YMMV / Aleister Black

• Awesome Music:
  • His WWE entry theme, a collaboration between CFO$ and Incendiary called "Root of All Evil". Three words: Gothic Death Metal.
  • His AEW entry theme is even heavier, with the company licensing "Ogentroost" by Amenra for Malakai.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Had a following since his indy days as Tommy End, but after his introduction at NXT TakeOver: Orlando he quickly grabbed the attention of the crowd with his unusual theatrics, wrestling style which includes a lot of stiff kicks and 'brooding anti-hero' image that is comparable to that of The Undertaker, making him one of the biggest attractions of NXT.
• Fan Nickname: Satanic Karate Wizard, as it basically describes his character in a nutshell. After going to AEW the nickname "Muay Thai Undertaker" also pops up.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Zelina Vega getting caught by Andrade when Aleister Black threw her at him after she tried to interfere only for Black to kick Andrade in the face and pin him for the NXT title looks a little different when you realize that Vega and Black started dating around that time and are now married.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: WWE has wasted countless huge NXT stars on the main roster over the 2010s, but Aleister Black is one of the most blatant cases; after calling the former champion up in 2019 and drafting him to Smackdown in April, they wasted months just having him sit in a dark room and cut rambling promos, waiting for someone to come and challenge him. He was set for a repackage in 2021 with his "Tales of the Dark Father" gimmick, but then they spontaneously released him mid-storyline as part of their "budget cuts". And then it was revealed they'd cared so little about him that they'd never even bothered revising his contract when he was called out from NXT, so he only had the NXT 30 day non-compete clause rather than the standard 90 day main roster one, meaning that as soon as it was up he was able to debut in AEW and immediately get pushed to the moon, becoming one of the most over stars in the company.

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