Reason Aleister Black & Big E Not On SmackDown Reportedly Revealed

The May 21st edition of SmackDown went off the air with Aleister Black delivering a brutal Black Mass to Big E causing him to lose a Fatal-Four-Way Match for the Intercontinental Title.

Apollo Crews had been defending his championship against, Big E, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. With the four attempting to settle their long standing differences.

With Big E zeroing in on victory after fending off yet another interference by Commander Azeez, the lights dimmed and Aleister Black made his way to the ring. Black swiftly delivered Black Mass before heading back up the ramp.

While fans might have expected the incident to be followed up on the most recent episode of the show, neither Black nor Big E appeared on screen.

Instead, Kevin Owens took on Crews in a non-title match.

However, according to PWInsider, there is a very simple explanation as to why the pair were missing. The report notes that it was a creative decision to keep both men off TV so as to not rush the feud.

“We are told that was actually a creative decision that was made to let the story hang for a week so as not to rush the feud So, for once, it was a case of creative letting things breathe.

We are told Black was at TV, as was Big E. They easily could have followed up with a Black promo but opted to hold off to slow down the story.”

With Black and Big E out of the picture Kevin Owens once again clashed with Apollo Crews. With KO closing in on victory, Azeez caused the disqualification. This led to a title match being announced between the pair for June 7th. For added intrigue, Azeez will be banned from ringside.

Also announced for the show, Dominik and Rey Mysterio will defend their Tag Team Titles against The Usos.