Aleister Black’s WWE release has not opened the door to an AEW return, with sources describing the promotion’s internal view of a potential reunion as decidedly negative.
Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that people within AEW are not enthusiastic about Black returning to the company.
“From what I have heard, and you may have heard differently, the idea of Aleister Black and AEW was not fondly thought out by the people I spoke with there. Now, I did not speak to Tony Khan. Andrade was mixed. I know people there that were not high on Andrade at all and others who were. Black, from what I gathered, pretty negative. There were even people who publicly said that. That they were negative on Black,” Meltzer said.
One of those people who said it publicly was Shawn Dean, an AEW wrestler who also serves as the promotion’s Extras Coordinator. When a post on Threads raised the possibility of AEW bringing back the House of Black faction, Dean replied simply with “No.”
Black’s previous AEW run lasted from the summer of 2021 until February 2025. During that period, he had a singles program with Cody Rhodes before forming the House of Black with Buddy Matthews and Brody King. At the time of his exit, it was reported that Black had drawn criticism from colleagues for a perceived reluctance to take on jobs in the promotion and for frequent claims of injury, and that his relationship with Tony Khan was not strong.
Black returned to WWE on the post-WrestleMania 41 episode of SmackDown before being released on April 24, alongside his wife Zelina Vega and 23 other wrestlers.
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