WATCH: Surprise Return Takes Place On SmackDown

Welcome back. There are a lot of ways to bring a wrestler back to television and some of them are more effective than others. One of the many options available is to build them back up with a series of vignettes or promos and then have them come back when the time is right. That is what WWE did this week and it wound up working out rather well all things considered.

Aleister Black made his return this week on SmackDown, interfering in the show’s main event. Black ran in on the fatal four way Intercontinental Title match and hit Black Mass on Big E., allowing Apollo Crews to retain his title. There is nothing to suggest that this is the start of an alliance between Black and Crews. Black had appeared earlier in the night in a vignette.

This was Black’s first appearance in the arena since his last match on WWE television in October. Black was drafted to SmackDown in the 2020 WWE Draft but never appeared on the show. He began appearing in a series of vignettes starting just after WrestleMania, marking his first appearances in nearly eight months. There is no word on when Black will return to the ring.

Black looked sharp. Check out his return and some of his vignettes:

Aleister Black’s “Chapter One: The Dragon”: SmackDown, April 23, 2021

Opinion: This is the kind of return that went well as Black appearing earlier in the night allowed me to be surprised by his appearance. It was a good moment and WWE set it up properly, while also giving us something to look forward to in the future. Black could add some things to SmackDown and hopefully WWE does not drop him again, as they did in his previous run.

What did you think of the return? How will Black do in WWE this time? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books.

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