Aleister Black Discusses Infamous WWE NXT Botch With Lars Sullivan

Before he was one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions, Malakai Black was a star for "WWE NXT" as Aleister Black, even winning the "NXT" Championship. That doesn't mean there weren't pitfalls during that run, however, with perhaps the most notable down moment coming when Black defended the "NXT" Title against Lars Sullivan at TakeOver: Chicago, where Sullivan took the "Black Mass" kick in a less-than-desirable way. On "The Undisputed Podcast," Black gave some background regarding the botch, and how he and Sullivan had practiced the match on house shows, with timing the finish being a concern going in, regardless of their practice or chemistry.

"I remember Terry Taylor, right before we go out, Terry said to Lars 'Make sure you come in correctly,'" Black said. "'Time it right,' because it was delicate, it was very delicate. But we wanted to pull it off. And I hit him, I roll through, he gets up, I get up, but there is something, and he's always ... every single time I've ever seen him afterwards, he's always apologized for this ... thing. But it's just about the delicacy of it. I'm expecting him, because, as I feed, I'm going.

"We ran this same type of body language and timing every single night. It was successful, we just exchanged the technique. And now, for some reason, as he turns, he takes an extra step for a sell, and then he feeds in, so you see my kick go because I'm anticipating his body language because we're clocked in. And for some reason ... he took an extra step. He didn't know why. And it completely, you know, it misses. There's a timing issue. And again, these things happen. These things happen."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Undisputed Podcast" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription