Aleister Black is set to challenge for the NXT title this weekend when he battles Andrade "Cien" Almas on Saturday at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.
Ahead of the bout, Black sat down with Between The Ropes on WWE radio row to share his thoughts on his current NXT run, the match with Almas, his entrance, and more.
Saturday's title challenge signed with WWE in June 2016, but didn't begin appearing on NXT television until March 2017.
"My progression through NXT has been nothing short of phenomenal. Everything I've done so far...every time you do something, you kind of go 'Well, it's not going to get any better.' And then it gets better. You think it's not gonna get any more and then it becomes more. You say, "Well, we're reaching a threshold right here. We're reaching a border right there" and you just got straight through it.
NXT is a place where evolution keeps happening over and over. Not just for me, but for any competitor stepping into that NXT ring."
Black said his entrance, where he is lifted off the ground and into the camera shot, was the idea of Triple H. "He felt we needed to put the attention to Aleister Black in a different way. I would say, a different light. In a time where people have seen so many things and the attention spans of most individuals is short, we wanted to create something where people go, 'Oh that's different.' I'm pretty much sure we succeeded in doing such."
Saturday's contest between Black and Almas will be the second time the two have battled. Black defeated Almas at NTX TakeOver: Orlando last year. Black spent his time working in Europe as Tommy End while Almas worked in Mexico as La Sombra. The two were in Japan together, but in different organizations.
Black believes he knew what Almas was always capable of, but that things started to click for the champion when Zelina Vega was added to his act. "She knows very well how to push his buttons. (She's) brought something out of him that the NXT fanbase hadn't seen yet."
Perhaps Black's best work in NXT thus far was his feud with Velveteen Dream. When asked about working with Dream, the Netherlands native offered strong praise and an apt comparison.
"Velveteen Dream is the Joker to my Batman. I feel my encounters with Dream are far from done. (He) is a prodigy of professional wrestling. He's absorbed and adapted to anything he's seen. He's 23-year-old and is a tremendous talent. When they put all this together, you could see, despite the layers that were in there, it was all very natural for us to react the way we did."
Black appears calm and collected ahead of his big match on Saturday. If you've missed any of NXT action over the past week, catch up the the NXT Report Card. We'll have coverage of NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on Saturday along with all the happenings during WrestleMania weekend.
