Wrestling On FanNation

Zelina Vega Reveals Husband Aleister Black Had Fear Over WWE Return

Aleister Black received a huge reception upon his return to WWE, last week. But his wife, WWE Women's United States Champion Zelina Vega, has revealed the former NXT Champion had a fear surrounding his comeback.
Joe Baiamonte|
WWE.com

WWE Women's United States Champion Zelina Vega has revealed how her husband, Aleister Black, was worried about how the WWE crowd would receive him upon his return to the company.

Black, who made his comeback in a confrontation with The Miz during last week's episode of SmackDown, was released from WWE in June of 2021. For nearly four years he plied his trade as Malakai Black in AEW, until his contract expired in February of this year.

And while Black received a huge ovation inside the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas as he laid out Miz with Black Mass, Vega has shared that the former NXT Champion was unsure if the WWE fans would remember him well enough to care.

Speaking to Busted Open Radio, the newly crowned Women's US Champion (who won the title on the same show as her husband's comeback), said, "He did [have a fear fans weren't going to remember him], but you know that old saying of your wife is always right? I was like 'You don't understand. Do you know who you are? You're cool.' "

Vega continued, "You don't just have a character like that and forget about them. It's not like he's an easy [person] to forget, especially because he was on TV. So it wasn't he disappeared off the face of the earth.

"But I understand for him, he's like 'Well, we have all these younger fans coming in, the little fans,' so he's like 'Maybe they don't know who I am.' And I'm like 'Regardless of if they know who you are or not, you look cool, so they're going to care.'"

Black had initially worked for WWE for five years, between 2016-2021. He became NXT Champion during his first tenure with the company and won the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Classic alongside Ricochet.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcription

Aleister Black
WWE.com

The Latest On WWE, AEW & More

CM Punk Stars In Trailer For New SYFY Show 'Revival'

Roman Reigns Says Sami Zayn Has Been Taken In By The Anoa'i Family In Real Life

Buddy Matthews Reveals Thoughts On Potential WWE Return To Work With Rhea Ripley

Liv Morgan's WWE Hiatus And Plans For The Women's Tag Team Championships

Published
Joe Baiamonte
JOE BAIAMONTE

Joe Baiamonte is a contributing writer for The Takedown On SI, joining the team in April, 2025. Joe has been covering professional wrestling, sports and entertainment for over a decade, serving as editor at SPORTbible between 2014 and 2018 - where he helped the team to three consecutive Football Blogging Awards - and as head of sport at Unilad. Joe has written for numerous outlets in the United Kingdom and United States, including The Sportsman, Sporf, Pubity, GiveMeSport and The Sportster, interviewing the likes of Neymar, Harry Kane, Ruud Gullit, Triple H, Ric Flair, Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Rey Mysterio, Aaron Boone, Alex Cora, Chris Sale and Chase Uttley. He has a BA (Hons) degree in Journalism and Broadcasting from the University of Salford and currently resides in Manchester, England, having been raised just down the road in Burnley. He briefly moved to Croatia with his family after the birth of his son, where he spent an entire summer writing on the beach and eating squid.

Share on XFollow JoeBaia
Home/WWE