Ever since The Undertaker set the standards for a supernatural and dark character in professional wrestling, only a few wrestlers were able to do justice to similar gimmicks and make a career out of them. Malakai Black is one of those wrestlers who did justice to a dark wrestling character and managed to win over the fans. He's been in the business for about two decades and has competed all over the globe.

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He's now an active member of the All Elite Wrestling roster and has become the leader of The House of Black faction, and is well on his way to reaching tremendous success in the company. With that said, let's take a look at Malakai Black's pro wrestling career by means of pictures taken over the years.

9 Training & Debut

Malakai Black before and after

Malakai Black started his pro wrestling training at a young age and made his in-ring debut in 2002 when he was only 17-years old. He trained under the likes of Bob Schrijber, Chris Hero, Johnny Kidd, Mike Quackenbush, and Nigel McGuinness throughout the course of his career.

He made his debut under the ring name Tommy The End and competed for promotions like Freestyle Championship Wrestling, New Blood Wrestling, and Westside Xtreme Wrestling during his initial years before he expanded his horizon to other the promotions in the independent circuit.

8 European & USA Independent Circuit

Malakai Black in the indies

From 2005, he changed his in-ring name to just Tommy End and continued to compete in the European independent circuit. He won the first championship in his career in 2006 when he won the wXw Light Heavyweight Championship.

He won various other championships, including the ICWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship in 2007 and FWG Lightweight Championship in 2009.

He then made his way into the US independent circuit in 2010 and made his debut for Combat Zone Wrestling. From there, he competed for various other US promotions before he made it to the big leagues in WWE.

7 Japan Stint

Malakai Black in Japan

Malakai Black made his way to Japan in 2011 and competed for promotions like Big Japan-Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Secret Base. He defended the wXw Tag Team Championships alongside Anthony Zeus during his time in Japan and also competed against the likes of The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, and Zack Sabre Jr.

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He competed in the region between 2011 and 2013, and he made his final appearance in January 2013 in the Big Japan Pro-Wrestling New Year Wrestling Fest event.

6 WWE Debut

Malakai Black in WWE NXT

Black signed with WWE in 2016 and reported to the Performance Center in October. He performed as Tommy End in a few NXT live events and in the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament in 2017, but the company soon changed his name to Aleister Black.

After weeks of airing vignettes, Black made his televised NXT debut at NXT TakeOver: Orlando 2017, where he defeated Andrade. He then continued to perform in NXT television and live events and also tried his luck in entering the NXT and Tag Team Championship picture to no avail.

5 NXT Champion

Malakai Black as NXT Champion

Following his feud with Adam Cole, Malakai Black set his sights on the NXT Championship and defeated Killian Dain on the March 7, 2018, episode of NXT to become the No.1. Contender for the title.

He defeated Andrade at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in April 2018 to win his first NXT Championship. He then successfully defended the title against the likes of Eric Young and Lars Sullivan before dropping it to Tommaso Ciampa following an interference from Johnny Gargano.

Black then got attacked before the triple threat NXT Championship match against Gargano and Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 by an unknown attacker, which was then revealed to be Johnny Gargano.

He then defeated Gargano at TakeOver WarGames 2 and then lost to him in a steel cage match on the December 19, 2018, episode of NXT. He failed to regain the NXT title from Tommaso Ciampa at TakeOver Phoenix, and he then soon found himself on the road to the main roster.

4 Main Roster Debut

Malakai Black and Ricochet in WWE

Malakai Black made his first main roster appearance when he entered the 2019 men's Royal Rumble match. He got eliminated by Baron Corbin from the match, and following that, he made his official main roster debut on the February 18, 2019, episode of Raw, where he defeated Elias and then defeated Andrade on the following night's episode of SmackDown.

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He formed a team with Ricochet and competed in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. They continued to team up in the main roster and had unsuccessful attempts at the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

3 Final Storylines & Departure

Aleister-Black-attack-Big-E-1

Malakai Black's time on the WWE main roster proved to be quite uneventful as the company failed to use the momentum he built up in NXT and continued to use him in uninspiring programs.

He then entered had rivalries against AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, and Kevin Owens before disappearing from television for six months. He made his return in May 2021 and attacked Big E and cost him his opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship.

When the fans were expecting Black to start a program with Big E, WWE dropped a bombshell announcement that they had released Black from his contract as part of their budget cuts.

2 AEW Debut

Malakai Black AEW debut

Following his release from WWE, Malakai Black signed with All Elite Wrestling and made his debut on the July 7, 2021, episode of Dynamite and attacked Arn Anderson and Cody Rhodes.

He then had his first match against Cody Rhodes on the August 4, 2021, episode of Dynamite but couldn't pick up the victory. He continued his feud with Rhodes and traded victories against him until the feud culminated when Rhodes defeated Black on the October 23, 2021, episode of Dynamite, and then once again in a tag team match at the 2021 Full Gear PPV.

1 House Of Black

The House of Black

Malakai Black entered into a rivalry against The Varsity Blondes and Death Triangle and then joined forces with a debuting Brody King to form the Kings of the Black Throne.

They were soon joined by another debutant in Buddy Matthews and rebranded themselves as The House of Black. The trio had their first match together at AEW Revolution 2022, where they defeated the Death Triangle and Eric Redbeard. The trio continues to dominate their competition in AEW and could soon add some gold to their collection in the coming days.