A recently released WWE star has picked up world championship gold for another company in his return to action.
WWE had its annual post-WrestleMania roster cuts this past April, and among them was Aleister Black, only a year after his return to WWE following a multi-year stint in AEW that followed his initial WWE release in 2021.
Black, after being under the 90 day notice period that WWE main roster releases are generally tied to, made his return to action today for PROGRESS Wrestling, which is now owned by fellow former WWE stars Nikki Storm (Nikki Cross) and Big Damo (Killian Dain).
On day three of the PROGRESS Odyssey Tour today, Black – now reverting to the Malakai Black name he used in AEW – defeated Cara Noir to win the PROGRESS Men’s World Title.
Noir had been champion in his second reign since Super Strong Style 16 this past May, where he won it from Man Like Dereiss.
Black’s wife, former WWE star Zelina Vega, now known as Xelina after she was also released in April, celebrated in the ring with him after his championship victory.
In Black’s post-match comments, he paid tribute to Andy Williams, known as The Butcher in AEW, who passed away last night.
Black also made mention of the fact that he feels his TV wrestling career may be done after his release from WWE, and a seemingly imperfect relationship with AEW.
MJF pretty much accused Black of “using” AEW to get back to WWE a few months ago, so it would seem that he wouldn’t be 100% welcomed with open arms by the entirety of the locker room.
Did WWE Make A Mistake Releasing Aleister Black
There’s no doubt Aleister Black could have been a much bigger star in WWE, but really the damage was done in his first tenure.
He was in the running in 2020 to be the man to win the Royal Rumble at beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, with Vince McMahon ultimately choosing Drew McIntyre for that position instead of Black.
A year later, and Black was released from the company.
In AEW, he got off to a hot start but leading the House of Black was really his undoing as it largely restricted him to working in the trios division instead of as a main event singles talent.
Coming back to WWE, signs were promising again, especially after being paired with his wife Zelina Vega on screen, but now several years older than he was in his first run – 41 now to be exact – the decision was evidently made that his time to break out had passed.
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