"It's shaped wrestling" - AEW's Malakai Black on the impact NXT had on the wrestling industry
AEW star Malakai Black has taken the time recently to look back on his time in NXT, and has admitted that the landscape of the wrestling business today wouldn't be the same without the "black and gold" brand.
Malakai signed with WWE back in 2016 but did not appear on NXT as Aleister Black until 2017, where he had one of the most successful runs of his career. He had memorable feuds with the likes of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano and even won the NXT Championship in 2018.
The Dutchman was a huge part of NXT's white-hot streak in the late 2010s, and was somewhat mis-managed when promoted to the main roster, where he didn't find half of the success he did while in NXT.
Nxt Aleister Black is the best version of him https://t.co/NXUNP9hYsE
Now that NXT has moved on from it's black and gold era, Malakai Black spoke to the Milwaukee Record about the lasting legacy of the brand and stated that it changed wrestling for the better.
It’s shaped wrestling and it’s actually a conversation I had with William Regal not too long ago. Regal was also very much under the impression that what we did back then garnered a lot of eyes and made people think about how wrestling could be presented too.” (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
Malakai also commented on what NXT did for his career, and stated that even the smallest of shows were huge in building his name and others around him to be the international stars they are today.
“From a platform of just conversing with people and getting my name out there, it’s obviously given me a platform and skills to have a continuation of what I’ve always done in wrestling but just giving me that larger stage and allowing me to translate what I do on a bigger platform. A lot of the smaller shows, even with NXT, were a massive part of that. It’s undeniable.” (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
Malakai Black will be in action this week on AEW Dynamite
Amazingly, Malakai Black has not held a singles championship since his reign with the NXT Championship. However, that could all change this Sunday at the AEWxNJPW pay-per-view, Forbidden Door.
On June 26th, the first-ever AEW All-Atlantic Champion will be crowned, with Black being a potential contender. But he's not there yet, because this week on AEW Dynamite, he will take on Penta Oscuro with the winner advancing to Forbidden Door and the chance to become the All-Atlantic Champion.
#AEWDynamite THIS WEDNESDAY LIVE at 8pm ET / 7pm CT on TBS!
-@IAmJericho/@LanceHoyt v @JonMoxley/@tanahashi1_100
-All-Atlantic Championship Qualifier @PENTAELZEROM v @malakaiblxck
-@orangecassidy/#RoppongiVice (@trentylocks/@azucarRoc) v @WillOspreay/#AussieOpen
+ much more TBA! https://t.co/HL9rOeTIEp
The match to be crowned the inaugural champion will be a four-way match that also includes Miro, PAC and NJPW star Tomohiro Ishii, who have all won their respective qualifying matches to reach the show.
A win over Penta will take Malakai Black one step closer to championship gold in AEW, but will he beat one of his biggest rivals this week on Dynamite? You will have to tune in to find out.