Malakai Black says losing his WWE job hurt. What hurt even more, though, was everything he believed was supposed to happen before it all fell apart.
Fresh off winning the PROGRESS Men’s World Championship, Black looked back on the end of his WWE run during an appearance on ZELVX and CHARLIE GIRL. Instead of talking about championships or his comeback, he opened up about the months leading to his release and why the experience hit him so hard.
Black first reflected on the support he received from longtime friend Damo. The two have known each other for years, dating back to before Black moved to the United States, and Black said Damo was the first person who truly reached him after WWE let him go.
“Damo has been around my career, you know, especially the up part of my career, for a very long time. When I got released, the first person on the phone to send me a message that really hit me on a deep level was Damo.”
Black revealed that Damo’s voicemail arrived at exactly the right time because he wasn’t in a good place mentally after losing his job.
“Damo sent some words to me, and I think I showed you the message, like the voicemail that he sent to me, that really, really drove home. And it really pulled me out of, like, a really bad spot that I was mentally because of, you know, obvious things.”
That led Black into what really bothered him about his WWE release following WrestleMania 42. He admitted being released is always painful, but said his situation felt different because of the gap between what had been discussed behind the scenes and what actually happened on television.
“You know, I can pretend that it didn’t suck, but of course it sucks. It always sucks, you know what I mean? And in my case, it sucked harder because of the mountains of things that were, like, promised and all the other conversations, and then, like, being presented with this f****** dud of a year, you know?”
Black also pushed back against the idea that reaching main events automatically meant everything went according to plan. From his perspective, those appearances didn’t match the direction he believed WWE had laid out for him.
“Despite main events, despite all these things, it was just anything as to what they said that they wanted to do. Like, to me, it was like, ‘Why did you guys even want this? ‘Cause this makes no f****** sense.’”
Black has already started writing the next chapter of his career. Looking back, though, it’s clear the hardest part wasn’t being released—it was feeling like the story he’d been sold never became the one that actually played out.
What do you make of Malakai Black’s comments about his final year in WWE? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
