10 Things You Need To Know About NXT's Aleister Black
7. WWE Wasn't His First Love
Most wrestling fans discover their love of professional wrestling through WWE, particularly today, when the company are completely devoid of competition at a mainstream level. WWE’s prominence makes it the first promotion most fans lay their eyes on, and while many fans eventually branch-out to niche promotions like NJPW and the independents, it’s hard to escape WWE’s dominance.
Though Black’s earliest wrestling memory comes through watching Ted DiBiase wrestle Yokozuna in WWE, the company weren’t actually his first love. In fact, Black grew up on puroresu, and specifically Antonio Inoki’s NJPW. From there, Black gravitated more towards WCW than WWE when the promotions became available in Holland, and didn’t even tune-in to WWE television under he was 17 years old - more than a year after he’d started training as a wrestler.
Triple H vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 16 was the first full-length WWE match that Black actually sat down to watch with any level of awareness. He’ll probably want to keep his WCW fandom quiet in the Performance Center, particularly if Vince McMahon is sniffing around, but sports entertainment’s influence is more than apparent in the showier aspects of his performances.