Aleister Black Nearly Dethroned Brock Lesnar To Become WWE Champion

Plans change, pal.

by Andrew Pollard
Aleister Black NXT
WWE

Now #AllElite as Malakai Black, Dave Meltzer has stated how the former Aleister Black was at one point close to getting the nod to defeat Brock Lesnar and become WWE Champion.

Previously, we've all heard plenty of rumours about how Black was under consideration to win the 2020 men's Royal Rumble, with Paul Heyman known to be a huge supporter of the Dutch Destroyer. Of course, WWE ultimately went with Drew McIntyre as the winner of that Rumble contest, with the Scottish Warrior then going on to defeat Lesnar and become WWE Champion at WrestleMania 36.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer has reiterated how Aleister Black was very much legitimately "in the running to beat Brock Lesnar to win the championship"; adding how Vince McMahon ended up making the call to go with McIntyre in that spot rather than Black.

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Instead of winning the 2020 Royal Rumble, Aleister Black entered the match at #28, eliminated nobody, and was only in the match for five minutes before being tossed out by Seth Rollins. WrestleMania 36 would then see Black pick up a win over Bobby Lashley, while Drew would obviously topple the Beast Incarnate to win the WWE Championship later that night.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.