Aleister Black’s body art is almost entirely black and gray, with large pieces across his neck, chest, arms, legs and back. The tattoos are a big part of his look.

He has ink across most of his body, so each photo shows a different part of it. One focuses on his neck, another on his chest and stomach, and a third on his sleeves and legs.

Paul Booth is behind some of the darkest pieces

A clear tattoo photo shows Black in the chair while Paul Booth works on him. Ink already covers both arms, his neck and his shoulders. The coverage was added over time, not in one appointment.

Booth’s work often uses dark shading, horror imagery and freehand shapes. Similar features appear in Black’s tattoos: the designs overlap, blend into one another and leave some areas nearly black. That layering makes them look different from one photo to another.

Black has talked about metal and horror as influences on his taste. That gives some context for the skulls, strange faces and heavy shading, but it doesn’t explain every tattoo. He has not confirmed a meaning for each mark.

His chest and stomach pieces make the biggest impact

A boxing photo gives a clear view of his chest and stomach. Faces, curved shapes and dark patches sit close together, crossing the chest and continuing into the arm tattoos.

The large chest piece is visible when Black wrestles without a shirt, and it gives his entrance a different look from most of the roster. Across his torso, the tattoos read more like one mural than separate flash designs.

It’s hard to assign a meaning to each skull, eye or symbol. Black hasn’t publicly explained every section. The safest read is that the collection reflects his interest in dark art, metal and personal experiences; the story behind a smaller mark may be unknown.

The neck tattoo pulls the whole look up toward his face

The neck tattoo can disappear under his hair or a shirt, but it changes the way his face and upper body read when it shows. The lines rise from his chest toward his jaw, beside his beard and long hair.

The shoulders carry more ink than a single photo might suggest. Chest, neck and upper-arm pieces meet through the curves and shading, forming a shape that reads together from a distance.

The names changed from Aleister Black in WWE to Malakai Black in AEW, but the dark body art stayed with him.

His arms and legs are covered with very different designs

A photo with CM Punk shows more than Black’s chest. His sleeves run from the shoulders down, and tattoos are visible on his legs as well.

The work shifts between heavy black shading, outlines, lettering and patches of open skin. Those changes keep the arms from reading as one solid block.

Wrestling photos often crop out his legs, so sitting or training shots give a fuller view of the coverage. A standard ring photo usually shows only his chest and shoulders.

The tattooed group photo shows how much skin is covered

Standing beside other heavily tattooed wrestlers makes it easier to judge how much of Black’s body is covered. His chest, stomach, thighs and arms all carry large pieces.

The photo shows large central images on his torso and smaller details around them. The thigh tattoos are easy to see, and the chest work reaches toward his neck.

The name in a caption depends on the period: older WWE material calls him Aleister Black, while newer AEW coverage uses Malakai Black. The photos show different points in the same career.

The wedding photo catches the quieter details

The wedding photo isn’t a close-up, but the neck tattoo is visible above his shirt. Ink also shows on one hand and lower arm, details ring photos may hide.

The tattoos remain visible when he’s dressed for a wedding or away from the ring, not just in his wrestling entrance.

Black has built a large collection over the years, including major pieces with Paul Booth. The tattoos are a visible part of how he presents himself, though that doesn’t mean every mark has a confirmed story.

Roman Reigns’ Samoan sleeve is built from flowing Polynesian patterns, a very different look from Black’s heavy shading and horror imagery. See our Roman Reigns’ Samoan sleeve guide for the comparison.

In the Loudwire clip below, Black talks about the tattoos and sits with Paul Booth. It adds context about the process beyond what a ringside photo can show.