Aleister Black's AEW Return Prospects Don't Sound Great Following WWE Release

There are reportedly those within AEW who feel pretty negatively about a potential Aleister Black return to the company.

Aleister Black | WWE

More than two dozen wrestlers are going to be hitting the free agent market in the coming months after WWE went through a round of post-WrestleMania cuts on Friday.

Two of the more surprising releases were Aleister Black and his wife, Zelina Vega. Black's release came nearly a year to the day after he re-debuted with the WWE, while Vega had been with the company for all but a few months dating back to 2017.

Black's return to WWE came after a four-year run in All Elite Wrestling, where he reportedly earned a reputation for being difficult to work with. He was apparently reluctant to put over certain talent and questions were also raised about his injury history. It is important to stress that these are just rumors.

Zelina Vega & Aleister Black | WWE

The popular belief during his AEW tenure was that he really wanted to return to WWE with Paul 'Triple H' Levesque in charge of creative, and he did just that shortly after his contract with All Elite Wrestling expired in February of 2025.

It's not known what went wrong during Black's second stint with WWE, but once his right of termination and requisite notice is up within the next 90 days, both he and his wife will be looking for new homes.

There are those in AEW who do not like the idea of Aleister Black returning

For those who are wondering whether Malakai Black, Aleister's in-ring name while in All Elite Wrestling, will pull an Andrade and make an AEW comeback after being released from WWE, that idea reportedly doesn't sit well with some in the company.

"The idea of Aleister Black and AEW was not fondly thought out by the people I spoke with there (AEW). Now, I did not speak to Tony Khan," Dave Meltzer said on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer reported that some people in AEW who were not keen on the prospect of Andrade El Idolo returning to the company last fall, either, but that negativity was not spread across the entire locker room.

"Andrade was mixed. I know people there that were not high on Andrade at all and others who were. But, Black, from what I gathered, pretty negative," Meltzer said.

There was no mention of the possibility of adding Zelina Vega to the AEW women's roster. She's a talented in-ring performer who also knows how to cut a promo. She'd be a valuable asset for any company. It'll be interesting to see what her market is once she's able to sign elsewhere.