Since the debut of Malakai Black in All Elite Wrestling, the leader of the House of Black has left a trail of heads kicked off of the shoulders of his enemies. Potentially the darkest variation of Tommy End that fans have seen, Black has left coins on the eyes of Lee Johnson so that he could pay the boatman’s toll, debuted from the darkness to kick an unsuspecting Arn Anderson in his sixty-year-old head, and on occasion has spit a mysterious black mist into the eyes of those he seeks to incapacitate. Through this, he continues a long storied tradition in wrestling, known to some as dokugiri, and to others as poison mist.
The Origins And Mysteries Of The Mist Actually Lay In America
The origins of the poison mist, sometimes also called the 'Asian mist', comes from world class manager of the strange and dangerous, Gary Hart. During Hart’s pursuit in the early eighties of creating a top Japanese heel while being the booker for World Class Championship Wrestling, Hart would debut a mysterious man known as The Great Kabuki. Kabuki would enter the ring behind a large “demon kabuki” mask, and then would remove it to reveal a face painted to cover the burns from his past violent encounters. Kabuki would mark the first known existence and usage of the poison mist when he misted Fritz Von Erich during a promo in World Class, blinding Fritz for weeks, and from then on would do it during his entrance as well. The mist of Kabuki would of course also pop up during a match, or in its aftermath. For the Kabuki era, Hart’s explanation for the mist varies, but included it being bile from deep within the pit of Kabuki’s stomach.
In late 1989, “The Playboy” Gary Hart would debut yet another mysterious figure from the east, and one of the most well known purveyors of the “dokugiri” in The Great Muta. For Muta, Hart as his manager would once again describe the origins of the mist in many ways, but once would tell Terry Funk during a promo that the mist was Muta summoning the power of all famous shogun warriors from the past. Muta would find much fame and some success in misting the stars of WCW during the early 90’s, and would continue doing so around the world for the next thirty years.
Malakai Black Is Worthy Of Adopting The Mist
The WWE would try to replicate the concept of an evil Asian character who sprayed the magically debilitating mist countless times through out the 80s and early 90s with the likes of Killer Khan and Kwang with limited success. It wasn’t until a little later that the company would find a bit more success with the bloody mist of the vampire Gangrel and his Brood, or the green mist of Japanese Buzzsaw, Yoshihiro Tajiri. WWE would see a modern day resurgence in the poison mist over the last five years with the arrival of Asuka, who has misted her way up and down the WWE Woman’s roster on her way to four Women’s World Championships, two Tag Team Championships, a Royal Rumble win, and Money In The Bank victory. Until Malakai Black in AEW, Asuka had been the most recent culprit of consistent mist-based shenanigans on North American television.
Malakai first used the mist in AEW during his second match in his trilogy with Cody Rhodes on the September 23rd episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite. That time, and every time since, the mist that Malakai’s spits is black in color. Kabuki was mostly known for green and red mists, with some deep lore pointing to different effects between the two. The Great Muta would be the first to spit different color mists during the same match, and was known for red, green, and the occasional black mist. Early 90’s wrestling commentary points to the black mist being the most dangerous, as well as the most rare. It was the black mist of Yoshihiro Tajiri that would blind poor Nidia.
Black himself has not given us an origin to his particular brand of mist, and he may never outright explain how supernatural his corrupt black mist is, or is not. It being left up to the minds of those that care enough to think about it, might be for the best, even if the idea of Malakai calmly explaining the sickness he spews out of his mouth in a black and white promo, from an office of skulls, does sound compelling. Either way, Black continues a devious legacy laid out by some of the most evil characters in the history of wrestling, and does so with a dark pagan aura about him that should make his predecessors proud.