Popular WWE Star Undergoing Gimmick Overhaul

WWE is reinventing one of the best characters on Monday Night Raw.

Just a week ago, it looked like WWE was going to write former NXT Champion Aleister Black off TV altogether, and though he appeared once again on this week’s episode of Raw, that may have marked his final appearance under his current gimmick. According to Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT (h/t Cageside Seats), WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon is a fan of Black but believes that Black’s current gimmick “limits” his room for advancement up the card: “Vince McMahon hasn’t ‘soured’ on Aleister Black, but is worried his character and gimmick ‘will limit him’.”

Black’s macabre character has drawn comparisons to other dark gimmicks like The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt, but after a successful run in NXT, Black has experienced a roller coaster ride of ups and downs on Raw and SmackDown. Even though he’s only had two singles losses since moving to the main roster, it’s clear that WWE—and more specifically, McMahon—hasn’t gone all in on Black’s grim gimmick the way that Triple H did in NXT. While performing for the yellow brand for 2016 to 2019, Black came across as, well, a big deal, a unique and innovative performer with an undeniable aura and superstar charisma.

That simply hasn’t translated over to the main roster, where there have been conflicting reports about whether or not McMahon is truly “sold” on the talented performer. As has happened to stars like Wyatt, whose fantastic NXT gimmicks were ultimately tweaked or dropped altogether once they made their way to Raw or SmackDown, Black is now in the midst of what appears to be a complete gimmick overhaul.

Earlier this week, Black made a series of cryptic posts on his Instagram page in which he teased a full-blown character change. Perhaps the most notable was the post seen below, in which Black hints that the WWE character he’s been portraying for nearly half a decade is now a thing of the past, writing, “And now I must re-write 4 years of my own history by getting rid of that weakness. The same weakness that caused this betrayal, this is where my accountability ends, and yours starts.”

This isn’t WWE’s first attempt at changing things up for Black, either.

It was more than a year ago that WWE spent weeks upon weeks having Black primarily appear on TV in odd backstage segments in which he challenged someone—anyone—to “pick a fight” with him. That wasn’t so much a full-fledged change in character as it was an attempt to have him build up some momentum on TV, but it ultimately went nowhere. The same was true for Black’s original main roster TV character, which was oddly paired with fellow NXT call-up Ricochet in a bizarre pairing that produced quality matches but seemed mismatched, if not downright awkward, from the get-go.

Beyond a brief feud with Murphy earlier this year and being relegated to a bit player in AJ Styles’ WrestleMania 36 feud with The Undertaker, there has been remarkably little in the way of legitimate character development for Black, whose push was reportedly headed in the wrong direction once Paul Heyman was ousted as Raw Executive Director a couple of months ago. Of course, Heyman was a big supporter of Black, and with Heyman now gone from his creative role, that has left Black without much of a chance to work his way up the card.

Maybe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, though. McMahon said during WWE’s recent Q2 2020 Earnings Call (h/t Wrestling Inc) that “it’s up to us to make Raw and SmackDown feel more youthful. That is where we’re going.” That statement is in direct contradiction to the established stars WWE is truly pushing on the red and blue brands, but if McMahon and WWE do genuinely make a concerted effort to create new stars, Black is certainly one who fits the bill as a star who is both “new” and ready.

While Black’s once-captivating gimmick hasn’t reached the same level on Raw or SmackDown that it did in NXT, perhaps the latest tweaks to his character will catapult him to where he belongs at the top of the card.