WF: We are happy to introduce another French talent: Aiden Black! Thank you for your approval for this interview.
AB: Shared pleasure ! It is always an honor to be interviewed !
WF: As far as I know, you were trained by Tristan Archer? How did you get to him and how long you trained with him, were there any other trainers?
AB: Absolutely, I had the privilege of having been trained by Tristan Archer, it was a time well before the Covid aha.
I met him within the ECA which is AYA’s wrestling school, where he was the reigning champion.
I was a little intimidated, former WWE cruserweight classic contestant, this guy wrestling all over the place while I was still in school thinking about my future (laughs)!
Fortunately, it is very quickly of course, we both share a great passion for manga culture, it can be seen on our tattoos. And I think we haven’t finished comparing them (laughs).
I have the opportunity to have his coaching for a whole year in 2019 and I like to think that he always keeps an eye on me to monitor what I do now that I have entered this business.
He always has the right advice and is benevolent. I hope I will one day be able to give him back all that he has and still brings.
Of course, I trained with others, too! If there is one important thing that I understood in this business, it is that we have to train and train constantly.
I think especially of Paul Tucker Gallagher, He was someone I didn’t really know, I had heard a bit about him because he was one of the first to sign at NXT UK.
But, the day I met him, it was a timeless moment. This guy is very kind! open a dictionary, next to the word „wonderful“ you have no definition, you have his photo (laughs)!
Paul, brought me a lot, whether it was in the construction of a match, the attitude in the ring, in the locker room.
It allowed me to better understand my gimmick by always finding the little details that add this monstrous dimension.
I was able to work with him over two weeks. one in February 2020 and the other in October 2020.
I admit that my first week, I was not at the level of my expectations, I had this rage to tell myself „I wanted so much to do better“
So in August 2020, I went to train for 2 weeks with the Bodyzoï team in Belgium. And it was an unforgettable experience for me. I was able to work with incredible people, MBM, Ultima Sombra, Mike D Vecchio, Cormac Hamilton, Striker and the French legend Pierre Booster Fontaine.
A guy who immediately trusted me, with whom I think, I was able to improve myself exponentially. I could listen to him talk for hours with so many stories, anecdotes he had.
Certainly, one of my best encounters of this buniness.
This allowed me to arrive in October 2020, for my second week with Tucker, where I was able to show him everything that I was capable of and that I intended to achieve my goals.
I was voted best fighters of the week and Paul’s handing over of the trophy is the best memory I have so far.
WF: Do you do other sports?
AB: Absolutely, I have been in sports since elementary school, I did all my schooling in sport-study So, Cycling, Orienteering, climbing, swimming, Triathlon, Kayak, athletics, judo and I probably forget (laughs)
But as an adult, I was able to practice a sport that had intrigued me for a long time, US football.
I love it from day one! I spent 6 years with the Fenris de Dijon and I am leaving with 2 BFC championship titles and memories in my head.
I’m still a bit close to my club, we never leave completely after so much time playing (laughs).
And it’s always fun to go see an NFL game with the guys.
I also have during my stay in the gendarmerie, experience many combat sports, Brazilian ju-jitsu, wrestling, sambo, self-defense.
I always remember my teacher, who blew us up in 2 3 movements, I finished sessions with my head upside down, my knees bent 360 degrees and the worst part was that I wanted the next lesson (laughs) )!
WF: Corona still has the world under control, so it is not only difficult for the promoters, but also for you workers and fans. Is it true that you had to postpone your debut because of this?
AB: OOOh yes, it was very complicated for everyone and I salute the pugnacity of all the structures and workers. People have never let go of their goals and that’s why so many shows are resuming. Unfortunately for me, I was planning to make my debut in early 2021 but the covid had to decide otherwise (laughs). Afterwards, it’s already complicated for a „green“ like me to find its place in all this, so I made the choice to work on my own, to work on other projects in order to be ready the day the shows will resume. We never stop working after all ! Now everything is almost ready. Aiden Black can enter in the arena !
WF: Do you remember your first encounter with wrestling?
AB: Like it was yesterday !
I must have been 12 or 13 years old. some friends at college had told me about something on channel 11. It was fights, drama, stories. And I discovered my first Monday night Raw, the one just before wresltemania 24. I got hooked from the first day! It is finally that many years later, that I wanted to understand the why and the how. Why is he Heel, why he doesn’t talk much, why we don’t see this wrestler anymore. And I started to look at what was happening elsewhere. I started to look at the TNA, the CZW, the AAA, the lucha underground, the Chikara and of course certain structures in France like the ICWA. It is with all these hours of watching wrestling that I fell under the spell of dark gimmicks, to see absolutely crazy. Guys like Abyss for this monster side but tortured addicted to the extreme or Samoa Joe, I loved his promotions! I learned English thanks to all these promos that I listened to like a kid listens to his father (laughs) Of course, Aiden Black wouldn’t be here without the Undertaker and Kane, my two references. I could watch the Taker vs Shawn Michaels fight in mania 25 and 26 on a loop. This is my reference match (laughs))
With today’s outlook, I’m less invested in the wwe but I love what the NXT offers. I already knew Adam Cole, Walter, Tommy End and Ricochet and I love feuds. It is precisely this new generation of wrestlers like Tommy End or Dexter Lumis that make me evolve in my approach to my gimmick.
