AEW News Roundup: Malakai Black discusses AEW Debut, Matt Hardy picks AEW and WWE Wrestler of the Year, Jim Ross reveals criticism over 'WWE Dynamite', and more (11 July, 2021)
Hello and welcome to today's edition of the AEW News Roundup. We aim to bring you news about the events around the Tony Khan-promotion. Last week was a major one for AEW as they officially got back on tour, presenting a special episode of AEW Dynamite: Road Rager. The show was a roaring success for multiple reasons.
Aleister Black aka Tommy End made his blockbuster debut under the name Malakai Black, interrupting an Arn Anderson promo. Black opened up about his debut and how he kept it a secret on his Twitch stream. Former WWE tag team champion Matt Hardy has revealed his picks for WWE and AEW wrestlers of the year.
Jim Ross spoke about his infamous botch, wherein he referred to AEW Dynamite as WWE Dynamite and how people got too cynical with their criticism. AEW announced that tickets for All Out 2021 had sold out, shortly after being made available.
Lastly, various big names like Darby Allin and Matt Hardy are set to feature in the upcoming AEW Dark: Elevation episode.
Let's jump right into it.
#5. Malakai Black opens up about AEW Debut
Malakai Black made a heart-stopping debut at AEW Road Rager. He wasted no time as he took out Arn Anderson and Cody Rhodes with his vaunted finisher, the Black Mass. The debut was made all the more surprising as he hadn't fulfilled what most believed was a typical 90-day no compete clause following his release from WWE.
Even then, in the age of the internet and dirt sheets, it's a challenge to keep anything under wraps. Black explained how he managed to do it and how very few people knew about his debut, praising AEW and their crew.
It was a hassle to keep under wraps. Once I found out that my contract was a tad different than the usual, I just came up with this idea. I had already made the character movie and I came up with this idea and the company liked it so we ran with it. It was all very last second. I feel like, in modern day wrestling, there are few moments to make a genuine surprise and get people to look your way. For me to sneak in, not be seen, dip and dive so they wouldn't see me, that took some skill. Kudos to AEW and the entire crew. What a great operation they have there. (H/t: Fightful)
Black further went on to call his debut one of the top three moments of his career and how the excitement kept him awake the night before the debut:
Last night was top three one of my favorite moments of my career. I slept for three hours because my adrenaline was so high. It was the cumulation of months and months and months and having this big payoff was worth the pain, chaos, and perseverance.
Malakai Black is a top tier talent and the possibilities in AEW for him are endless.