Aleister Black was part of a surprising list of names that WWE recently released, alongside Braun Strowman, Lana, Buddy Murphy, Santana Garrett, and Ruby Riott. But unlike others, there's speculation he might have a pathway back into the company.
Black himself has been very open on Twitch over the last few days, detailing many aspects of his time in WWE and even his release. He revealed that many people had told him they were surprised when he was let go, including several high-ups in the company.
This is something that PWInsider has released a report on as well, indicating that there's a backstage push for the former NXT Champion to be brought back into the company. It has been done before with the likes of Daniel Bryan and Drake Maverick, so it's not outside the realms of possibility.
Still, if WWE were to bring back Aleister Black, what would be the best way to do it? In this article, we will explore five different options by which Aleister Black could be brought back to WWE.
#5 Aleister Black could return to WWE by attacking Big E again
The easiest and most logical way to bring Aleister Black back is to just pick up where they left off with him, by continuing the storyline he had only just started before his release.
A few weeks ago, Aleister Black returned during a Fatal Four-Way match for the Intercontinental Title and attacked Big E, hitting him with the Black Mass, which allowed Apollo Crews to retain.
This return had been hyped by a series of vignettes and it really looked like WWE was invested in Black as a character with a new gimmick. But before we could even get Big E's response to being attacked by Black, he was already on his way out of the door.
So we can have Black surprise everyone and catch Big E off guard, by returning at some point in the future to attack the New Day member again.
WWE could even wait to ensure that the Dutch Destroyer's return can have maximum impact by making him take out Big E when he is on the verge of winning a title or towards the closing moments of a big Grudge Match.
#4. WWE could do Aleister Black's plan for revenge against those that wronged him
After his WWE release, Aleister Black revealed what a lot of the backstage plans were that had been pitched and rejected or didn't end up happening for his character for whatever reason, and one of those didn't sound half-bad.
On the 27th of July, 2020 Buddy Murphy attacked Aleister Black, driving his eye into the corner of the steel steps. Black was subsequently off of television for a few weeks to sell the attack, although it has been claimed by the Superstar himself that he suffered a legitimate injury as well.
Speaking on Twitch after his release, Black mentioned that he pitched a revenge angle where he'd go after Buddy Murphy for the eye incident, but wouldn't stop there, as he would seek to blame several people.
"So I could endlessly keep blaming and the idea for me was that after Buddy I would go after Seth (Rollins) because Seth made Buddy. But then after Seth, I would find Bray (Wyatt) because Bray turned Seth into what he was, and afterwards I kinda wanted to target almost like Vince (McMahon). And I kinda wanted to have this reveal where Vince was, you know, the father that I spoke of, in the context of, he is the creator of World Wrestling Entertainment. So it would make sense that the person eventually doing all this symbolically was Vince. And again, creative loved all of it. It just never came to fruitition. You know, I wanted to have continuity with this character continuously blaming everyone else for what had happened to him but himself, and eventually having the realization," said Aleister Black.
This would be a great way to bring Aleister Black back, especially as there's now an extra element to his end goal of getting revenge against Vince McMahon. The WWE Chairman may have been the one who sanctioned Black's release so he could come back to haunt him.
#3 Aleister Black skips RAW and SmackDown and goes for the NXT Championship
Whilst it would be good to see Aleister Black on Monday Night RAW or SmackDown, there's an argument to be made that the perfect place to bring him back would be NXT.
Aleister Black was in his element on the black and gold brand as he went undefeated for quite some time. Even when he tasted defeat, there was always some interference or shenanigans at play.
Black also won the NXT Championship and looked to be tearing it up until Johnny Gargano interfered in a title match between him and Tommaso Ciampa, costing the Dutch Superstar.
Whilst Black did get the opportunity to regain the gold, it would be several months after he had lost it. He was written out of a planned Triple Threat match between Gargano and Ciampa due to a mysterious parking lot attack.
The attacker was revealed to be Gargano and after beating him, Black was finally given a shot to regain the title from Ciampa. But at that point, the storyline had clearly moved towards the two former tag-team partners, so Black was unsuccessful in his attempt.
Putting Black back in NXT, which is something the Superstar himself had allegedly asked for, would be a great way to restart his WWE career. A trip back to the black and gold brand did wonders for Finn Balor and could do the same for The Dutch Destroyer as well.
#2 Aleister Black returns to WWE with his wife Zelina Vega
Throughout her WWE career, Aleister Black's real-life wife, Zelina Vega, spent almost the entire time outside of the ring managing other talents. Her partnership with Andrade was the most prominent one during her tenure in the company.
Whilst Vega did get the opportunity to wrestle in WWE, including a RAW Women's Title match against Asuka, she never really got the chance to show the fans her true in-ring capabilities.
She was released from the company in November of last year. There were rumors suggesting that she was on her way back to the company as Vega was spotted at WWE Performance Center in May 2021.
It would be great if WWE were to bring Aleister Black back alongside his wife, but swapped the roles so that Vega was the active wrestler and Black was her manager/enforcer/valet.
Not only would this provide the pair the opportunity to work closely together in WWE, but it would also give Zelina Vega a big boost in her singles career. This could effectively help her become a force in the women's division and a future champion.
#1 Aleister Black calls out Brock Lesnar
Aleister Black revealed that there were nixed plans for him and Brock Lesnar to have an altercation. Even though these plans were suggested by Paul Heyman, they never ended up happening.
"One of Heyman’s ideas was to have Samoa Joe or Brock Lesnar come into the room at the time that would eventually lead to an interaction between me, Brock Lesnar or Samoa Joe. I would cut a promo in this room, and Lesnar would come in through the darkness and choke me out and stuff," said Aleister Black.
A feud between Aleister Black and Brock Lesnar would be a fantastic one, even if it would have been for a small amount of time. Black's quick striking and the capacity for his finisher, The Black Mass, to be hit out of nowhere is the perfect foil for Lesnar's hulking form and extreme power.
We've seen Brock Lesnar have classics with smaller guys like Daniel Bryan and Finn Balor before. We have every bit of faith that given the opportunity, Aleister Black will get a great match out of Brock Lesnar.