Aleister Black Says NXT Debut Against Andrade Didn’t Go The Way It Was Supposed To

Aleister Black made his NXT debut at TakeOver: Orlando in April 2017. 

After nearly a month of vignettes for his debut, Black took on Andrade in his debut match. Black would pick up the victory, but it didn’t go quite how he thought it would. 

“I wasn’t super content with my debut match, it didn’t go the way it was supposed to go. Andrade is incredible, but I wasn’t happy because it wasn’t what I wanted it to be or what they wanted it to be, but we found ways to enhance it,” Black said on Twitch. 

It wasn’t until his match with Velveteen Dream at NXT TakeOver: WarGames in November 2017 that Black felt like he was getting his footing in the WWE world. 

“After my match with Dream, the wrestling world took notice. That’s when they put complete trust in me and I proved that I could lead a match and do a storytelling match and take people to the next level. On the main roster, the last three or four months of being in NXT and tagging with Ricochet, probably some of my favorite moments in wrestling. We would have Raw, SmackDown, NXT, a day off, and back on the road. I really felt like a pro wrestler and I felt like I was untouchable. You could throw anything at me and I’d knock it out of the park. You have to work within the boundaries and that’s being a true professional. If you’re able to shine within rules, that’s what makes you a professional. I always loved wrestling The Revival [FTR in AEW] because we have the same way of thinking when it comes to upholding rules because that’s what makes it fun. That forces me to be creative in a different way. I’ve always liked challenging myself. I feel that’s made me into a better professional wrestler. I had to think on my feet. They did that with me and Buddy [Murphy], they gave us an extra five minutes and we figured it out. We worked on the fly and I thrive on that,” he said.

Both Black and Murphy were released by WWE on June 2. Andrade made his AEW debut on the June 4 episode of AEW Dynamite.

Elsewhere during the stream, Black discussed his release from the company. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

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