Former Star Reveals He Pitched New Character To WWE & AEW, Received Mixed Reviews

Former WWE star PJ Black (FKA Justin Gabriel) has been working on a new character but it only received mixed reviews from his former employer and All Elite Wrestling.

Speaking about a possible WWE return with PWMania, Black stated:

"I mean, never say never [with] WWE. I did show them this new character I've been working on and I sent them the package. I sent it to all the writers, the producers, and everyone I know that works there. And you know, it's kind of mixed reviews. Everyone's like, interesting. I really want to see what's next. Some people were like, Wow, there's so much we could do with it. Because there's so many layers to unpack. Some of the AEW people were just like, 'ah, yeah, this is cool, but can you just be Darewolf?' And I was like, Yeah, I can do that, too. So we'll see what happens. I haven't really had any, like, solid offers or anything like that.

"But like I said, it would be nice, but I mean, I'm not going to wait around for that before I pull the trigger on this character. So we'll see. We'll see. I mean, it's a very interesting time in wrestling right now. There's so many companies and great talents all over the world. So I think it's a really exciting time. This is what I like about wrestling. You know, like if it evolves and if you don't have depth, then you get left behind. And then you'll see guys like Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio has been around forever and ever and ever, and they just kind of like adapt and go. So I'm trying to not be like Chris Jericho, but kind of just adapt to the time reinventing myself playing a new character, like just bringing some new things to the table that I think will be fresh and exciting."

Since exiting Ring of Honor when the promotion went on hiatus in December 2021, PJ Black has only wrestled a handful of times, with his most high-profile matches coming in IMPACT Wrestling at the company's October 2022 TV tapings.

Black previously performed in WWE from 2008 until 2015 as Justin Angel, Justin Gabriel, and Adam Rose's Bunny. He is a three-time WWE Tag Team Champion.

Black has never wrestled for AEW.