Aleister Black Addresses Criticism That WWE Are 'Doing Nothing' With Him
He also spoke on Paul Heyman's involvement with his character, and potential dream matches.
Oct 21, 2019
Cultaholic were fortunate enough to be invited into a conference call with WWE Superstar Aleister Black, who was recently drafted to Raw.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the call was Black's response to criticism that WWE are 'doing nothing' with him creatively. Since moving to Raw and SmackDown, he has seen relatively little in-ring action - especially relative to his prior run in NXT, where he became the brand's champion.
But Black insists that this is all part of a wider process, and that an exciting few months are in store leading up to WrestleMania 36. He stressed the importance of setting emotional boundaries for the audience, particularly when responding to a persona they may be less familiar with (i.e. himself on the main roster). In his view, only once those boundaries are established can 'variables' be introduced - longer matches, more intricate storylines, and so on.
It's certainly an interesting point of view, and serves as a reminder that those with an internal viewpoint usually have a far greater idea of the bigger picture.
In the call, Black also spoke openly about his close relationship with Paul Heyman - the current executive director of the Raw brand. He explained that Heyman has been heavily involved in the development of the Aleister Black character, and that he is often drawn to 'those who don't quite fit in'.
Black was also asked about potential dream matches of the future, and named three ideal opponents: Samoa Joe, Buddy Murphy, and Randy Orton. In terms of the NXT UK brand, he also stated that he'd like to wrestle Ilja Dragunov - a man he has history with prior to WWE. He expressed a general admiration of the NXT UK talent pool, praising the likes of WALTER, Jordan Devlin, and Dave Mastiff.