Malakai Black Says WWE Forced Him To Reject Sponsorships

Malakai (FKA Aleister) Black made his AEW debut at last week’s AEW Road Rager show, dropping Cody Rhodes and Arn Anderson with Black Mass.

Black announced a few weeks ago that he had begun a sponsorship with Hayabusa fightwear. The man himself appears to have revealed that this was a long time coming for him.

Speaking with Drinks With Johnny, Black revealed that he had been contacted for endorsement deals while he was in WWE, but he had to reject them due to WWE’s rules on the situation. Black said:

“I’d get thrown a lot of endorsement stuff. But I’d have to turn that down because WWE has a third party policy, or no third party policy for some bizarre reason. (After my release) I was now able to talk to all these people who had been wanting to work with me for so long, and have like cool conversations and get these endorsement deals that I’ve been wanting for the longest time. As of today, actually as of yesterday, I’m officially endorsed by Hayabusa Fight Gear. I think is one of the coolest things because I love Hayabusa. I’ve been wearing gloves for the longest time. And my gloves of choice, for the most part, have been Hayabusa. So for them to approach me and say ‘hey Tom, we’ve been wanting to work with you’ and this and that, that’s been one of the coolest things.

Black continued, explaining that he enjoys the opportunities for sponsorship deals, and that he enjoys the freedom to control them, saying:

“There’s been a lot of these things that I can’t really talk about too much that have come my way that are mind blowing, that these people want to work with me. But it gives me this feeling of ‘it’s not the end of the world that you got cut from WWE.’ Every day’s been super positive. I feel mentally, I feel really healthy. It’s kind of weird to describe for a guy like me, who’s been on edge for the past four, five years because I always put so much pressure on myself to perform and to be the best version of my character, of my persona, or me as a human being that I can be. To now kind of go and say ‘now I get to pick and choose. Now I get to control this part of my life. Now I get to control this narrative that I want and do it my way. And with other opportunities in the wrestling world that have come towards me.’”

Black’s wife Zelina Vega was fired from WWE for breaching the third party policy, but she has since returned to the company.

Black recently spoke about how his battle with depression fuels his creativity.

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• Sponsorship
• Hayabusa
• Malakai Black
• wwe

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