WF: Are there wrestlers or gimmicks that have influenced your outfit, your style?
AB: Completely, as I said before, it’s wrestlers like the Undertaker, Abyss or more recently guys like Tommy End or Dexter Lumis who inspire me. After that, I always try to find the original thing. having done improv shows in the past. I’m always looking for the little thing you don’t expect, whether it’s in the universe I build and in my fighting style. in fact, I realize that my outfit is mostly a big mix of influences that I had in the middle of wrestling and monster cinema like the Alien saga to name only them.
WF: I heard you wait for your gear, what will it look like and how would you describe “Aiden Black”?
AB: indeed, i am actively working with an incredible artist, Arteïde Studio who is in the north of France. To avoid going into too much detail, you have to know how to keep a little mystery to fuel the suspense (laughs). Aiden Black, warrior that he is, will finally come out of his underground galleries with his armor. So I let you imagine the mix between war armor, pieces of beasts, bones and chitins of insects.
To describe Aiden Black, I would say it is a wild beast living in underground galleries, it is an animal, so it lives according to its primary instincts, to hunt, to eat, to show that it is the predator.
now imagine a creature like that who doesn’t know much about today’s moral code. It can be scary and in another sense laugh.
WF: We are always interested in the story of the name. How did Aiden Black come about?
AB: Ah, that’s a good question! Often, we always try to make our name sound the best it can be. we imagine an advertiser shouting our name to see what it would sound like (laughs) I tried to get the name Aiden Black to mean something when you pay attention to it, much like Finn Balor. Finn being a pretty popular name in Ireland if I say no foolishness and Balor is a god of chaos I think I haven’t reviewed sorry (laughs).
Coming back to Aiden Black, Aiden refers to eden, paradise, a place where we end in peace and inevitably that makes a contradiction with Black, eden noir, it makes a big reference to the underground galleries where Aiden Black Vis is his resting place, where he is the master of the place and it is his paradise. But it is a place where he will bring his adversaries so that they end up, in a black Eden.
WF: Heel or Face – Which is currently better for you?
AB: Hmm, to tell you I love both I have this advantage with Aiden Black, to be able to have these two sides which are very different in their way.
In Heel, I will try to scare, to show this monstrous predatory side and it works quite well, I no longer count the number of children who got scared and cry when I entered (laughs)
Opposite, what I love is that ‚Aiden Black is going to have this goofy side, he doesn’t know the codes of civilized people so, he’s going to do anything like try to eat anything that passes near. him, the phones, the microphones, he’s going to put it in front of the cameras to see what it is (laughs). It’s a bit like if you find yourself in front of a gorilla and give it something that it doesn’t know, it will have completely offbeat reactions, but you have to be wary because it is a suvage animal that can tear you away the head in excess of anger.
To really answer your question, I would say Heel, because it is ultimately the side that stands out the most.
WF: You live in France, where great talents come from like Archer, Senza Volto etc. – Are there any countries you want to go to where you absolutely want to work?
AB: Oh yes and the new generation like Aigle Blanc are full of futures, I hope one day to have such a great career. In this business you have to move often and I loved it!
My goal is europe. We don’t have so much incredible structure in eastern europe. I loved working in Ireland, especially at the OTT in England for Progress, Riptide and all these other structures, there are so many! But, if there is indeed a country that gives me a lot of attention. it’s Germany! On the one hand, because I’m not far from the German borders (laughs) And because I see all these French names succeeding! I loved working for COW, Wrestlingkult, GWF, POW and I forget a lot more. In the end, I loved working everywhere (laughs)
WF: What is the current scene in France, can / are you already organizing shows or are the conditions as strict as ours?
AB: From what I can see so far, most of the indoor or outdoor shows have quite a bit of audience.
But following the speech of our President, the health pass and necessarily the vaccination will be mandatory to attend the show.
So, I hope that our big structures will still be able to organize shows and count on the vaccinated public. And the Delta variant is still there to threaten us with a new wave of epidemic.
For once, I prefer to remain optimistic and tell myself that we can welcome the public and that is the main thing.
WF: If somebody want to book you, what is the best way to contact you?
AB: Do not hesitate to contact me on my social networks.
Aiden__black on instagram
Aiden Blck on Facebook
WF: Aiden, we hope to see you here soon! Stay healthy and thank you very much!
AB: A shared pleasure! I had a great time with you! And I hope to meet you again one day to drink a good German beer!
