M&F spoke with the detail-oriented Dutchman to find out how his training has evolved throughout his career so far, and how he’s passing this wisdom on to the next generation of professional wrestling trainees.
WWE fans were shocked to see Alistair Black take a nasty fall that saw the wrestler quickly descend from the top of an ambulance and crash through a table on the January 2, 2026 episode of SmackDown, but rumors that he suffered a career-ending injury have proven to be exaggerated. “There was a small hairline crack in my tailbone,” confirms the fighter, explaining that he only realized it when swelling was discovered in his lower back during a regular physiotherapy session. “I had no idea,” he says M&F of the serious reminder that pro wrestling is anything but fake. Fortunately, black is anything but defeated.
The Martial Arts Foundation behind Black’s conditioning
Of course, this 6-foot-2 superstar’s appreciation for big-time wrestling comes from the smaller shows and the low-to-zero payouts he received on the way up. Black was a fan not only of WWE in his youth, but also of Japan’s strong wrestling, an influence that encouraged him to practice martial arts such as pencak silat from the age of nine. He also learned Muay Thai under former world champions Liam Harrison and Andy Howson.
Black began his professional wrestling training at the age of 15, traveling to The Hague and then heading to England and Germany in his mid-teens, where he picked up the art of chain wrestling – a discipline that favors limbs and submission holds, where there are many reversals, but very few breaks. “It was definitely a tough call,” he reflects, noting that the personal and financial sacrifices he made only helped him realize where his career is now. As part of the pro wrestling giant that is WWE, the Black has starred on arena shows like SmackDown, but this elite athlete says his training never stops evolving.
How powerlifting and diet changes helped Alistair’s physique at 37
“Over the years I started combining martial arts with professional wrestling,” Black explains of his exciting in-ring style. “And for me that is an ongoing process.” Another ongoing process is this athlete’s journey with exercise. “I’m not built for bodybuilding,” says the fighter star. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t like lifting weights.”
Black tells M&F that taking up powerlifting was a game changer because it gave him goals in the gym, rather than focusing purely on bicep size. “With my deadlifts, my squats, my overhead presses and bench presses, I was able to work toward a specific goal,” he says of his enthusiasm for pushing himself in the weight room.
When Black signed with WWE about a decade ago, he was thirty years old and in great shape, but the rigors of the road and the added pressure of the spotlight were beginning to have a detrimental effect on his health. “I was still very much a rice and chicken guy, and I was very crude about lifting weights, not realizing that there was a lot of nuance to a lot of the things I could do,” he reflects. Ultimately, the professional wrestler came into contact with a nutrition coach, Austin J Sims. “He understands, I’m a (combat) athlete, not a bodybuilder, right? And it’s funny to say I got into my best shape at 37, 38.”
High rep training for strength and cardiovascular endurance
Now that he’s 40, Black explains that it’s really all about balance and consistency when it comes to achieving your fitness goals. The wrestler tracks his calories and macros so that when he’s on the road with WWE, he can make simple swaps and still reach his goals. “It’s just about having a healthy relationship with food, which is mainly understanding what’s functional, but also understanding that it doesn’t have to be cardboard,” Black notes. “That doesn’t mean food has to be boring.”
As a busy road wrestler, Black has also changed his rep schedules. While he still enjoys occasional powerlifting sessions, Black tells M&F his focus now is on functionality and longevity in the ring. Of course, he already has to powerlift his opponents in the WWE ring, so in the gym Black likes to lift lower weights but at a much higher volume, often doing a hundred reps per exercise to work on strength and endurance at the same time.
Alistair Black is protecting chain wrestling and mental health in the next generation of professional wrestlers
After training extensively in England at the time, Black still integrates this influence in 2026. “I try to implement it in every match I have,” he says. “Even if it’s a quick hook, or a quick wrist lock, or a quick top wrist lock, or whatever I can do to give something that has the element of wrestling in it. Because at the end of the day it’s called professional wrestling. We’re wrestlers, and you know this is probably going to sound pretty interesting coming from a guy who’s known as a striker, but I feel like we often forget that the law of the land is professional wrestling, as soon as the bell rings, the fist starts flying.”
Keeping the traditional art of professional wrestling alive is also a big aspect of life at Black’s wrestling school in Florida, which he runs with his wife and fellow WWE superstar Zelina Vega. “They train with me, and obviously I have pretty high standards,” says the grappler of his gaming students. Still, after wrestling in those less-than-safe environments growing up, this coach has done everything he can to provide a comfortable environment in which his aspiring professional wrestlers can grow. “I cover mental health because it is a very real phenomenon in our industry,” says Black. “It’s not easy to do this.”
Now that he’s learned the many lessons he’s learned from a stellar career that included the NXT World Title, Black is preparing for his own future return to the mat, and we’ll likely see him chasing WWE gold in the not-too-distant future. “I still feel very good!” he says to M&F.
WWE SmackDown airs in the US every Friday night at 8/7C on USA Network, while international viewers can catch all the action via Netflix.
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