Aleister Black may not be welcomed back to AEW.
On April 24th, it was reported that WWE released around 25 wrestlers from the main roster and NXT. The most recent round of cuts included the entire Wyatt Sicks faction, Kairi Sane,Aleister Black, and his wife, Zelina Vega.
This marked the end of Black’s second run with the company, as he had previously been released in 2021. After that release, the star signed with AEW, where he was known as Malakai Black. During his time with the company, he feuded with Cody Rhodes before going on to form the House of Black with Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart.
Black’s AEW tenure was dogged by injury, rumours that he didn’t want to lose matches, and speculation that he wanted to go back to WWE after Triple H took control of the creative direction of the company. While Black denied those rumours, he returned to WWE in 2025 after his AEW contract expired.
Now that Black has been released from WWE for the second time, there has been speculation that he could look to return to Tony Khan‘s company alongside Zelina Vega. However, if that is an option, he might not be welcomed with open arms.
Reaction To Idea Of Aleister Black Returning To AEW Is “Pretty Negative”
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said he had spoken to people in AEW about Aleister Black possibly returning to the promotion, and the idea was not fondly received.
“From what I have heard, and you may have heard differently, the idea of Aleister Black and AEW was not fondly thought of by the people I spoke with there. Now, I did not speak to Tony Khan.”
Meltzer compared this to Andrade El Idolo, who had also left AEW to return to WWE. While there was negativity for El Idolo, it wasn’t as pronounced as it has been for Black.
“Andrade was mixed. I know people there that were not high on Andrade at all and others who were. Black, from what I gathered, pretty negative. There were even people who publicly said that. That they were negative on Black.”
While many believed that TKO was responsible for the mass release, it has since been reported that Triple H and Nick Khan made the decision to cut talent from the WWE roster.
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the above transcription.
