Buddy Matthews On Reuniting With Malakai Black in AEW, How Similar They Are Creatively

In an interview with Wrestle Radio Australia (via Fightful), Buddy Matthews spoke about working with Malakai Black in WWE and AEW, and how similar they are creatively. After both being released from WWE, they eventually both wound up in AEW and are part of the House of Black stable. Here are highlights:

On joining the House of Black in AEW: “It was just a story that came full circle. Not necessarily talked about, we both felt it was the next chapter of our saga. We talked about it briefly and when the opportunity arise, we took it and we’re enjoying what we’re doing now. On a personal level, me and him are very similar. That shows on the television product, that shows in our chemistry, just standing next to each other, and in our ring work too. You can tell we’re very much on the same page. It’s a match made in heaven, in a way. It’s cool, the fairytale, the whole saga, the whole rivalry going full circle.”

On if the vignettes they made were meant to be tied together: “[AEW] wasn’t on the radar at the time. I’ma big fan of Marvel movies and the hidden easter eggs. So is Malakai. It was entertainment. It was content of entertainment, not necessarily ‘this is going to happen in the future.’ If you paid really close attention to the way the vignettes were shot, his were all indoors, mine were all outdoors. We make reference to each other, but not make reference to each other. it was like a different universe, but in the same [like Marvel shorts]. Iron Man has his franchise, Thor has his franchise. That’s the way we looked at it. It was just putting entertainment for fans and enjoying the creative process that we didn’t really have. Being in the wrestling business, we’re creative people and it’s just having that outlet to do it. he found his outlet with his version, I did my creative outlet in my version. They intertwine, but they weren’t necessarily out there to do what we ended up doing. It was just entertainment and entertaining ourselves.”

On having more creative freedom: “It’s great to contribute to the product and deliver an image that we believe our characters believe in. There are still restraints, obviously, it’s a TV show and you have a certain amount of spots on television. We definitely have a great outlet to express what we like to do or a way we could go about it. It’s awesome to be able to work for a company and deliver a version of ourselves and the way we see ourselves. Not necessarily being handed a script, ‘say this.’ I wouldn’t say that, I’m Australian, why would I say it like that? We get to work on the finer details of how our character are played or what that character would be.”

On the future of House of Black: My focus at the moment is the House. The House, in all honesty, we think we could be the biggest thing in wrestling. In New Japan, tour around the world as The House. We want to give people the experience that the House gives. I feel that’s what we are, an all around experience. We have the ring work. We have the presentation. We want to get out there and want to show the world what we’re capable of. We believe we can be bigger than most. We’re definitely going to try.”