Malakai Black, the former Aleister Black in WWE, was released for the second time, alongside his wife, Zelina Vega, now known as Xelina, in April, in a slew of departures following WrestleMania 42. Since then, he’s made his return to the independent scene, wrestling on PROGRESS shows, the promotion owned by his close friends, Big Damo, and his wife, Nikki Storm, the former Nikki Cross in WWE.
Black sat down to talk about his recent experiences alongside Xelina and Charlie Girl (the former Dakota Kai) on YouTube. He said he received a voicemail from Damo that pulled him out of a bad spot, mentally, following his release.
“I can pretend that it didn’t suck, but of course it sucks,” Black said. ‘It always sucks. And in my case, it sucked harder, because of the mountains of things that were like promised and all the other conversations and then being presented with this f****** dud of a year, despite main events. Despite all these things, it was just anything as to what they said that they wanted to do. To me, it was like why did you guys even want this? Because this makes no f****** sense, but you know, that’s besides the point. At some point, I’m sure I’ll talk about it.”
Black returned to WWE from a stint in AEW in April 2025. During his time in the competition, it was often rumored he was unhappy in his House of Black stable alongside Brody King and Buddy Matthews, something he addressed after rumors of his unwillingness to lose made the rounds online. Following his WWE release, some AEW talent, including MJF, made it known they wouldn’t welcome him back to their company.
Damo, Storm help Black regain footing
Black said that Damo asked him to come wrestle in PROGRESS during his comeback, and Black was incredibly thankful that he did. The star’s final match in WWE was the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal ahead of WrestleMania. Since then, he’s wrestled three times for PROGRESS, the first being a victory over Dijak. He said he was extremely emotional following the bout.
“When I walked back through the curtains of that first match, I just broke down,” he said. “I just started crying. Damo gave me a big hug and he was like, ‘World class. World class. I told you. I told you.’ Again, that guy has done so much for me and he never had to, but he did. I feel like a lot of times in this industry we just skip past everything and we just assume that it is what it is. I feel like, especially as men, we don’t praise each other enough. Damo and Nikki both deserve all the praise that they can get.”
Black recently captured the PROGRESS World Championship with a victory over Cara Noir on September 6 in Manchester. The night before, he and Daz Black scored a tag team victory over Luke Jacobs and Tommy Tanner.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit XELVX AND CHARLIE GIRL on YouTube and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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