Jim Ross Reveals What He Told Malakai Black After His AEW Debut

When Malakai Black was released from WWE last month many fans were shocked, and others were wondering where he might end up in the future. On Wednesday night the former NXT Champion answered a lot of questions regarding his future when he made his AEW debut at Road Rager.

It was later announced that Black has officially signed with All Elite Wrestling, and it looks like he could quickly become a force to be reckoned with on AEW programming.

Jim Ross recently talked about Malakai Black’s debut on Busted Open Radio, and the Hall of Famer revealed that he shared some encouraging words with Black when they met face to face.

“As many fans know that listen to my podcast — which drops every Thursday — I didn’t want to know. I react better if I don’t know the lay of the land, as much. I don’t look at this as a theatrical performance. I look at this as a ballgame, and I don’t need to know who wins the game until the game is over. I was pleasantly surprised that Malakai Black joined us. I saw him after the show, he shook my hand. I never met him before, he said he was glad to meet me and likewise for me.

“I said, ‘We’re counting on you. We’re counting on you to play in a big way. Not just come in and be one of the boys, but come in and be one of the stars.’ I think he hadn’t heard that in a while. And I think that meant a lot to him. I wasn’t trying to blow smoke, I was just trying to say, you’re a highly regarded piece of talent that we value and we’re happy you’re here. So, now we’re looking for great things. You set the bar high with your debut, now let’s see where we can take you.”

Are you looking forward to seeing what Malakai Black does in AEW? Sound off in the comments below.

H/T Wrestling Inc.