The latest update on Aleister Black following the surprise firing of his wife, Zelina Vega, earlier this month suggests that the Friday Night SmackDown superstar doesn’t seem to have much of a future on the main roster at the moment.
As quoted by Ringside News , Dave Meltzer noted on Monday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that Black was not included in the dual-brand battle royal that took place on Sunday during the Survivor Series kickoff show. While the Dutchman was not the only notable omission from the match, some of the wrestlers who were not booked, including Big E and Lars Sullivan, are reportedly due for major pushes in the coming weeks and months.
“I would say as far as Black goes, he’s forgotten about right now and it doesn’t look good. I know he threw a suggestion out there to go to NXT and that was turned down, or whatever, it was not taken,” Meltzer said, referring to recent rumors that the superstar wanted to move back to the black-and-gold brand.
“He’s, you know the people in charge now don’t see anything in him, it appears. It’s tough, he’s a talented guy.”
The new update came a few days after Meltzer discussed the aforementioned reports, noting that Black did not directly request a move back to NXT as rumored. He added, however, that “nobody seemed interested” when he informally brought up the idea.
Earlier in the year, Black enjoyed a fair bit of exposure on Monday Night Raw programming, mainly thanks to his status as one of then-executive director Paul Heyman’s favorites. Reportedly, there were plans to have him defeat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 , and while WWE ultimately decided to have Drew McIntyre conquer “The Beast Incarnate” and become the red brand’s top champion, Black was still supposedly among the performers Heyman wanted to push.
According to Ringside News , WWE’s decision to relieve Heyman as Raw executive director resulted in Black losing one of his biggest supporters. However, he isn’t the only superstar who has moved down the card since then, as Andrade — who was previously managed by Vega — has also seemingly faded into obscurity on the company’s programming in recent months.
“We’ll have to see what’s to come with Aleister Black,” Ringside News wrote. “His treatment from WWE higher-ups was like this prior to his wife Zelina Vega’s firing. That has nothing to do with the situation. Vince McMahon just doesn’t see anything in him right now.”