Malakai Black discussed a wide range of topics during an interview with Bleacher Report. Here are some of the highlights:
Having creative control:
“My creative input is almost 100 percent,” he said. “I will send my ideas to Tony [Khan], and he will either give his thoughts on it or sign off on it. The locker room itself is absolutely great. It’s a group of people who will fight tooth and nail to get things done. There is a huge amount of talent in that locker room. I feel that after 21 years of being in this business, I can help that new generation and younger kids who will inherit this business and help them discover themselves. I can ask them the questions that will allow them to start the thinking process to make themselves better.”
Facing Cody Rhodes:
“It went exactly the way I thought it was going to do,” Black said. “Cody is a very talented individual with a similar mindset. He has accomplished many great things in this business. I don’t know if this is the end of our dance or what will happen, but I gave him a sendoff that is probably still deeply rooted in his head.
It’s one of the most memorable things I have done. I made a statement with that match and in the segments leading up to it. I did everything I said I was going to do.”
His decision to sign with AEW:
“I had a plan, and I think the only place in my head where this plan would come to fulfillment is AEW,” Black said. “The company is young, fresh and exciting. It brings an edge that professional wrestling has sorely needed. This character that I have clearly has a kind of edge to it that I could only portray in AEW. My agent communicated my thoughts to Tony Khan and he loved it. We had a quick conversation and then a long two- or three-day period where we were communicating a lot. The rest is history and the impact has been seen.”
