Aleister Black has revealed that his new on-screen partnership with his wife, Zelina Vega, was an idea that WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H was not initially interested in pursuing. The pairing was only approved after the success of other real-life couples on WWE television changed his mind.
The duo of Black and Vega officially united on the October 10 episode of “SmackDown.” During Black’s Last Man Standing Match against Damian Priest, Vega made a crucial appearance, providing interference that allowed Black to secure the victory.
On the following week’s episode of “SmackDown,” the pair clarified their new alliance, with Black stating that their union was “always a part of the plan.”
In reality, bringing the real-life husband and wife together on screen required some convincing. During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Black explained that Triple H was originally against the idea.
He noted that the success of recent storylines involving couples like CM Punk and AJ Lee, as well as Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, ultimately led to the change in perspective. “When I got back, the conversation arose again and initially (Triple H) was not really into it. But I think that with the success of AJ and CM Punk, and Seth and Becky, I think that he kinda went like, you know what, this might actually really, really work.”
The pairing of CM Punk and AJ Lee was recently featured at “WrestlePalooza,” while Rollins and Lynch have been utilized as an on-screen couple in the past. Black further discussed the new partnership with Vega, stating that they are still actively developing the presentation of their on-screen characters, describing it as a “work in progress.”
“Where we’re now looking at the presentation that you saw last week, slowly but surely we’re adding elements. This is a work in progress.” Black explained that the concept was approved and implemented very quickly, leaving them little time to prepare.
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“We’ve had so many conversations and (put) so many ideas on paper, and now it’s just like, okay, what idea do we want to do with what? What would the social media look like, and what is the complete full aesthetic?
Because this was sprung onto us in almost three weeks. It was a pitch initially, and then all of a sudden… we’re actually doing this in the span of a week. So we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for this.”
With Black and Vega now established as a new heel act on “SmackDown,” their focus will turn to the road to “Survivor Series: WarGames.” While the brand’s top champions are occupied at tomorrow’s “Saturday Night’s Main Event”—with Cody Rhodes defending against Drew McIntyre and Tiffany Stratton facing Jade Cargill—Black and Vega have several weeks to establish their dominance.
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