Aleister Black has addressed ongoing speculation surrounding his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), clarifying rumors about injuries and revealing details about his booking under Tony Khan. Black returned to WWE SmackDown on the April 25th episode following WrestleMania 41, stepping back into a prominent role after a brief run in AEW. His comments shed light on the realities behind his usage in AEW and his recent WWE career decisions.
Aleister Black Explains AEW Injury Rumors and Booking Decisions
<pThroughout his AEW tenure, Aleister Black was seen frequently in six-man tag matches rather than being spotlighted as a top singles competitor, which sparked narratives that he suffered from injuries limiting his role. However, Black described these stories as misleading during a detailed discussion on the Ringer Wrestling Show. He acknowledged a past back injury he sustained while working for WWE that flared intermittently but emphasized that the injury was not the reason for his limited appearances or lack of singles opportunities in AEW.
“There was a time where I was working with WWE where I had a back injury. The back injury kind of came and left, came and left. Then, there was a time around the time when I was in AEW that I wasn’t utilized as much. There was nothing really going on, that’s just the way it was booked. I don’t control that. I made this post about me doing deadlifts. I was wearing really funny shoes, they were lifting shoes, but they looked like church shoes. Someone is making jokes about it. It was a post about me finally being able to deadlift again.This was a post where I talked about, ‘I had this back injury three months ago. We finally got the vertebrae right back again, so I can finally deadlift.’ I made that post and within months, weeks, days, maybe, everyone is like, ‘Aleister Black back injury. This is why he’s not being utilized.’ I was like, ‘Guys, this is about me not having a back injury.’ This post was literally three months after the back injury was done.“To this day, that narrative about, ‘his injuries,’ I’m not really that injured. Number one, Tony (Khan) was very adamant about us being in six-mans, which is fine, it’s his company. If he wants me to wear a clown suit, then that’s what we’ll do. I think people really like to run with the narrative and I don’t know why.I think it’s partially, ‘this is not the role we want him to be in, so we’re going to give a narrative that makes us have an understanding as to why he’s not being put in singles competition.’ Also, something, I had a knee injury at one point and missed one week of taping.That became, ‘Oh, he always had back injuries, he always has knee injuries.’ I’m absolutely fine. There is nothing going on. Yeah, I had a back injury at one point. If it had continued, at one point, I was afraid it would get really bad and would take me out. Luckily, it didn’t.It was manageable, we rehabbed it, and everything was fine. For some reason, to this day, people still run with that narrative because I wasn’t on TV as much. That is literally because we weren’t utilized that way. That’s just what it was. There was no grand scheme or grand agenda. No conspiracy. It’s just the way we were used and that’s it.”
Black emphasized that Tony Khan, AEW’s president, preferred using him primarily in six-man tag team matches. He said,
“If he wants me to wear a clown suit, then that’s what we’ll do,”
illustrating his willingness to fit the company‘s plans rather than generating speculation about conspiracies or hidden motives. Despite his sporadic appearances on television, Black denies any ongoing injury issues prevented him from performing.
Addressing the “Refusal to Lose” and AEW Match Dynamics
Another persistent rumor suggested Aleister Black avoided being pinned in AEW matches, which Black outright rejected. He explained that AEW’s pay-per-view matches, especially six-man tag matches, often featured local or lower-profile talent to help build new stars like Brody King. Black and his partner Buddy Matthews purposely took a backseat to elevate others, dispelling the suggestion that he refused to lose or lacked willingness to participate fully.
If you look at the pay-per-view matches that we did, we always knocked it out of the park. When we had these six-man matches, it was against local talent. Nothing against local talent, but the object was, ‘We want you guys to run through these guys.’ Cool. If you have five and five on TV as a segment, there are six people in that match, let’s say we have a higher profile six-man tag, everybody wants to get something in and at one point, especially with me and Buddy, we kind of took a backseat so we could get Brody in front of the spotlight because people didn’t know Brody that well.We let him take the reins in these things. It becomes this thing where people want to desperately have a narrative. ‘He never wanted to be in AEW.’ That’s completely false. That’s absolutely not true. 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.“It’s the same way, ‘He didn’t want to lay down for people.’ If you really think that I have so much pull in the company that I can say who I’m not going up against or lay down against, you think I’m not going to vouch for myself or put myself in the main events?You think I’m going to politic, ‘I’m not going to lay down for this person.’ It doesn’t make sense. Now, I know how that came to life. It’s not something I’m not going to speak on because it’s part of a grander thing in wrestling that affects more people. Because I know what it is now, and who it was, I’m just going, ‘Well, that’s a shame.’I don’t like that, for a big part, has been a running narrative because I’ve always loved wrestling and I still love wrestling, and I loved being in AEW. My match with Adam Copeland was one of the funnest things I’ve done in wrestling. At the end of it, 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. This is where my wife [Zelina Vega] was.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. I feel I had a lot left to do here and on this side, what they wanted me to do, that didn’t completely align with what I want to do, so I’m going to go the other route.”
He clarified that his AEW run was enjoyable despite not fulfilling every personal ambition, emphasizing he had no control over booking choices. Black also referenced his memorable match against Adam Copeland (Edge), calling it one of the most enjoyable experiences of his wrestling career. His decision to return to WWE was influenced by both business considerations and personal factors, including his wife Zelina Vega’s location and career.
Black’s WWE Return Featuring Key Feuds
Since rejoining WWE, Aleister Black has been involved in several standout storylines, including a notable feud with The Miz and Carmelo Hayes. His return was formalized on the SmackDown episode following WrestleMania 41. Black’s current program sets up a match against Damian Priest, signaling WWE’s intention to push him more prominently in their Stamford-based promotion.
Veteran Wrestler Critiques Aleister Black’s WWE Role
Despite Black’s commitments and recent momentum in WWE, he has faced criticism from within the wrestling community. Dutch Mantell, a respected veteran, voiced discontent on the Brodown podcast regarding Black’s presentation in WWE. Mantell questioned the company’s approach to Black, expressing confusion over his character alignment and overall impact during his push.
“They’re pushing, this is a guy, what’s his name – Black? Aleister Black. Guys, I don’t get it. I don’t think you could get that guy over if you took him on a sixty-foot building and pushed him. And they pushed him for like at least five weeks. And when he goes to the ring, he’s just there. What is he? A heel or a babyface? What is he or is he just there?” —Dutch Mantell, Wrestling Veteran
Mantell’s comments highlight ongoing debates around talent utilization and character development within WWE’s current roster management. Black’s future trajectory will likely depend on how creatively WWE capitalizes on his strengths in the weeks and months to come.
Wrestling Landscape and Black’s Business Decision
Aleister Black’s candid remarks reveal the challenges wrestlers face when navigating differing creative visions across promotions. His experiences in AEW and WWE illustrate that wrestlers often must adapt to company booking philosophies while making personal career decisions. Black’s return to WWE was described as a tactical business choice, prioritizing alignment with his goals and environment.
As AEW continues to build its reputation and WWE consolidates talent post-WrestleMania, the wrestling community will be watching how Black’s career unfolds. His openness about injury misconceptions, booking realities, and professional priorities provides fans and analysts with valuable insight behind the scenes of modern wrestling.
