Ex-WWE Star Malakai Black Confirms WrestleMania 42 Match With Randy Orton Was Pitched

Malakai Black, formerly known as Aleister Black in WWE, has confirmed that he was originally set to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania earlier this year, but the match ultimately fell through.

One of Black's final matches in his second stint with WWE came against Orton in February 2026, which reports following his release said would have been repeated at WrestleMania 42 in April. Unfortunately for him, that did not happen, and he spoke about it during his appearance on the "ZELVX and CHARLIE GIRL" podcast, featuring his wife and former WWE star Zelina Vega and another ex-WWE wrestler, Dakota Kai. Black spoke about an elaborate entrance he had planned for that match, revealing that Orton was to be his opponent.

"I said [to Jason Baker], 'Hey, I've got this smoke device and I want to put it under my cloak.' And then during our entrance, what I wanted to do is she [Vega] would have the remote of it, and then when I would roll in and I would sit and she would crawl back, she would press the button and it would smoke, and all the smoke would come out my jacket," he said. "And initially, the plan was for WrestleMania because up until that point, the pitch for me and Randy Orton was, you know, WrestleMania. Obviously, that never saw the light of day, but I didn't want to just, like, dump the jacket and, like, be like, 'I'm not gonna use that.'"

Black said he repurposed the jacket into a raven-themed one, which he eventually used at shows he has been a part of following his WWE exit. The former NXT Champion spoke disappointedly about his time in WWE, stating that the year has been a "dud" for him after being promised many things by WWE that didn't come to fruition.

Orton, at "The Show of Shows," faced Cody Rhodes and lost the Undisputed WWE Championship match, while Black was left off the card and released just a few days later.