AEW superstar Malakai Black was the latest guest on the Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast to discuss his recent feud with Cody Rhodes, stating that he was the one who pitched the storyline to President Tony Khan. Black also revisits his last few months in WWE, admitting that he was battling a wave of depression during that time. Highlights are below.
Talks being depressed during his final days in WWE:
“The last 8 months, when I got pulled off TV at WWE, I wanted to change a few things because I was pretty depressed at the time because everything did not go the way that I was promised it would go. I really started not caring again. I went to the point where I didn’t really care. I let myself go because I was depressed. I remember very vividly going, ‘All right. C’mon. Get out of it. Stop it.’ I asked Pepper Parks who his nutritionist was. I signed up with him. That’s been the biggest change. Now I have someone who holds me accountable which is really good. I’ve always enjoyed the process of training. I’ve never been the biggest weight trainer in the world, but I like powerlifting because it makes me train towards a goal. I will say the last 8 months, that has changed a little bit towards bodybuilding and stuff. It will never be fully my thing. I need a focused goal that I can see where I can be able to lift 10 extra pounds in the deadlift, or be able to push a little more weight on the bench press. I like that stuff because it feels like I’m actively doing something. I think that right now we’re doing pretty good. I feel good. I lost a lot of unwanted body fat because I was 217 when I got off TV. I was not a good 217. I was a very miserable 217. I got all the way back to 191. Then I started building back up. I’m about 210 now again, but I’m a very different 210 than when I was 217 or even when I was 210. It’s a very different 210. It’s just interesting to see what your body does when handled correctly. I have a feeling that’s what we’re doing currently.”
Black talking about his angle with Cody Rhodes:
“I told Tony. I said, ‘Look, I got this idea. This is how I view it. What do you think?’ Tony said, ‘I love it. I love everything about it.’ He was confident enough to give me a shot at it. I clearly owe a lot to Cody. Cody and I think very much alike in a lot of things which was very pleasant. I laid out what I wanted to do, and they both really thought this is cool, and it worked. With their respective feedback into it, because at the end of the day, obviously I still work for someone else, and I still have to get their opinion, I have to get their clearance. Luckily, I got clearance. Everything he and I did played out exactly the way I envisioned in my head, and the payoff worked. It was fun.”
(H/T and transcribed by WrestlingNews.Co)
