Malakai Black knew where he wanted to go following his release from WWE.
The former Aleister Black debuted for AEW at their Road Rager edition of Dynamite, attacking Arn Anderson and Cody Rhodes. Speaking with the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Black recalled a conversation with Mr. Brodie Lee that stuck with him and helped him make his decision as to where he wanted to work. He said the following:
"I'll be completely honest with you, the day I got released, AEW popped into my head. I had so many friends there. One of the last conversations I had with Jon [Huber], rest in peace, he said, 'You'd love it here. You'd have so much fun here.' That kind of always stuck with me because him and me, every once in a while, would talk and there have definitely been moments where I was very frustrated. I know he went through similar stuff, so I spoke to him about it a couple of times and, you know, telling me how great he felt and how relieved he felt. So, that conversation stuck with me a lot."
In addition to AEW, Black says he would love to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling and cross that off of his bucket list.
"Then I got released, so from day one that was kind of the thought process," he began by saying. "There were multiple offers -- conversations happening from different companies. One of the companies that I still want to do some stuff for, hopefully in the future, is New Japan. That would make my circle complete. That's what I was kind of raised on. I always wanted to go to Japan. I always wanted to go to New Japan, so it's always been one of my ultimate goals. It's one of the last few things on the checklist is New Japan. Let's hope in due time, someway, somehow we can make that happen in the future."
Black wants to mean something in the wrestling world and is hoping that he can be an inspiration for others to pursue their dreams of being a pro-wrestler.
"I just want to have something that means something and I felt AEW was the company that I could do that with. I want to matter. I want to mean something. I want to look back at this and go like, 'I did one thing right. At least one thing I did right. At least one person is going to say, Tom, because of you I became a wrestler. Because of what you did there, or what you said in that promo. What you did in that match or that vignette, that turned me. That was my moment,'' Black said"
AEW recently announced that Malakai Black will make his in-ring debut on the August 4 episode of AEW Dynamite when he battles Cody Rhodes.
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