It lasted a little over five months his release for former WWE star Aleister Black to reveal that he wasn’t too thrilled about his latest run with WWE, going so far as to call that tenure a “down year.” It’s a sentiment WWE Hall of Famer JBL can understand, but not one he thinks is smart to embrace. Discussion of Black’s comments “Something for wrestling” JBL felt Black’s upset would do him no good, feeling it would hurt his chances of returning to WWE down the road.
“I don’t know if Alistair is burning this bridge or not, but it’s certainly no way to stay friendly with the guys,” JBL said. “You know when you leave you throw them under the bus? It’s like… my father always told me. “When it’s time to go, grab your hat, shake their hand and just walk out.” That’s all you have to do. And that’s the advice I would give these guys. Shake their hand, get out. Because there aren’t that many bridges to cross.
“You think about what’s out there, there aren’t that many places in sports entertainment. And if you alienate Tony Khan, I don’t know if he has or not, or if you alienate Triple H or Nick Khan, it’s WWE. I don’t know why you would want to do that. Just walk away. All it comes across is that you’re bitter, you know?
As JBL alluded to, Black had a polarizing exit from AEW before returning to WWE, with many on AEW after suggesting that Black would not be welcome with the promotion. Since launching in WWE, Black has competed in India, and reverted to his old ring name, Tommy End.
Opinion: Alistair Black is well within his rights to vent his frustrations
I always love it when someone in wrestling has something negative to say about their experience working for a wrestling promotion, and someone, whether it’s a fan, a fellow wrestler, or someone in the business, comes out and says, There are a lot of stupid things in wrestling, but few things are dumber than this, and it’s pretty stupid that JBL, one who has definitely done nothing wrong in his careerAlistair Black is called out for the crime of speaking his mind. For starters, there’s nothing wrong with that. wrestlers should have an environment where they are allowed to speak freely like others. Second, it’s hard to imagine Black getting another call to return to WWE after being released twice, so it’s not like he’s burning a bridge that hasn’t been burned yet. And most importantly, he’s probably upset in part because it seems like he burned the AEW bridge to return to WWE, only for them to have him a year later.
I don’t know if people appreciate how much that aspect of this drives Black’s frustration. We’ve all heard the stories about how WWE tried to convince Black to leave AEW a few years ago, almost succeeded in 2022 until Tony Khan put an end to it, and how after that Black may or may not have refused to lose matches (a charge he denies, to be fair) until he could get out of his deal and return to WWE. How true that is is something we can all decide for ourselves, but it seems pretty clear that Black reached a point where he wanted out of AEW and into WWE. and alienating people in AEW in the process. And he ended up doing all of that just so he could have that many years in WWE before they released him and his wife. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think anyone would be happier in that situation than him. Even without that, Alistair Black, Tommy End, or whatever you want to call him, is entitled to air his grievances. But given what he gave up and the fact that there probably isn’t a third WWE on the horizon. That’s all the more reason for him to speak freely.
