Former WWE Star Aleister Black Debuts for AEW as Malakai Black

End premiered his new persona on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite less than two months after being released by WWE.
Former WWE Star Aleister Black Debuts for AEW as Malakai Black
Former WWE Star Aleister Black Debuts for AEW as Malakai Black /

Less than two months following his release from WWE, the man formerly known as Aleister Black has found a new home.

Black (whose real name is Tom Budgen and previously worked under the name Tommy End) made his AEW debut on Wednesday night at Dynamite as Malakai Black at Miami’s James K. Knight Center. Black made his grand entrance to square off against Arn Anderson, wasting no time leaving an impact on the fired up crowd.

Black was among those released from WWE in early June. The move was a surprise to Black, who expressed his shock on Twitter after the news was announced.

Black teased his AEW debut earlier on Wednesday with a promotional video on his Instagram account. Fair warning, the video is pretty graphic.

If his debut is any indication, AEW will likely feature Black quite prominently in future events.

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Nick Selbe
NICK SELBE

Nick Selbe is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about baseball and college sports. Before joining SI in March 2020 as a breaking/trending news writer, he worked for MLB Advanced Media, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. Selbe received a bachelor's in communication from the University of Southern California.