Aleister Black recently spoke with Rick Ucchino of SI.com, providing insight into how his on-screen pairing with his real-life wife Zelina Vega came to be — and how the creative vision evolved from an earlier concept that nearly debuted years ago.
Black explained that the seeds for their current WWE storyline were planted long before his return, referencing the Dark Father character from his previous run and even revealing that elements of that idea — including one of his masks — carried over into his AEW tenure.
“We started shooting little vignettes for it, and we started creating outfits for it. That first mask that I ever wore when I worked with [AEW] was actually one of the masks that was utilized,” Black said. “If you remember the Dark Father character that was at the end of my initial run [with WWE], that would eventually see my wife joining me… that was one of the pitches.”
When Black returned to WWE, the concept resurfaced — though initially, Triple H wasn’t entirely convinced.
“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 [Lee] and CM Punk, and Seth and Becky, I think that he kinda went like, you know what, this might actually really, really work.”
According to Black, once Triple H gave the green light, the creative team fully embraced the idea.
“He was completely sold on it and he really liked it. And then it kind of started building from there [during] those last two, three weeks. Where we’re now looking at the presentation that you saw last week, and slowly but surely we’re adding elements. This is a work in progress.”
Black and Vega’s on-screen alliance has drawn strong fan interest since its debut, blending dark aesthetics with emotional storytelling — a dynamic the former NXT Champion says will continue to evolve in the coming weeks.
