Malakai Black, formerly Aleister Black in WWE, was was released a second time alongside his wife, Zelina Veganow known as Kelina, in a series of outings following WrestleMania 42 in April. He has since returned to the independent scene, wrestling on PROGRESS shows, a promotion that belongs to his close friendsBig Damo and his wife Nikki Storm, formerly Nikki Cross in WWE.
Black sat down to talk about his recent experiences Xelina and Charlie Girl (formerly Dakota Kai) on YouTube. He said he got a voicemail from Damo that got him out of a bad place, mentally, after he was released.
“I can pretend it doesn’t suck, but of course it does,” Black said. “It’s always unpleasant.” And in my case, it was more difficult because of the mountains that were promised and all the other talk, and then this comic of a year was presented, despite the main events. Despite all these things, they wanted to do everything they said. It seemed to me why would you want that? Because this doesn’t make any sense, but you know, it’s beside the point. At some point, I’m sure I’ll talk about it.”
Black returned to WWE from his stint with AEW in April 2025. This happened often during the competition. he was rumored to be unhappy in his House of Black stable Alongside Brodie King and Buddy Matthews, something he later reflected on news that he doesn’t want to lose browsed online. After the release of WWE, some AEW talent, including MJF, announced that they would not welcome him back to their company.
Damo, Storm helped the Blacks regain their footing
Black said that Damo asked him to wrestle in PROGRESS during his comeback and Black was incredibly thankful that he did. The star’s last match in WWE was the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal before WrestleMania. Since then, he has wrestled three times for PROGRESS, the first being a win over Diyak. He said he was extremely emotional after the fight.
“When I came back through the curtains at that first meeting, I just broke down,” he said. “I just started crying. Damo hugged me and he said. “World class. 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 over everything and just assume it is what it is. I feel like especially as men we don’t praise each other enough. Damo and Nicki both deserve all the praise they can get.”
Black recently won the PROGRESS World Championship winning over Cara Noire on September 6 in Manchester. The night before, he and Daz Black picked up a victory over Luke Jacobs and Tommy Tanner.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit XELVX AND CHARLIE GIRL on YouTube and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
