McMahon Could Never Figure Out What to Do With Him in WWE
“Tommy End was a little bit more sadistic, kind of what you see with this Malakai character. I would say that the Malikai character is more minimalistic in terms of presentation. I tried to grab as little amount of resources and tried to make it as big as I can, which is something that funny enough, we went over an entrance thing today that I really think I nailed because I’m only using one thing, and I think it really works.” H/t Wrestling Inc.
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Read More: “Long Live Tommy End”- Aleister Black Retires his WWE Character, Reverts to his Indy Name
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He revealed he enjoyed playing Aleister Black because he enjoyed the idea of demonic possession. Apart from that, he found the debate – “mental health issue vs. a religious issue” – particularly interesting.
Did you enjoy watching Aleister Black on WWE? Let us know in the comments below.