Former WWE champion set to return after 3 years; date officially announced 

WWE dropped a huge tease on the latest episode of SmackDown. Another vignette, believed to be for Aleister Black, aired during the show and included a date that seemingly revealed when the mystery person will appear.

The former NXT Champion parted ways with the wrestling juggernaut on June 2, 2021, after being released from the company. He went on to sign with AEW under the ring name Malakai Black, and formed a faction known as House of Black alongside Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart.

Aleister Black held the AEW World Trios Championship during his time in the company. He left in February earlier this year after his contract expired. WWE has been airing vignettes on SmackDown for the past few weeks teasing his return. The company did the same thing for Penta and Rey Fenix before they jumped ship from Tony Khan's promotion.

On the WrestleMania go-home episode of SmackDown, a date was shown in the video package, and it was April 25, 2025, which is next week's edition of the blue brand.

​

Another ex-AEW star that is expected to return to WWE is Rusev, formerly known as Miro. It'll be interesting to see what the two stars do in the company under Triple H.

​