It is easy to forget just how frantic the road to WrestleMania 35 actually was. Vince McMahon was still pulling the strings, throwing NXT call-ups onto the main roster without much of a coherent plan. One of those sudden, jarring experiments was the tag team of Aleister Black and Ricochet. They were two guys with completely opposing aesthetics, mashed together out of nowhere because creative had nothing better for them.

And yet, somehow, it clicked.

Seven years later, Black — now known to AEW fans as the sinister Malakai Black — recently took a moment to reflect on that chaotic period. Speaking about his WrestleMania debut, he was surprisingly nostalgic. Teaming with Ricochet in a fatal four-way match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, the experience clearly stuck with him.

"That's something that will live forever."

It is a rare bit of public sentimentality from a man who usually speaks in dark riddles and horror-movie tropes. But with AEW Double or Nothing looming just six days away on May 24, this reflection feels less like random nostalgia and more like a calculated reminder. Malakai Black is a big-fight player. He thrives under stadium lights. He always has.

The 2019 MetLife sprint

To fully understand where Black is going this Sunday, you have to look at where he was in April 2019. MetLife Stadium was packed to the absolute brim. The card was exhaustingly long, a grueling endurance test for the live crowd. The SmackDown Tag Team Championship match was sandwiched right into the middle of the show, featuring The Usos, The Bar, Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, and the rookies, Black and Ricochet.

Nobody expected a technical wrestling masterpiece. It was designed to be a multi-man car crash to get everyone on the card. But Black and Ricochet treated it like the main event.

I still vividly remember watching Black hit a perfectly timed Black Mass on Cesaro during that chaotic sprint. The snap of his hip, the precise placement of his heel, the sickening thud. It was violently beautiful. Ricochet followed up with absolute aerial absurdity, launching himself into the New Jersey sky. They didn't win the belts that night — The Usos ultimately retained — but they survived the brightest spotlight in the industry. They proved they belonged on the grand stage.

That is the Aleister Black that people fell in love with. The guy who could sit cross-legged in the center of the ring, calmly invite you to strike him, and then take your head off with a spinning heel kick before you even realized what happened. He was the perfect hybrid of a mystic monk and a lethal weapon.

Fast forward to 2026. The name is different. The company is different. The eye is painted black. But the striking ability remains completely intact.

The booking problem in AEW

Here is the deeply frustrating part for anyone who follows this sport closely. Tony Khan has a certified, undeniable main-event star in Malakai Black, but he rarely books him like one.

The House of Black is a fantastic concept on paper. Buddy Matthews is a cardiovascular machine who executes moves with robotic precision. Brody King is a terrifying monster who throws lariats that look like they could decapitate a rhinoceros. Julia Hart adds a perfect layer of creepy mystique on the outside. They look like a faction that should hold every belt in the company hostage.

But the group has spent the better part of two years spinning its wheels in the mud.

Tony Khan's booking of the faction has often felt like an afterthought. They get trapped in endless feuds that go nowhere. They dominate the Trios division, drop the belts in a multi-man scramble, vanish from television for weeks, and then eventually return to cut spooky promos in dimly lit rooms. It is a repetitive start-and-stop cycle that kills their momentum dead. This is the primary failure of Black's current run.

When he first arrived in AEW, he nearly decapitated Cody Rhodes. He looked like an absolute world-beater. He should be challenging for the AEW World Championship on a regular basis. Instead, he is frequently playing third wheel in six-man tags that feel entirely disconnected from the main event picture.

This is exactly why his reflection on WrestleMania 35 matters so much right now.

At WrestleMania 35, he was a hungry rookie trying to prove his worth to a global audience. At Double or Nothing this weekend, he is a seasoned veteran trying to reclaim his spot at the top of the card. He knows exactly how good he is, and he knows that his current booking does not reflect his actual value.

Adjusting to the miles

Black also knows the physical window is closing. Professional wrestling is a brutal, unforgiving business. He has dealt with severe back injuries during his AEW tenure. Those injuries have forced him to alter his style in the ring. He relies much more on psychology, pacing, and intimidation than raw explosion now.

He can still hit the Black Mass out of nowhere, but he protects his bumps. He works smarter. He forces his opponents to play his game, dragging them into a slow, methodical striking battle where he holds all the cards.

Double or Nothing is AEW's flagship event. Las Vegas is where the company was literally born. The pressure on this specific card is always immense, especially with the shifting television rights situation. The House of Black needs a definitive, violent statement on Sunday. They cannot just have another generic match that everyone forgets by Wednesday.

What to watch for at Double or Nothing

Whoever ends up eating a kick from Black this weekend is going to feel it for days. Black's offense is entirely built on creating sudden, microscopic openings. He doesn't need to dominate a grueling twenty-minute match. He just needs you to drop your guard for a fraction of a second.

Watch his footwork early in the match. When Black is feeling completely healthy, he bounces on his toes like a traditional kickboxer, constantly cutting off the ring. When he is fighting through lingering back pain, he plants his feet heavily and relies entirely on counters. His striking speed is still elite regardless, but his defensive movement tells the real story of his physical condition.

Also, keep a very close eye on his interactions with Buddy Matthews. There is a simmering tension in the House of Black that AEW has teased for months without actually pulling the trigger. Matthews is way too talented to be a background player forever. Black is a demanding, unyielding leader. A simple miscommunication in a high-stakes match could finally blow the entire faction apart.

We have seen this exact scenario play out before. Teams break up. Factions crumble under the weight of their own egos. Even Black and Ricochet, that wildly successful makeshift duo from 2019, eventually went their separate ways. Wrestling is fundamentally built on betrayal.

The final verdict

Black's legacy in this industry is already secure. He was an independent darling as Tommy End, kicking chests in armories across Europe. He was an untouchable, dominant NXT Champion. He had his massive WrestleMania moment in front of 82,000 fans. He has won gold in AEW.

But living forever in professional wrestling requires constant, ruthless reinvention. You cannot survive on warm memories of 2019. The wrestling business moves way too fast. Fans are way too fickle. If you are not actively in the current main event picture, you are slowly sliding down the card.

Double or Nothing is the absolute perfect stage for Black to remind everyone exactly how dangerous he truly is. Tony Khan needs to take the training wheels off the House of Black. Stop with the convoluted Trios rules. Let them genuinely hurt people. Let Malakai be the ruthless, remorseless striker who originally arrived in AEW and put the entire locker room on notice.

Prediction: The House of Black wins their match at Double or Nothing in completely dominant, brutal fashion. Malakai Black hits a devastating Black Mass for the decisive pinfall, taking less than 12 minutes to finish the job. He doesn't celebrate. He just grabs a microphone and finally calls out the AEW World Championship directly. No more spooky, cryptic videos. No more vague riddles. Just a direct, violent threat. It is time for Malakai Black to step back into the main event where he belongs. If he wants to live forever, he has to take the crown.