Many fans will continue to Malakai Black for his run as Aleister Black in WWE, and this association has been a factor of his run in AEW. Viewers continue to compare the two personas, but the former NXT Champion recently explained that he quite literally broke away from the Aleister character with the vignette he made after his WWE release in June.
Titled “The Devil Made Me Do It,” the teaser video shows Black locked up in a psychiatric facility of some sort and violently breaking his way out. Fans immedaitely assumed that the video was a criticism of the way he was confined or limited in WWE, but during an interview with Casual Conversations, Malakai Black described how the teaser was meant to transition into his new persona, without knocking WWE whatsoever.
“First and foremost, ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ was not a dig at WWE,” said Black. “It wasn’t a, ‘Oh, I was locked up in a mental,’ that was not it. It was just, for me, a creative way of like, alright so how do I go from this person, this Tommy End to Aleister Black to whatever installment is next? And how do I do it in a way that I find entertaining, where I feel like I can build on, right?”
Later in the interview, when asked whether he’d want to face fellow former NXT Champion Adam Cole in AEW, Black emphasized how he wants his run in AEW, and as Malakai, to be completely “fresh” and “new.”
“The reason why I created this Malakai IP is because I wanted to do something brand new,” said Black. “I wanted to do something fresh. I had a clean slate. And sure there is tie-ins to stuff. There will always be tie-ins. But I wanted it to be different enough and be molded enough for it to be perceived as different, unique and an enhancement to what I’ve done prior, and not alienate the fan base I already had.
“I personally don’t always want to reference about [WWE.] And the reason why is because I want to present the hear and now. I want to be able to create the here and now with this new branding IP, which is in a similar fashion, similar vein, but for me it’s important, I came in something different, and then let’s take that ball of like unique individualism and just start over fresh.”
Black continues to carve his own path in AEW as a distinct individual, and it’ll be interesting to see what he does next.
