WWE's Aleister Black Denies 'Running Narrative' That He Refused To Lose In AEW

As with any industry, professional wrestling is filled with rumors, some of which are true, while others turn out to be false. According to "WWE SmackDown" star Aleister Black, two of the "running narratives" floating around about his previous run in AEW are totally false. He later addressed them on the "The Ringer Wrestling Show."

During his time in AEW, Black notably led The House of Black, a group consisting of himself, Buddy Matthews, Brody King, and Julia Hart. In some of their more high profile six-man tag team matches, Black and Matthews admittedly took a backseat in order to give King, a non-former WWE star, more time in the spotlight. In doing this, however, a different picture was painted behind the scenes.

"We let [King] take the reins in these things so he can get a lot more movement in, but it becomes this thing where people want desperately there to be a narrative. One of the things that [was said] like, 'Oh, he never wanted to be in AEW.' That's completely false. I had a great time and I had a lot of fun. Did I do everything that I wanted to do? No, but that's okay, because at the end of the day, it's not my company. I don't have any say.

"It's the same way for [the claim] that 'He didn't want to lay down for people.' If you really think that I have so much pull in a company that I can say who I'm not going up against or lay down against, you think I'm going to not vouch for myself or put myself in the main events? You think I'm going to [just] politic for 'I'm not going to lay down for this person'? It doesn't even make sense."

Black's last AEW match came at AEW Full Gear in November 2024, where he and King lost a four-way match for the AEW Tag Team Championships. He later returned to WWE in April 2025.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Ringer Wrestling Show" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.