AEW News Roundup - Major update on CM Punk's in-ring training, Former star looks unrecognizable, Big name posts epic teaser amid debut rumors (10th August 2021)

#1. AEW's Malakai Black on his relationship with Paul Heyman and the veteran's stint as RAW's Executive Director

AEW's Malakai Black was the guest on a recent Talk is Jericho episode, and the former WWE star opened up about the experience of working with Paul Heyman.

Black was one of Heyman's projects during the latter's time as the creative head of RAW. Malakai Black revealed that he 'meshed' well with Paul Heyman from day one and had immense love and respect for the WWE manager.

Unlike many people in the business, Black noted that Heyman was always blunt and honest during their interactions. The AEW star stated that Heyman had massive plans for the younger guys, including himself and Murphy.

Heyman even told Black once that he had complete creative control of RAW for only one night throughout his tenure as the Executive Director. Here's what AEW's Malakai Black had to say:

"Since day one, me and Paul meshed. I love that man," Black expressed. "I have so much love for that man. He's always been really good to me. He's been blunt with me, which I appreciate. I appreciate people being blunt with me. I don't like to dance around subjects, just tell me how it is, especially in this business. Paul had big ideas with not just me, but with a lot of younger people like Buddy Murphy being one of them as well. He once told me that he had one night of control. That was the first night he was on, and after that, everything became a fight." H/t WrestlingInc

Malakai Black has made a solid start to his AEW career, where he has been given the creative freedom to explore his unique character. As for Heyman, the former advocate for Brock Lesnar currently has his hands full as Roman Reigns' special counsel on SmackDown.