Photo: Press
It is no secret that moshpits are a happy staple of Download festival, so it makes perfect sense that the world of WWE wrestling should join forces with Britain’s premier hard rock weekend.
This strong bond was cemented last year during one of the most touching moments in Download History, when Triple J was awarded the Metal Hammer ‘Spirit Of Lemmy’ award on the main stage, in honour of his relationship with the late legendary Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister.
Now, the tag-team partnership has been strengthened, with a host of WWE NXT superstars bringing a high-octane, hard-hitting brand of wrestling to a purpose built, full-scale ring in the main festival arena.
One of these names includes Aleister Black, who revealed his love for rock through his theme song ‘Evil Terminators’, a collaboration between New York hardcore band, Incendiary.
Ahead of the festival, the bearded giant sat down with Gigwise to discuss his hard-fought rise from the independent circuit within his native Holland and around Europe, to triumphantly join the WWE NXT in 2016.
GW: Congratulations on your recent NXT debut at Takeover Orlando. How did it feel walking through the curtain at that show?
Aleister Black: Unreal. That was one of the most unreal experiences of my life. It kind of felt like I was doing my first ever match again. I was excited the whole week and when you’re about to go out there, you’re like, ‘right, now here we go.’ You’ve got so much adrenaline going when you walk out of the curtain, it’s almost like you’re having an outer body experience. When you’re walking you kind of see yourself from above and you’re not really there in the moment and as soon as you get in the ring and the bell starts you’re back in your body and, you’re like, ‘all right let’s do this.’
GW: How has you your time in WWE been in general? Anything like you expected?
AB: My time has been absolutely fantastic. There’s nothing on this level. Everything’s state of the art, everything’s new, everything is done to make you the best competitor you can be.
GW: It’s like a dream come true?
AB: It is if you’re a pro wrestler, this is what you should be aiming for.
GW: When you came in to your NXT show, one thing I noticed is that your entrance music was quite different to what wrestlers are typically given. It was more hardcore metal. Did you have any input on it?
AB: I had input to an extent, I’m lucky that I’ve got people behind me that want me to succeed. There’s a lot of people working hard with me to make the entrance and I’m different. Triple H told me this, he said, ‘You’re different’. Not only do I look different, everything about me is different.
GW: What hardcore bands were you into growing up?
AB: I was very much into Black Flag, Biohazard, Strife, and Madball - to name a few.
GW: How does wresting, particularly NXT, and hardcore music crossover to you?
AB: Both have always had an underground grimey vibe - we don’t need the system to be telling us what to do. Also, both share a sense of competitiveness, high energy and, most of all, passion.
GW: You’ve performed at Download before when you were at Progress Wrestling. What are your memories?
AB: It was awesome. I came in and one of the owners was like you didn’t bring any wellies, I was like, ‘no, why would I bring them?’ He was like your shoes are done. And literally after three minutes of being there my shoes were completely obliterated. I also remember walking out and seeing Every Time I Die and Body Count and some other really cool bands.We wrestled - that was awesome. It was a fantastic experience.
GW: If you could pick any band member playing Download this year to tag team with who would it be?
AB: Kendall Jenner and I’ll have the rest of Slayer as my entourage.
GW: Steven Tyler wouldn’t be much use I suppose?
AB: I don’t think I’d want to see him in that role.
GW: Who are you opting to catch over the weekend?
AB: My boys from Venom Prison, Code Orange, AFI, Touche Amore and Aerosmith. I definitely want to watch Aerosmith.
GW: What advice would you give to wrestling fans going to Download?
AB: The advice is to enjoy the experience, go there and have fun don’t think about it, try to watch as many bands as possible, you’ll make great friends – oh, and bring wellies.
GW: What message would you give to people on the fence about checking out an NXT show? What can they expect?
AB: You can expect the best wrestling in the world and I firmly stand behind that. You can expect to see the best performers that this world has to offer right not right this second. Enjoy the show, watch it support it, love it, and have fun. It sounds so simple to say but no really, have fun and forget everything that’d going on in your, life and enjoy this experience. Whether it’s watching a bunch of music and/or watching good wrestling.
GW: Have you had much experience as a fan going to festivals?
AB: I was never in a position where I had a lot of time. I’ve been wresting for 15 years. I wrestled every weekend. I started training at 15 years old. I was going to school, studying sports. Friday right after school I would get in the car and travel with my friends to Germany or wherever we had training and o seminars and have matches. I haven’t sat down long enough to go, ‘right, let’s do this music festival.’
GW: An unusual upbringing then?
AB: Yes.
GW: Would you have your life any other way?
AB: I think in some way I will forever be involved in pro wrestling. It’s a bug that’s in me that won’t get out of my system, This is who I am and this is what forever will be.
GW: You share that with a lot of bands.
AB: You have that bug and that bug tells you to keep going pushing and explore new things. It’s a really unexplainable thing passion, you’ve got or you haven't.
Keep an eye out for details on the app to know when Aleister Black will be performing in the ring at Download this year.
