While Malakai Black has been linked to Cody Rhodes and the Nightmare Family since arriving in AEW in July, he did take a detour in October to face Dante Martin.
Black was victorious in the bout and gave Martin a nod of respect following his victory.
Speaking to The Five Count, Malakai listed future opponents while addressing his past match with Dante.
"I would say [Chris] Jericho, Christian Cage, because I think both of them, in my book, are some of the best that this business has ever seen. When I mention the Arns, Tullys, and Jakes (and how they help backstage), Christian and Jericho are part of that fabric. Every once in a while, I'll talk to Jericho and ask him some things and get his thoughts on it. For a casual wrestling fan, seeing myself against Jericho or Christian would be very interesting," he said.
Malakai continued by discussing other future opponents and how he wants to work with the younger talent to help build them as the future faces of AEW.
"The younger generation, guys like Kenny [Omega], Hangman [Page], even guys like Brian Cage and the even younger generation; guys like[Powerhouse] Hobbs, I would love to be against Hobbs because I think he's a guy that has a lot of potential, very much a diamond in the rough individual. He has all the skills, he just needs to come into his own. It's the with what I did with Dante Martin. I requested to work with Dante because I felt I could bring something out of him, could show the world something about Dante, and Dante could learn something about himself and about the structure of matches that he didn't know prior before that. Doing that for a guy that, I wouldn't say in the twilight, but I'm 36. If I have another good 10 years left, that's great, but while I'm still being built, it's important for me to build others. By me building others and building stars in the company, the company grows stronger. There is going to be a business after me and I need to help the business after me. Guys like Dante, his brother [Darius Martin], Fuego del Sol, all these guys have something special and something unique. It might not manifest itself in the first year or two or three, but when you look at them, you know there is something about them. I'm trying to get that something and move to the foreground because that is eventually is what the business will be built on, these kids that 10-15 years ago, I was in the same spot they were and there were a lot of guys that either wanted to help me or did not want to help because they saw that in me. 'If I reinforce this, it might cost me my spot.' I'm not one of those guys. I found the perfect balance in building others while building myself," he said.
Dante Martin was victorious on Wednesday's Dynamite, teaming with Lio Rush to defeat Lee Moriarty and Matt Sydal.
Black will continue his rivalry with Cody at AEW Full Gear when he teams with Andrade El Idolo to face Cody & PAC.
If you missed anything from AEW Dynamite, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.
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