Cezar Bononi Says Malakai Black Match With Malakai Black Saved Him From Being Cut By WWE

On the May 10, 2017 edition of WWE NXT, Cezar Bononi wrestled Aleister Black, now known as Malakai Black in AEW, with Black going over. After initial hype as the next big NXT star, he was let go in 2020.

While speaking on an episode of the Developmentally Speaking podcast, the match saved his career. Here are the highlights (per Fightful):

On the bout: “Yeah, the first match that I had on TV, for sure, with Aleister Black, Malakai. There were so many people saying to me that was not going to make it to TV ever then I had that opportunity. It was a really good opportunity. To be honest, I was going to be fired the next day but I did such a good job in that match that saved my my job.”

On whether he knew he would get fired: “Cuts. Just cuts. They had to cut and I understand the business, it’s all good. They just had to cut to get new people and whoever is not getting good results, they cut. That’s how business works. I never thought there was something personal or whatever. Actually, I was not delivering whatever was necessary as well. I totally understand on the business side of that. The good thing is that I got at least one chance to do something, and I did it good.”