Malakai Black discusses how "disturbing" childhood influences his character in AEW

Malakai Black has always had a dark and sinister-type character throughout his career in WWE and now in AEW. His mysterious and terrifying demeanor creates a similar ora to other wrestlers like The Undertaker, Kane, and Bray Wyatt. While fans in both WWE and AEW have shown their love for Black, in a recent interview, the AEW star has shed some light on his childhood and how it has influenced his character.

In an interaction with CBS Sports, Black discussed how his character's shadowy and supernatural aspects derive from his childhood, where he witnessed "some very disturbing and interesting things."

Furthermore, he describes how he has embraced his "past trauma" to work for him, not against him.

"I have a fascination with the occult because I grew up in a certain household that had some very disturbing and interesting things. So I know how to live these cult-like characters because I grew up with it. I understand this. This is part of myself that I can put into these characters. Within a year, two years from that it started taking off."

"It has to contain an essence of yourself.....I do think that when you grow up, you start to understand a lot more of yourself. Especially your past traumas. You start to acknowledge and you start to overcome. And when you overcome them, you can draw from them. You know they don't fight against you. They work with you ... The older you get, the more you understand yourself," said Black. (H/T: CBS Sports)

Later in the interview, Malaki Black went into how "uncomfortable" it was for him to speak about his childhood, specifically because it might affect his family members.

"Obviously, this is stuff that's being asked more, but the problem is a lot of these people are still alive and, a lot of them, they changed their ways. So I don't feel comfortable talking about it....I don't want their hard work to be slapped in the face because I felt the need to talk about it on a platform. These people have worked really hard to not be in that position," said Black.

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Malakai Black's current run in AEW

The Dutch star has had an impressive run since officially joining AEW in July of 2021. He is currently sporting a 9-2 overall record, having only lost one singles match to Cody Rhodes in October of last year.

He has recently been in a feud with the Varsity Blondes after he spit black mist into the eyes of Julia Hart.

Black faced both Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. on separate occasions. Following his match with Pillman Jr., Black seemed to turn his attention to Julia Hart once again, but The Lucha Bros saved her.