Malakai Black

Tom Büdgen (born 19 May 1985) is a Dutch professional wrestler.

He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs as leader of the House of Black stable under the ring name Malakai Black and is a former one-time AEW World Trios Champion.

Tom Büdgen was born in Alkmaar in The Netherlands on 19 May 1985.

He has an extensive background in martial arts, having trained in kickboxing, pencak silat, and muay thai, all of which he would later incorporate into his wrestling style.

Under the ring name Tommy End, Büdgen wrestled extensively on the European independent circuit starting with his debut on 18 June 2002, working for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Holland (PWH) and Pro Wrestling Showdown (PWS) in the Netherlands, Progress Wrestling and Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) in England, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) in Scotland, Over the Top Wrestling (OTT) in Ireland, and Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) in Germany, as well as under the Union of European Wrestling Alliance umbrella, among others.

He also wrestled for Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in Japan and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Evolve, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) in the United States.

He held numerous championships and is a former wXw Unified World Heavyweight Champion, wXw World Light Heavyweight Champion, wXw World Tag Team Champion, ICW Tag Team Champion, and Progress Tag Team Champion.

He challenged Drew Galloway for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship, Bad Bones for the UEWA European Heavyweight Championship, Davey Richards for the ROH World Championship and Marty Scurll for the Progress World Championship.

In June 2016, it was reported that Büdgen had signed with WWE, and he reported to the WWE Performance Center on 19 October.

He is also known for his work in WWE, where he performed as Aleister Black from 2017 to 2021.

Prior to signing with WWE, Büdgen worked extensively under the ring name Tommy End for promotions across Europe, the United States, and Japan.

He most notably wrestled for Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Progress Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), and Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), holding numerous championships such as the wXw Unified World Heavyweight Championship, wXw World Lightweight Championship, wXw World Tag Team Championship, ICW Tag Team Championship, and Progress Tag Team Championship.

Büdgen joined WWE's NXT brand in April 2017, debuting at NXT TakeOver: Orlando.

He won the NXT Championship once and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic once (with Ricochet) before he was moved to the Raw brand, and was later drafted to the SmackDown brand.

He then appeared sporadically before being released in 2021, and joined AEW a month later.

On 7 January 2017, he debuted the new ring name, "Aleister Black".

On 15 January, he made a surprise appearance as Tommy End at the United Kingdom Championship Tournament finals, losing to Neville in a non-tournament match.

Vignettes began to air from the 8 March episode of NXT, promoting Black's television debut.

Black made his televised in-ring debut at NXT TakeOver: Orlando on 1 April, defeating Andrade "Cien" Almas.

On 2 August episode of NXT, prior to Black's match, Hideo Itami cut a promo in the ring and demanding respect.

Black interrupted Itami, resulting in a stand-off between the two, and then Black performed Black Mass on Itami.

Itami attempted to attack Black afterwards, but the two were eventually separated.

At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, Black defeated Itami.

Black then began a feud with Velveteen Dream, where Dream constantly stalked and harassed Black in order for him to say his name.

This led to a match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, which Black won.

On 27 December episode of NXT, Black suffered his first pinfall loss by Johnny Gargano in a fatal-four-way match, after interference from The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O'Reilly).

At NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on 27 January 2018, Black defeated Adam Cole in an Extreme Rules match.

On the 14 February episode of NXT, Black said that he had "a devil on [his] back", which was the NXT Championship, he was then interrupted by Killian Dain, whom he defeated on 7 March episode of NXT to become the number #1 contender for the NXT Championship.

Black received his title opportunity against Andrade "Cien" Almas at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on 7 April, where he defeated Almas to win the NXT Championship.

On 30 May episode of NXT, Black was interrupted by Lars Sullivan, who wanted a shot at the NXT Championship.

This led to a match at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, where Black successfully retained his title.

On 25 July episode of NXT, Black lost the NXT Championship to Tommaso Ciampa due to interference from Johnny Gargano, ending his reign at 108 days.

The following week on NXT, Black approached the ring, during Ciampa's address to the NXT Universe, only for Gargano to run out ahead of him to attack Ciampa, after which he attacked Gargano with a Black Mass before indicating that his NXT Championship loss was Gargano's fault.

A match between the three for the title was scheduled for NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, however, Black was later found unconscious in the parking lot outside the arena, after being attacked by an unseen and unknown assailant.

It was later reported that Black was sent to a local medical facility, and was announced as being unable to compete.

After being out of action for two months, Black returned on 17 October episode of NXT, confronting Nikki Cross, who revealed that Johnny Gargano was the one who had attacked him.

A match between Black and Gargano was scheduled for NXT TakeOver: WarGames, in which Black was victorious.

At NXT TakeOver: Phoenix on 26 January 2019, Black failed to regain the NXT Championship from Tommaso Ciampa.

The next night at the Royal Rumble, he entered the Royal Rumble match at number 21, but was eliminated by Baron Corbin.

In March, Black formed a tag team with Ricochet and the two competed in the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which they won after defeating The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake) in the finals.