Former NXT champion Aleister Black recently held a Q&A on his Twitch stream to address his release from WWE, which came earlier today in an announcement that still had the wrestling industry shocked. Black breaks down how he feels after getting cut, admitting that his last two years in WWE had been a slow death, but he has nothing but solid memories, including meeting his wife. Highlights are below.
Says he is not sad or depressed:
I am not sad, I am not depressed. I am, I’m okay. I’m sure there’s going to be dark days coming up, there’s going to be bad days, you know? It’s all kind of up and down, and I think we should have a nice conversation. I’m getting texts like crazy, there’s a crazy hype train going on.
Says that it was due to budget cuts, adding that he had a great time while with the company:
I got told it was budget cuts. Whether that is budget cuts or not, doesn’t matter. I’m here now and I’ve had a great time. I’ve had a phenomenal four or five years in the WWE. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t have had so many viewers right now. And I’m just really thankful for a lot of things that WWE has done for me. The most thankful I am is that I was given a platform that, although in limited amount, I was able to give you guys parts of myself and my character.
Calls the last two years in WWE a slow death:
It’s bittersweet. Cause I owe everything to WWE. Not to diminish my prior work, but obviously my prior work had gotten me to the dance. And, you know, I think the last two years were a slow death for me. I think that it was very hard to get the creative approved despite numerous conversations that I’ve had with Vince, and everybody trying really hard. It did numbers on my self esteem too. Because at one point you’re like ‘the ratings are good, the numbers are good, the merch is good, why are we not, you know?’ It’s like one of those things where they, like, the word intrigue was always there. ‘Oh we find you very intriguing.’ I’m like ‘okay good. Let’s present something there, let’s doing something. I have thrown so many things at the wall, cause I keep creating. I keep creating characters and gimmicks and storylines over and over and over and over and over. You know? And it’s, I think my character like, the first conversation I ever had. The funniest thing is I remember all these things. I said to Hunter, I said ‘look, I just want to be all the metal bands that kids use to rebel against the system, against their parents.’ As cliched as that sounds, it’s relatable right? Because everybody, especially nowadays, especially when you’re young, it’s so difficult to be understood by a different generation. I wanted people to have the consensus of understanding that my character was a cool dude, a mysterious guy, and at the same time having a hard hitting style. But also having a sense of being relatable to the point of, you know, I understand what this character is going through.
How meeting Trea was one of the best parts of his time in WWE:
I’d say absolutely. It’s definitely one of the best things to come out of being in WWE is meeting my wife. That’s a good way of putting it. Again, that’s another reason I’m not bitter. I’m not angry at all. I think I had a great time. And you know, you never know what happens in the future. You never know. Weirder things have happened, but right now, I think wherever the roads will lead, it’s going to be a fun ride. Absolutely.
(H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.)
