Huge new update on Aleister Black’s AEW return following WWE release

There seems to be a lot of speculation about the future of Aleister Black, with several reports revealing that he has seemingly burned the bridge with Tony Khan and AEW. There is now a huge new update on that.

Based on the latest report from Fightful Select, we have some insight into the situation with Black. Given how he left AEW and rejoined WWE, it appears as though the Dutch star may have upset a lot of people in Tony Khan’s promotion. The rumors were essentially that Black will not be returning to AEW, where he spent three years of his career.

The report stated that it’s true that Aleister Black will not be returning to AEW anytime soon. However, in a huge update, it was also revealed that the bridge between him and AEW isn’t burned, which likely leaves the door open in the future.

Aleister Black was originally scheduled to be a part of the WrestleMania main event story.

It’s safe to say that WWE fans were not impressed by the reveal that Pat McAfee was the mystery figure whom Randy Orton was talking to. It became abundantly clear that this was a TKO decision, although there is no official word to confirm that.

Still, the fact that TKO COO Mark Shapiro confirmed that not only do they have direct influence on storylines (despite Ari Emanuel’s insistence that he wouldn’t do so at the time of the merger), but they have taken a strategic approach of involving celebrities and high-profile names, which is likely why we see names like Tyrese Haliburton and Lil’ Yachty on WWE television frequently. Shapiro said that he understood that the strategy of acquiring casual fans at the expense of more loyal fans was a risky one, but TKO was going ahead with it anyway.

As per a report from PWInsider, the logical sequence of the story was actually meant to have Aleister Black be the one who brought out the Apex Predator again, and not Pat McAfee. Black defeated Randy Orton in the main event of SmackDown in February, and it would have made a lot more sense considering his character that he would torment Orton to bring back that vicious old side of himself.

The negative response to Pat McAfee reportedly led to him directly making the call to cut the story short, which is why we saw Orton hit the RKO on him during the finish of the WrestleMania 42 Saturday main event.

Had this played out that way, it likely would have led to a very different reception, and it may have potentially even saved Aleister Black and Zelina Vega’s WWE careers, as they would have been in a very important spot.