Aleister Black has spoken out about his release from WWE just hours after the news broke that Black and five other WWE Superstars were leaving the company.
Black joined his wife and former WWE star Thea Trinidad – who competed in the company as Zelina Vega – on her Twitch channel to share some initial thoughts after the shocking news.
Black began:
“I am not sad, I am not depressed. I am, I’m okay. I’m sure there’s going to be dark days coming up, there’s going to be bad days, you know? It’s all kind of up and down, and I think we should have a nice conversation. I’m getting texts like crazy, there’s a crazy hype train going on.”
As for a reason for his release, Aleister Black says he was told it all came down to money:
“I got told it was budget cuts. Whether that is budget cuts or not, doesn’t matter. I’m here now and I’ve had a great time. I’ve had a phenomenal four or five years in the WWE. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t have had so many viewers right now. And I’m just really thankful for a lot of things that WWE has done for me. The most thankful I am is that I was given a platform that, although in limited amount, I was able to give you guys parts of myself and my character.”
For Black, it was the creative side of the company that seemed most difficult to navigate. Black noted that although he was told the company found him ‘intriguing’ nothing on the main roster ever really stuck.
Black explained:
“It’s bittersweet because I owe everything to WWE. Not to diminish my prior work, but obviously, my prior work had gotten me to the dance. And, you know, I think the last two years were a slow death for me. I think that it was very hard to get the creative approved despite numerous conversations that I’ve had with Vince, and everybody trying really hard. It did numbers on my self-esteem too. Because at one point you’re like ‘the ratings are good, the numbers are good, the merch is good, why are we not, you know?’ It’s like one of those things where they, like, the word intrigue was always there. ‘Oh, we find you very intriguing.’ I’m like ‘okay good. Let’s present something there, let’s doing something.’”
“I have thrown so many things at the wall, cause I keep creating. I keep creating characters and gimmicks and storylines over and over and over and over and over. You know? And it’s, I think my character like the first conversation I ever had. The funniest thing is I remember all these things. I said to Hunter, I said ‘look, I just want to be all the metal bands that kids use to rebel against the system, against their parents.’ As cliched as that sounds, it’s relatable, right? Because everybody, especially nowadays, especially when you’re young, it’s so difficult to be understood by a different generation.”
“I wanted people to have the consensus of understanding that my character was a cool dude, a mysterious guy, and at the same time having a hard-hitting style. But also having a sense of being relatable to the point of, you know, I understand what this character is going through.”
Aleister Black certainly does not regret his time in WWE noting that’s where he met his now-wife. As for a return somewhere down the line? The saying goes in WWE ‘never say never.’
Black finished by saying:
“I’d say absolutely. It’s definitely one of the best things to come out of being in WWE is meeting my wife. That’s a good way of putting it. Again, that’s another reason I’m not bitter. I’m not angry at all. I think I had a great time. And you know, you never know what happens in the future. You never know. Weirder things have happened, but right now, I think wherever the roads will lead, it’s going to be a fun ride. Absolutely.”