Malakai Black reveals the origin of his name and mask in AEW

Malakai Black has made quite the impression on AEW since his release from WWE. When he debuted in AEW, the announcers called him Malakai Black, which was a surprise to everyone. Black has now revealed the origins of his new name.

Before being a part of WWE, Black wrestled under the name Tommy End. He took up Aleister Black once he joined NXT.

While speaking to Bleacher Report, Black explained how he landed on 'Malakai Black'. It was derived from Malachi which means messenger in Hebrew, a character based on European tribalism and paganism.

"When I made the transition from point A to point B, I wanted to commit myself to something that was different but, at the same time, had enough recognizable traits that it was still in the same wheelhouse of what I have done before," Malakai Black said. "I have always portrayed darker characters and my previous name was very 'old testimony.' I wanted to look at a name that was also referencing that but had different meanings. Malachi means messenger. He was a lesser prophet known in Hebrew. A lot of that character is based on European tribalism and paganism from around the time of Julius Caesar. There were a lot of Celtics in the lowlands who worshipped a deity called Cernunnos, and I based the mask and a lot of the dressing off of that symbolism. I find it fascinating. I had to do some digging and research to find something that would work in a similar fashion but still be something new."

Malakai Black is a continuation of Aleister Black in AEW

Malakai Black is a man who puts in a lot of work in his character work. Prior to his release from WWE, Aleister Black was totally repackaged and set to feud with Big E. That never materialized and in a few weeks he showed up in AEW.

I love Malakai Black's attention to detail. 1. He got possessed by Malakai and became Malakai Black, a continuation from being Aleister Black... 2. He's not just changing his name randomly, there's a story that continues.3. He still has a messed up eye from Buddy Murphy. pic.twitter.com/jh1aBjKOUG

— ChanMan (@ChandranTheMan) July 8, 2021

Malakai Black still donned the injured eye he received as a result of his feud with Buddy Murphy. His backstage vignettes and promos carried over from the dark character that Aleister Black was meant to portray in WWE.

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