Former WWE star recalls childhood moment that sparked wrestling dream
Summary
– Aleister Black said seeing Yokozuna on television helped spark his interest in pro wrestling
– Black first saw WWF programming as a child in the Netherlands while watching TV with his father
– His martial arts background later shaped the striking style he brought into wrestling
Aleister Black says one brief childhood moment with Yokozuna helped point him toward a career in professional wrestling.
On the Nightcap podcast, Black recalled growing up in the Netherlands, where wrestling was not widely available. He said he was around 4 or 5 years old when his father was flipping through channels and landed on WWF programming on Eurosport.
Black said he only caught a quick glimpse of Yokozuna, but the image stayed with him. His father changed the channel, but Black remembered asking him to go back because something about what he had seen caught his attention.
Later, Black saw New Japan Pro-Wrestling on television and began to understand more about wrestlers competing inside a ring. At first, he connected it to the action films he grew up watching, including martial arts-heavy movies from the 1980s and 1990s.
That interest led his parents to put him into karate, judo, and Muay Thai. By the time he was nine, Black understood the difference between martial arts and professional wrestling.
At 15, Black had the chance to start training in pro wrestling. His background in Muay Thai and kickboxing became a major influence on his in-ring style, giving him the striking-based approach fans later saw throughout his career.
