(L-R: Brody King, Julia Hart, Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews)
The House of Black is a Professional Wrestling Power Stable currently on All Elite Wrestling that consists of Malakai Black, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart. While Black would frequently acknowledge its existence throughout his 2021 run, the group itself would not begin to form until early 2022.
On July 7, 2021, Black would make his AEW debut at Road Rager, attacking Cody Rhodes and kickstarting a several month feud between the two wrestlers. After being bested in their first two confrontations, Rhodes would finally beat Black in their third and final match. During his feud with Rhodes and ones afterward, Black would make mentions to a “House of Black,” whom he would address as his followers. This, of course, is referring to his fans watching the show, as well as a tease that a new faction would soon be forming under Black.
In December 2021, Black would begin his next major feud with the Varsity Blondes (Brian Pillman Jr, Griff Garrison, and Julia Hart) by spraying mist into Hart’s eye and attacking Pillman and Garrison. Hart sported an eyepatch for months after the attack, prompting immediate speculation that the mist had done permanent damage, possibly affecting her mind (and possibly presaging her defection to the House of Black). In January 2022, after beating both Pillman and Garrison in matches, Black would reveal his first follower in the House of Black, his tag team partner and former Ring of Honor wrestler Brody King. The two would face the Varsity Blondes as a tag team and come up victorious.
Prior to this feud, Black would also aid Andrade el Idolo in a feud against Death Triangle (Pac, Penta El Cero Miedo, and Rey Fenix), which culminated with Black misting Pac in both eyes on two separate occasions, temporarily blinding him and putting him out of commission. After the Blondes feud, Pac would make his return and he and Penta would feud with Black and King once again. After being misted by Black, Penta would revert into his darker Penta Oscuro persona. He and Pac would face Black and King again and achieve victory. Unfortunately, this would be short lived as Black’s former nemesis and newest follower, Buddy Matthews, would arrive to AEW and aid Black and King in attacking Pac and Penta. As Fenix was still out of commission, Pac and Penta would employ the help of Erick Redbeard and face the House of Black in their first trios match at AEW Revolution 2022. However, the House would emerge victorious after Redbeard was misted and pinned.
The House of Black would ultimately meet Death Triangle for a long-awaited trios tag-team match at Double or Nothing 2022, resulting in an absolutely brutal clash between the bitter enemies. At the match's climax, just when victory appeared to be within Death Triangle's grasp, the tide ultimately turned in the House's favor when Julia Hart unexpectedly appeared to mist Pac, preventing him from hitting a press on Black at a crucial moment. Taking advantage of the distraction, Black hit a roundhouse kick on Pac and scored the pinfall to win the match. As the House of Black walked away victorious, Hart officially took her place as their fourth member.
At Revolution 2023, Black, King and Matthews defeated The Elite to become the third team to win the AEW World Trios Championship. Under this reign, the House of Black would introduce the "House Rules" open challenge, where any three wrestlers could challenge them for a title shot. In these matches, there are no rope breaks for submissions, count outs are 20 seconds instead of 10, DQs are enforced, and the challengers are allowed to choose their own stipulation, dubbed the "Dealer's Choice" by the House. They were later dethroned by The Acclaimed at All In 2023. At Full Gear 2023, Hart would win the TBS Championship in a three way match against then champion Kris Statlander and Skye Blue.
"Tropes of the House of Black, please rise.":
- Arch-Enemy:
- Death Triangle due to Black’s previous feud with the group and his second feud with them that would ultimately help properly form the House.
- Miro's God fearing personality would immediately clash with the House's 'pagan' influenced identity. As a result, the House would attempt to manipulate Miro and destroy him mentally. This would eventually lead to an Enemy Mine where Miro teamed up with former rival Darby Allin and Sting to defeat the House of Black at All Out 2022.
- Orange Cassidy and the Best Friends seem to bring a specific violent side out of the House of Black. Cassidy and his AEW International title in particular seems to have caught the interest of Buddy Matthews.
- Despite working together in the past, Andrade el Idolo would also become a target of Black and the House of Black upon his return in 2023, where the House stole Andrade's mask and threatened to destroy it. However, Andrade was able to win it back in a ladder match against Buddy Matthews.
- Audience Participation: The House of Black isn’t just Black’s in ring followers, but also his fans in the audience and watching at home.Black: Members of the House of Black, please rise.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: All three men in the group dress in nice suits outside of the ring, Julia does a feminine version of the trope with black blazers and trousers.
- The Brute: King, a fearsome wrestler who is the physically largest member of the group.
- The Comically Serious: The rare times the group is presented in a comedic light, they maintain their serious demeanor, which only serves to elevate the humor:
- During a Fan Fest leading up to Revolution 2022, Danhausen interviewed them in the ring and requested to join the House of Black, even handing them his resumé. The House of Black actually deliberated amongst themselves for a moment before rejecting his request with a unanimous thumbs-down, followed by Malakai ripping up the resumé.
- During Episode 325 of Being the Elite, "Legacy Game"
, Brandon Cutler (who was recording with his phone) found himself assaulted by the House of Black in the midst of their assault on Rampage, following a lumberjack match between Orange Cassidy and QT Marshall. Julia Hart picked up the phone and momentarily recorded herself before recording Brody King slamming Cutler through the table with powerbomb, and Malakai interacting with the fallen Cutler, concluding with Julia returning his phone.
