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Aleister Black could be set for one of the biggest wins of his career this weekend when he steps into the Money In The Bank ladder match for the very first time.
Black is a former NXT Champion and has been popular with the WWE Universe ever since his debut back in 2016. Despite being over with the WWE Universe, many fans are unsure of Black's character, given the fact that it seems quite sinister, something that is also expressed in his tattoos.
He also has a background in martial arts, which means that he can land some of the most stunning strikes in the business. Over the last four years, many fans about Black have come to light, but here are some facts about The Striking Man from Amsterdam that fans may not be aware of.
#5. Aleister Black's childhood trauma
There are a lot of layers to the character that Aleister Black has created on WWE TV, but as part of a recent Q&A on his "A to Z" Youtube channel, Black was able to talk about one of the biggest things that have pushed him over the years. This would be Chlaustrphobia (fear of confined places), which was a result of childhood trauma.
When asked about his biggest fears, Black named spiders as one of them but pointed out that he didn't kill them because he didn't see his fear as a reason for them to have to die.
“I have claustrophobia, severely because I have panic attacks and anxiety. I’m not too keen on heights — god I’m gonna sound like a wuss with this. I’m like — the thing is I confront myself with a lot for my fears. I’ll put myself in situations like purposefully like so I can endure it. That’s what I did with spiders now I can pick them up and take them out of the house nowadays. When I was a kid I was terrified of them with good reasons because I had some weird experiences with spiders as a kid.
"As for claustrophobia, I have childhood trauma for being trapped in something for an extended period of time. When I think about it, it makes me [he shivered] — I was at this big jungle gym with my mom and there were these big tubes where I was climbing into and you climb up and they were very narrow. There was a kid behind me and there was a kid in front of me and they picked on me so they wouldn’t let me out.
"So, I couldn’t go this way or that way. My mom for like 20 minutes was like, ‘where is he?’ Then my mom saw it and these kids quickly ran off I don’t remember what happened after that. I just couldn’t do a small space anymore.”
His wife Zelina Vega, on the other hand, said that she was afraid of needles.
#4. Aleister Black has 54 tattoos
One of the most obvious points to make about Aleister Black is that he likes tattoos since the former NXT Champion is covered in ink. The tattoos are reportedly one of the reasons why Black isn't able to wrestle over in Saudi Arabia, but that doesn't make the art any less impressive.
The Striking Man from Amsterdam has a staggering 54 tattoos which cover almost his entire body, but all of them mean something to him. According to a report by BodyArtGuru, his tattoos include a Hindu God, A Grim Reaper, 'Anti Hero' on his knuckles, and a Hindu Warrior Goddess.
Black also has the words ‘Ave Satanas’ tattooed on his hands, an expression which translates to 'Hail Satan'.
The most recognizable tattoo that Black has is that of Lilith, which occupies almost his entire back. According to Jewish mythology, Lilith is a dangerous female demon, who is sexually wanton and steals babies at night.
#3. Aleister Black has his own clothing line
Aleister Black has a unique look, so it's perhaps not that much of a surprise that the former NXT Champion and Money in the Bank favorite has his own clothing line. Black and former WWE star Rosa Mendes' fiance Bobby Schubenski are co-owners of a clothing line called "Blxck Mass Clothing".
Much of the line focuses on Black's 'Anti-hero' persona and allows his wife Zelina Vega to model some of the women's versions of the clothes.
As seen on the Instagram page, the clothing is very dark. That being said, Black models much of his own clothing line when he's not wrestling, and it appears to be attire that the star himself would be wearing for his day to day activities.
Mendes' fiance Schubenski is one of the co-owners of Blackcraft Cult clothing company and in the past, it was revealed that he worked with former Divas Champion Paige on a coffee shop called The Dark Gypsy. Paige stated back in 2016 that she was no longer affiliated with the company.
#2. His favorite movie of all time is Aliens
Aleister Black portrays a dark persona on WWE TV, so it comes as no surprise that when he was asked in a recent Q&A on YouTube about his favorite film, he admitted that it was a horror film.
The Anti-Hero listed many original horror films including The Thing, before stating that he believes that Aliens is his favorite of all time.
"I think for me personally, my favorite genre of movies to watch is horror movies and not like the very typical ones, but the classics like The Thing and Alien and Aliens, Alien is my favorite movie of all time, or at least one of my favorite movies of all time."
The couple went on to explain that during the lockdown they are currently going through and rewatching a number of their favorite movies including IT and John Wick. Earlier in the episode, it was revealed that Thirteen Ghosts and Gremlins were the two films that Black watched when he was younger that scared him the most.
#1. He was scared of the dark until he was 14
Aleister Black's character seems to be centered around his love of the dark and the fact that he's a worshipper of Satan. This is why it comes as such a shock that Black hasn't been like this his whole life. The current RAW superstar recently spoke to Lilian Garcia on her Chasing Glory podcast, where he was able to reveal that he was actually scared of the dark until he was 14 years old.
"Yes, frightened, like a paralyzing fear of the dark. I think I was reading too much about stuff I shouldn’t have been reading about. I had an interest in the occult brought forth by things from my childhood and conversations with my grandfather. Sometimes when I have to put into words what made me me, I don’t even know where to begin sometimes.
"I’m proving to myself that there is nothing to be afraid of and it works and at one point I had a conversation with myself and said, ‘You can do two things. You can be frightened for the rest of your life or you can just go out there as a brave 13 or 14 year old and face it head on.’ That’s what I did and after that my mind started calming down from everything and I started liking being in the dark more and I felt more energized at night. I think it’s also kind of where my reclusiveness comes from. I like being on my own all the time."
