Hounds of Hell Yeah

Addition by Subtraction is a Thing.

The House always wins. But the House is…no more.

With reverence to the greatness that was House of Black, I give you a 10-bell salute.

Yeah. Nope. Not even. I know a lot of people, a lot of my friends, were huge fans of the House of Black. And the aura was undeniable. The entrances, the lights on the crowd, the incredible work in the ring that every performer is capable of. The promos…oh right, the promos.

Ok now I’m gonna be real. I’m a big fan of Malakai Black’s work. He’s explosive, his presence is palpable, and he like…looks really cool. But if there’s ever been a case for the most disappointing AEW tenure, he has to be the one. Ricky Starks and Miro may soon be joining him. But to my mind, Malakai was the one who could have and should have been a smashing success.

He came in with a bang, attacking Cody on his first night, kickstarting what felt like an epic rivalry. He squashed Cody in like 5 minutes on a Dynamite soon thereafter. And, while it led to a very dumb moment where Cody acted like he was going to retire that felt completely ridiculous and forced, it made clear that Malakai was a major player. It felt like Black had been unshackled from the many constraints placed on his character under Vince McMahon.

Then…everything else happened. He soon lost to Cody and his character started to be featured in ways that felt inconsistent. I’ll blame Tony Khan for that, he is the booker after all.

Then Brody King arrived. Then Buddy Matthews. Now Malakai had this cult-ish, cool stable of wrestlers around him that were powerhouses in their own right. Have you SEEN Brody King? Have you SEEN a Buddy Matthews match?

They were like if the Undertaker (if we DIDN’T know he was a MAGA loser) and the Road Warriors became one. They should have run over everyone, right?

Well…no, actually.

After a strong debut as a trio, it quickly became clear that House of Black were going to be resigned to Spooky Town with cryptic promos that really felt to me like word salad that went nowhere. It was all aesthetic. I don’t mind Spooky Town! I like it! But it has to have a point. I felt this same way about Bray Wyatt. I respected his obvious talent but after 2014-2015, his promos were just inane laughing and word salad. His booking had essentially doomed him and there was no level of mystical rambling that was going to undo that.

Yes, House of Black won the Trios titles. And that was cool. But…did we REALLY want to see them in perpetual tag matches and trios matches, knowing how good they each were individually? In fact, in the match where HoB won the Trios titles from The Elite, Malakai and Kenny Omega came face to face and the crowd response was electric. Kenny vs. Malakai one-on-one was a dream match between two guys in the same company and it never happened. Why?

Well…there have been rumblings since 2022 that Malakai was unhappy in AEW. I don’t know what’s true. I don’t know what’s not true. I don’t really care, to be honest. What I will say is that his presence in AEW was greatly diminished from 2022 onward. He almost never wrestled in singles matches. And honestly…he sometimes felt like he was on autopilot. This was not the inspired, dark lord dude that I thought was going to be an AEW World Champion. This was…kinda boring, honestly.

The presence was still there, the aura was still there. But HoB entered into a number of short-term rivalries that went nowhere. They appeared to be completely ambivalent about titles, even though they were just about the only full-time trio. None of them engaged in a feud that lasted more than a couple episodes of Collision, itself a television purgatory that famously was booked as a B show in 2024 due to its time slot and lack of live ratings.

They actually entered into a “feud” with FTR where, if FTR lost, they would have to join the House of Black. Like…can you imagine FTR in the House of Black? No. But just try to because it’s hilarious. Dax in full goth, talking about how his family is now the House of Black…c’mon. The point is it was meaningless and predictable.

Arguably the best thing to come from Malakai’s time in AEW was the emergence of Julia Hart. The story of Malakai accidentally misting Julia during a match with the Varsity Blondes and her slow transformation from a cheerleader to the spiritual center of a stable of three other terrifying men was nothing short of spellbinding. It pushed her to the top of AEW’s Women’s division and put her on par with some of AEW’s biggest stars in record time.

So with Malakai now officially gone…what happens?

Hounds of Hell happens, motherfucker!

In very short order, Brody King, Buddy Matthews and Julia have made a few vignettes with logical, straightforward messages that are digestible and generate excitement. Hounds of Hell, Buddy and Brody, had a very good match with Gates of Agony on Collision and an entrance that pays tribute both to their history in House of Black and the forward-looking direction they are moving in. It was clear to me, in an instant, that all three of these performers, all of whom I value very much, are going to be just fine. And in no time, later in that same episode, Buddy challenged Kazuchika Okada for his Continental Championship.

So, while I don’t begrudge Malakai Black his desire to leave AEW or possibly return to WWE where he can very likely travel with his wife again, I do think there is at least some fire where the smoke has been for…(checks calendar)...three years that these rumors have been circulating. The House of Black, while excellent merch movers and unrivaled in vibes, had become an anchor on the potential of Brody King and Buddy Matthews.

Now, with the leash off, they can sink their fangs into greatness (see what I did there, it was a dog pun because Hounds?)