Julia Hart: (with a smug tone and expression) The House always wins.(With the phone still in her hand, she shows Brandon Cutler getting powerbombed through the bell keeper's table by Brody King. Malakai Black breaks out a chair in front of the fallen Cutler and sits in it, while Brody and Buddy Matthews surround him)Malakai Black: Brandon. Brandon. Brandon. The people that you associate yourself with are a big problem. They are a small problem of a bigger problem within this company. (pats Cutler on the stomach) But it's nothing personal.(The House of Black walks away from Cutler as Julia leaves the phone by his side.)- After Darby Allin had finished a panel at Comic Con he was ambushed by Malakai and Brody, knocked out with The End, then draped over the table he'd been sitting at. Malakai then sarcastically asked if there was any more questions before leaving.
- Continuity Nod: Each member of the House has been previously connected to Black in some way.
- King was a tag team partner to Black before the latter went to WWE. They would reunite once again in PWG after Black’s release from WWE prior to King signing with AEW.
- Matthews and Black were sworn enemies in WWE and Matthews was the one responsible for damaging Black’s right eye. His reasons for joining the House remain to be seen, but he still shows some form of hesitance while serving Black.
- Cool Mask: The members usually wear unique masks when entering the ring.
- The Corruptor: Black, who is able to spray a black mist into people’s faces that alters their personalities and brings out the negative aspects of said personalities. This would ultimately result in Julia Hart joining the House of Black as their fourth member (although she resisted the temptation for an impressively long time).
- Julia herself tried this by misting Skye Blue (who became darker and more violent but resisted joining Julia for a while, but eventually turned by helping Julia in a feud against Abadon), and Willow Nightingale (who was too nice to corrupt).
- Cult: The House appears to be shaping up to be this. Black is depicted in the group as a charismatic prophet who often addresses his followers in promos and vignettes. Ironically, Malakai claims that the Jericho Appreciation Society is actually a better example of a cult than the House.
- Dark Is Evil: Expected from a group named House of Black.
- Dark Is Not Evil: As claimed by the House. However, from the outside this is hard to see given the group’s hostile and aggressive demeanor.
- Darker and Edgier: Most heels in AEW have a balance between serious and comedic traits. The House is very serious in their endeavors and have little, if any, time for jokes.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Julia Hart went from being a jobber during her time associated with the Varsity Blondes to going on a 27 win undefeated streak as a member of The House of Black, before finally meeting her match in TBS champion Kris Statlander, who had actually been the last woman to defeat Julia. After a few weeks away when she got married to Lee Johnson, Julia would return and renew her rivalry with Kris by misting Kris' friends Skye Blue and Willow Nightingale (the former of which would undergo a similar personality change to Julia) culminating in a three way match at Full Gear where Julia would pin Skye after Kris hit Saturday Night Fever and Julia hit Kris with a lariat.
- Gimmick Matches: Their open challenge for the Trios Championships is conducted under "House Rules"- no rope breaks for submissions, count-outs go to 20 rather than 10, DQs are enforced, and one additional stipulation ("Dealer's Choice") can be set by the challengersnote . Additionally the house lights are dimmed for these matches, with only the ring spotlighted. The "House Rules" would later be brought back after Julia won the TBS Championship.
- Graceful Loser: After losing the World Trios Championship to The Acclaimed at AEW All In 2023, they handed them the belts before leaving the ring.
- Kill the Lights: Black had become notorious for somehow turning the lights on and off during his entrances. This would also be used by other House members during their entrances. Their signature "House Rules Match" when defending the Trios championships is also fought with the house lights down so only the ring is spotlighted, leaving the audience shrouded in darkness. Although this was judged to not quite work after the first match, and was replaced by simply dimming the audience lights in a dappled pattern.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Black, King and Matthews wear terrifying horned skull masks when they enter the arena for a match, and are the most sinister faction in AEW.
- Perky Female Minion: Julia, for the House. Not that she isn't badass enough to wrestle, but she's definitely a frequent presence for the House's matches, singles, tags, or trios.
- Power Stable:
- The Centerpiece: Malakai Black.
- The Enforcer: Buddy Matthews
- The Muscle: Brody King
- The Hanger-On: Julia Hart
- Stealth Hi/Bye: A trademark of Black, but it has also been used to introduce new House members.
- The Stoic: Buddy Matthews; while Malakai is darkly charismatic, often chuckling or smirking at opponents to disconcert them, and Brody is a roaring beast of a man, Buddy is almost completely emotionless and expressionless, suggesting a complete Lack of Empathy.
- Tag Team: Black and King as the “Kings of the Black Throne.”
- Tattoo as Character Type: Malakai and Brody are absolutely covered with tattoos over their chests, arms and thighs, enhancing their frightening, satanic look. Buddy, on the other hand, has no visible tattoos, which emphasises his rock-hard abs and combines with his expressionless demeanour to make him look almost coldly robotic compared to his ferocious compatriots.
- Wild Card: Since returning in November 2022, they have attacked other wrestlers regardless of alignment, whether it be faces like The Elite or heels like The Jericho Appreciation Society.
