1 week Ago By Matthew Aguilar
WWE delivered a big-time shakeup to the Women’s Division when Zelina Vega dethroned Chelsea Green as WWE Women’s United States Champion, and it was only fitting that right after, Vega’s husband would make his grand WWE return. After four years and several weeks of cryptic teases, Aleister Black has finally returned to WWE, making his return during SmackDown and leaving quite the impression on the crowd and The Miz. You can watch his full return to WWE in the video above.
It was actually Miz who came out first, appearing after a backstage segment where he gave his new Tag Partner, Carmelo Hayes, a blinged-out chain in honor of his Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win last week.Miz was set on coming out and demanding his respect from both the crowd and those who are just coming into WWE without delivering the proper respect to veterans like himself. His promo did elicit a response, though not the one he likely expected.
The lights went out in the entire arena, and when they came back on, it was Aleister Black emerging from the shadows and walking to the ring.Black entered the ring to a warm reception from the crowd, and Miz was rather upset about being interrupted. Right in lock step with commentary discussing how deadly Black can be, especially with his finisher Black Mass, Miz walked towards Aleister angrily, only to get rocked with a kick to the side of his head that knocked Miz out cold.
Black would take a second and then sit back down on the mat, closing out his return in signature fashion.[RELATED: Full WWE Timeline of The Rock’s Cody Rhodes Story and Why Skipping WrestleMania Doesn’t Make Sense]Black was released by WWE back in 2021, and after his 90-day non-compete was up, he would debut in AEW as Malakai Black. He didn’t appear alone, though, as he would lead one of the more popular stables in AEW known as the House of Black, and they would continue to be fan favorites throughout their entire run with the company.
Despite being consistently over with the crowd, their push seemed to be full of starts and stops, and that was true of Black’s singles feuds as well.In February of this year, Black’s contract with AEW expired, making him a free agent immediately. He hadn’t appeared on AEW TV since Full Gear, which was in November of 2024, and the House of Black faction that included Buddy Matthews, Julia Hart, and Brody King soon rebranded as the Hounds of Hell.
At that point, it was assumed that he might be heading back to WWE, and when the cryptic vignettes started playing on SmackDown, it was expected that he would eventually call SmackDown his home.That’s now turned out to be the case, and hopefully, this run in WWE can be closer to his excellent run in NXT as opposed to his previous main roster run. That run also had is odd share of ups and downs, but he was a force to be reckoned with in NXT, and this could finally be the main roster run fans have wanted to see for a long time.
What did you think of Aleister Black’s return to WWE? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!The post Former AEW Star Makes Long Awaited WWE Return on SmackDown appeared first on ComicBook.com..
