An injury forced Aleister Black out of what could’ve been a hell of a triple threat match with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV. With Gargano and Ciampa’s long-standing rivalry taking the spotlight in NXT, Black should come back from injury as a member of Raw or SmackDown.
Since debuting in NXT at TakeOver: Orlando last year, Aleister Black has made his mark as NXT’s emotionless assassin. His overall presentation from his chilling entrance to his calm demeanor in and out of the ring has turned him into one of NXT’s biggest stars.
Black was undefeated for the majority of 2017, toppling the likes of Adam Cole, The Velveteen Dream, and Hideo Itami before finally suffering his first loss at the hands of Johnny Gargano in a fatal four way NXT Championship match.
Gargano’s win over Black—as well as Killian Dain and Lars Sullivan—was the first step to setting the rivalry between himself and Ciampa back in motion. Ciampa would attack Gargano after his TakeOver: Philadelphia championship match against Andrade “Cien” Almas concluded and spark the fire towards a match between the former tag team partners at TakeOver: New Orleans. This match ended up main eventing the show over Black’s match against Almas for the NXT Championship which the former won.
Even with Black as the newly crowned face of the brand, the blood feud between Gargano and Ciampa continued to take center stage which resulted in a Chicago Street Fight at NXT: TakeOver Chicago II. The then-reigning NXT Champion Aleister Black was relegated to co-main event duty against Lars Sullivan.
The circumstances at hand were much more of a testament to the greatness of Gargano and Ciampa’s rivalry than a dig at Aleister Black. However, the fact remains that neither of the two NXT Championship matches that Black has had at TakeOver specials were the main event.
Shortly after losing the NXT Championship to Ciampa—with an unintended assist from Gargano—the stage was set for a triple threat NXT Championship match at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV. Now that Black is temporary on the inactive list, that won’t happen.
With an NXT Championship reign on his resume, Black has nothing left to prove in NXT but a bevy of opponents and storylines await him on Raw and SmackDown. Surely, Black won’t be a central figure on either brand right away but the WWE roster is more loaded with talent that it has arguably ever been.
Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Andrade “Cien” Almas are names that easily create a big-match feel in the event that any of them square off against the Dutchman. Black could also fit right at home as a top contender in either the Intercontinental or United States championship picture.
Regardless of the outcome of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, Gargano and Ciampa are likely to dominate NXT programming for a while longer. Barring a mass post-Takeover purge, EC3, The Velveteen Dream, Ricochet, The Undisputed Era and now Keith Lee will still be among the ranks in NXT. Transitioning to the main roster would be best for Black to allow some breathing room in NXT’s stacked roster and give him a fresh start on Monday or Tuesday nights.