Aleister Black strikes back against ‘false’ narratives, says he ‘loved being in AEW’
Aleister Black is striking back against fan narratives that claim he didn’t enjoy his time in AEW.
Black spent nearly four years with AEW, joining the company in July 2021 before departing this February. He went by the name Malakai Black in the promotion and led the faction House of Black with Buddy Matthews, Brody King & Julia Hart. He has since returned to WWE, where he is part of the SmackDown roster.
During an appearance on The Ringer’s Masked Man Show, Black said the belief that he never wanted to be in AEW is “completely false.” He also attempted to refute rumors that he was reluctant to lose matches while with the company.
“One of the things, they’re like, ‘Oh, he never wanted to be in AEW.’ That’s completely false. That’s absolutely not true,” Black said. “I had a great time in AEW. I had a lot of fun. Did I do everything that I wanted to do? No, but that’s okay. Because at the end of the day, it’s not my company. I don’t have any say.
“And it’s the same way for all the, ‘He didn’t want to lay down for people.’ If you really think that I have so much pull in the company that I can say who I’m not going to go up against or lay down against, you think I’m going to not, like, vouch for myself and put myself in the main events and stuff? You think I’m going to politic for — oh, I’m not going to lay down for this person.”
Black said his health has been fine despite a previous back injury — which he has rehabbed — and a minor knee injury that only sidelined him for a week. While some fans questioned why he didn’t have more singles matches in AEW, Black says Tony Khan was “very adamant” about House of Black competing in trios bouts. When Black wasn’t on TV much, it’s just because that’s how they were being used.
Black said he made a “calculated business decision” to return to WWE after listening to what each side wanted him to do. But he enjoyed being with AEW — in particular listing his barbed wire steel cage match against Adam Copeland from Double or Nothing 2024 as a career highlight.
“I don’t like that that for a big part has also been like a running narrative, like coming out of it. Because I’ve always loved wrestling. I still love wrestling. I loved being in AEW,” he said. “I think my match with Adam Copeland in the cage is one of the funnest things I’ve done in wrestling, right?
“And yes, of course, at the end of it, I made a calculated business decision. I looked at what I wanted to do, where I wanted to do it, and how I wanted to do it. ‘Well, this is where my wife [Zelina Vega] was.’ Listening to option A with what they wanted me to do, listening to option B with what they wanted to do, and I picked the one that business-wise made sense for me. And also where my heart lay more in terms of, well, I feel I have a lot left that I want to do here. And I know on this side, this is what they want me to do. And that doesn’t completely align with what I want to do at this moment. So I’m going to go the other way.”
Black will be in action on WWE SmackDown tonight in a singles match against Damian Priest.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.