Once upon a time, the man AEW fans would eventually know as Malakai Black looked like one of the brightest stars in the WWE developmental system.

He had an incredible look, a jaw-dropping presentation featuring thousands of candles on an LED wall, and the musical stylings of Code Orange, who created one of the greatest original themes to grace an NXT screen. With a savvy booker navigating his path through the system, there was little reason to believe Black couldn't become a fixture of Raw or SmackDown, where his spooky stylings would stand out versus cleaner-cut performers like A.J. Styles.

And yet, it didn't happen; after some run-ins and minor feuds with the likes of Styles, Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens, and Big E, and an eye injury by the man then-known as Buddy Murphy, Black was rebranded as a book-reading cultist in a few vignettes before being released from his contract.

But hey, don't feel too bad for Mr. Black; roughly one year ago, he debuted in AEW at the first Road Rager, and he's found a new House to call his new home in the promotion.

Malakai Black has found a family in his AEW home.

When Malakai Black showed up in AEW as a surprise foe for Cody Rhodes, it generated a good bit of hype around the professional wrestling world. Gone was the presumed name he previously used in the indies, Tommy End, still present – much to the chagrin of continuity enthusiasts – was his eye injury, and the Black Mass kick that took out oh so many performers in NXT was still as potent as ever, as Rhodes certainly could attest first hand.

And yet, as Black's run with Rhodes continued and the duo feuded back and forth in matches defined by “good versus evil,” his wheels felt like they were stuck in the Nightmare Factory mud. After running through Rhodes, Brock Anderson, Lee Johnson, Dustin Rhodes, Cody Rhodes again, Black beat Dante Martin, lost to Cody Rhodes, and then found himself in his first Pay-Per-View with the promotion, where he tagged with Andrade El Idolo against Pac and, you guessed it, Cody Rhodes.

Sidebar: Goodness, Black's early run looks a lot like a WWE house show circuit with all of the similar matches.

While there were some wrinkles added to Black's run, including the use of a Yoshihiro Tajiri-esque black mist into the eyes of opposing wrestlers, his character sort of settled into the midcard… at least until Brody King was released from his contract with Ring of Honor when the promotion went on hold, and the lumbering member of Violence Unlimited and opted to join up with one of his many indie tag team partners as “The Kings of the Black Throne.” The duo decimated The Varsity Blonds over a series of weeks, spraying Julia Hart with the mist in the process, and entered a program with Death Triangle; a program that became all the more interesting with Buddy Matthews, the man who hit Black's eye in the first place, became the third member of the House of Black.

Though the trio hasn't been shot to the moon by Tony Khan, likely due to the promotion's lack of a trios title, the House of Black put on some of the best matches at each of AEW's the last two Pay-Per-Views, and have become even more exciting thanks to the addition of Hart, who finally joined the group via a lights out re-debut at Double or Nothing that secured the team a win over Pac, Penta Oscuro, and Rey Fenix.

With a 6-0 record since Matthews' debut and a new valet in Hart, who reportedly wrestled at the most recent tapings of Dark, the future is looking interesting indeed for AEW's newest faction, especially if the promotion can settle in a fitting force to feud with moving forward, be that the Dark Order, the Best Friends, or American Top Team.

In WWE, Aleister Black could have been a star. He had the look, the presentation, and in the right context, could have been the right enemy for a number of top-level babyface stars from Drew McIntyre to John Cena. Instead, Vince McMahon and company opted to release Black due to “budgetary reasons” and unleash a wickedly creative mind onto the world of AEW and independent promotions like Prestige, PWG, and NEW. Now that he's found his people, found his home, and settled on a wickedly compelling pathos that becomes more and more interesting with each passing week, the future is looking incredibly bright for Malakai Black and his House – much to the chagrin of WWE… and the rest of the AEW roster.