Vince McMahon is often laughed at and sometimes even actively disliked for referring to wrestling as sports entertainment. While I agree that pretty much banning the word wrestling from being uttered in a company with the word in its name is a little much, the chairman of the board does have a point. Wrestling is just one branch of the much larger pro wrestling tree. It does have to entertain, and good matches alone simply aren't going to do that, at least not for everybody.

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If a wrestler is good enough, then they will have captured the crowd's attention and earned their support before they've even stepped between the ropes, maybe before the crowd has even seen them. A great entrance can mean so much in wrestling. During the height of the Attitude Era, the sound of glass breaking would have an entire arena on its feet before Stone Cold even came through the curtain. The same would happen ten years prior when the opening notes of Hulk Hogan's Real American would ring out.

Malakai Black Has The Best Entrance In Wrestling

In the present day, while it might not have the same effect as the ones mentioned above, there are few entrances better than Malakai Black's. The man knows his character better than almost anyone in the business right now and that is plain to see from absolutely everything he does. From the moment his music hits and he steps out in front of the fans, he is no longer Tom Budgen and every bit Malakai Black.

Although he arguably didn't get the opportunities he deserved in WWE, this is nothing new. Black has had an incredible entrance ever since he first debuted in NXT as Aleister Black. Rising up from the ground surrounded by candles as metal blasts inside the arena. If it didn't give you chills then you probably needed to check your pulse. It's also one of the last examples of WWE not messing with a gimmick and it really meaning something when it debuted on the main roster. Even fans who didn't watch NXT knew they were about to see someone special.

The Legacy Continues In AEW

Black couldn't bring his music and his name over from NXT to AEW. He has perfectly lifted the way it makes fans feel from that period in his career though. Not only has he managed to replicate it, but his entrance has evolved. While his entrance in AEW feels as otherworldly as it did in WWE, he has also managed to add an element of danger to it. The subtle changes have made Black's entrance feel as if something bad is about to happen to someone whenever it hits, and that prophecy is usually fulfilled moments later.

It's easy to tell who Black has taken inspiration from for his crowd-stopping entrances. No one in wrestling history has a more iconic entrance than The Undertaker. Ask anyone from the fans who have seen it from the comfort of their own homes to the performers who have been lucky enough to be stood in the ring and have a front-row seat for it. There's nothing like it, and that Black has managed to replicate even a fraction of that in his own entrances has made for something very special.

AEW is something of a mixed bag when it comes to its entrances. The company isn't even three years old yet, so it makes sense that it is still finding its feet in a number of different ways. Having a creative mind like Black on your roster is only going to improve the character work of pretty much anyone he works with. Odds are he played a big role in putting together his new entrance, and perhaps he can help others in the company make sure that they are over with the fans before they have even hit the ring.