Every WWE Release Of 2021 - Where Are They Now? (Five Years Later)

Then: Back in 2021, Aleister Black was continually begging for somebody "to pick a fight with meeeeeeee". That was his thing, and it never stopped being his thing long after those rambling pre-taped promos had outlived their usefulness. Here's something about Black: He's clearly an intelligent human being away from the ring, so promoters think he needs to act all aloof and cerebral on screen.

Nah, it doesn't really work for him. Or, at least, it hasn't been working up until now.

Aleister left the organisation in June 2021 and popped up in AEW where...the same problems followed him as Malakai. His House Of Black stable had potential, but Tony Khan never seemed sure whether or not he fancied going all in on the idea. So, like he had in WWE the first time post-NXT, Black simply bounced around for almost 4 years before heading back to his old stomping grounds.

Now: Al re-debuted on SmackDown via the show's 25 April 2025 episode. Sadly, he's living the same cycle he did during that first stint in the promotion. Basically, he makes grandiose promises without ever really living up to them, then WWE hits the repeat button and pretends the last kicking he took was a figment of the audience's collective imaginations.

Could things turn around for him? Of course. Wrestlers can go from zero to hero in the blink of an eye, but they need to be booked consistently for that to take shape longer term. Unfortunately for Black, there's pretty much no evidence that Triple H views him as a full-time part of the main event scene.