5 things you didn't know about WWE's Aleister Black
Aleister Black could be set for one of the biggest wins of his career this weekend when he steps into the Money In The Bank ladder match for the very first time.
Black is a former NXT Champion and has been popular with the WWE Universe ever since his debut back in 2016. Despite being over with the WWE Universe, many fans are unsure of Black's character, given the fact that it seems quite sinister, something that is also expressed in his tattoos.
He also has a background in martial arts, which means that he can land some of the most stunning strikes in the business. Over the last four years, many fans about Black have come to light, but here are some facts about The Striking Man from Amsterdam that fans may not be aware of.
#5. Aleister Black's childhood trauma
There are a lot of layers to the character that Aleister Black has created on WWE TV, but as part of a recent Q&A on his "A to Z" Youtube channel, Black was able to talk about one of the biggest things that have pushed him over the years. This would be Chlaustrphobia (fear of confined places), which was a result of childhood trauma.
When asked about his biggest fears, Black named spiders as one of them but pointed out that he didn't kill them because he didn't see his fear as a reason for them to have to die.
“I have claustrophobia, severely because I have panic attacks and anxiety. I’m not too keen on heights — god I’m gonna sound like a wuss with this. I’m like — the thing is I confront myself with a lot for my fears. I’ll put myself in situations like purposefully like so I can endure it. That’s what I did with spiders now I can pick them up and take them out of the house nowadays. When I was a kid I was terrified of them with good reasons because I had some weird experiences with spiders as a kid.
"As for claustrophobia, I have childhood trauma for being trapped in something for an extended period of time. When I think about it, it makes me [he shivered] — I was at this big jungle gym with my mom and there were these big tubes where I was climbing into and you climb up and they were very narrow. There was a kid behind me and there was a kid in front of me and they picked on me so they wouldn’t let me out.
"So, I couldn’t go this way or that way. My mom for like 20 minutes was like, ‘where is he?’ Then my mom saw it and these kids quickly ran off I don’t remember what happened after that. I just couldn’t do a small space anymore.”
His wife Zelina Vega, on the other hand, said that she was afraid of needles.