10 Best Kept Secrets In Wrestling History
9. Malakai Black Is Suddenly All Elite
It may not have led to the sort of consistently mesmerising run folks were hoping for, but Malakai Black's first night as an All Elite menace is still one of the most surprising and captivating Tony Khan's company has ever seen.
And what made Black's arrival on the night of July 7, 2021 so legitimately stunning was the fact not a single soul honestly thought the former NXT Champion had a chance of appearing on AEW TV for at least a few more months.
You see, in the wake of being released by WWE on June 2, most assumed Black would have to stick to the typical 90-day non-compete clause the sports entertainment company stick in their contracts.
However, with Black working on the black and gold developmental brand for a time before being called up to the main roster, it was eventually revealed that WWE had stupidly failed to update the star's NXT 30-day non-compete clause to the usual main roster 90-day one after he hopped over to Raw and SmackDown.
What came next was one of the coolest debuts in AEW history. A blackout led to the amazing reveal of the former Aleister Black secretly signing with the company before Arn Anderson was utterly pulverised with a spinning heel kick at that year's Road Rager.