Aleister Black is directly confronting the speculation surrounding his career. During a recent interview on The Ringer Wrestling Show, the SmackDown star dismantled several online narratives about his exit from AEW, flatly denying claims that he was unhappy with the company or refused to lose matches.
“People want to desperately have a narrative. ‘He never wanted to be in AEW.’ That’s completely false,” Black stated. “I had a great time in AEW. I had a lot of fun. Did I do everything that I wanted to do? No, but that’s okay. At the end of the day, that’s not my company and I don’t have any say.”
He specifically addressed the rumor that he would not agree to be pinned, pointing to his record as evidence to the contrary. During his tenure with AEW, Black had one-on-one losses to high-profile opponents including Copeland, Cody Rhodes, and Adam Cole.
Instead of backstage drama, Black explained that his move back to WWE was a deliberate professional choice made after his AEW contract expired in the spring of 2025. He emphasized there was no early release and his departure was amicable.
“I made a calculated business decision and I looked at what I wanted to do, where I wanted to do it, and how I wanted to do it,” he explained. “Listening to option A and what they wanted, option B and what they wanted, and I picked the one that, business-wise, made sense for me.”
That decision was influenced by several factors, including outreach from Triple H. Black also cited personal reasons for his return, such as his wife Zelina Vega’s established WWE career and his connection to the company’s unique locker room environment.
Since his WWE return in April 2025, Black has become a featured player on Friday Night SmackDown. His reintegration continues on tonight’s show—the final episode before SummerSlam—with a high-stakes match against The Judgment Day’s Damian Priest.