Why WWE Scrapped Plans For Aleister Black To Be Randy Orton's Surprise WrestleMania 41 Opponent

Randy Orton's plans for WrestleMania 41 were thrown into turmoil just weeks ahead of the two-night event when Kevin Owens announced he was unable to compete and would be taking time off due to a neck injury.

A number of wrestlers were considered to be Orton's surprise opponent at WrestleMania, including Aleister Black in what would have been the former NXT Champion's return match. Black revealed to WrestleRant that WWE didn't book him in the spot, though, as the company didn't want him to lose his first match back.

"They were toying with a bunch of ideas. I know at one point it was this conversation about like, 'Oh, is he coming back to wrestle Randy Orton at WrestleMania?' That was an actual thing that was discussed but you also have to understand that wasn't an isolated thing as to like, 'Oh, maybe it could be this.' Then all the focus went on that. It's more like, they'll check a list of names….It was counter-argued quickly because they were like, 'Well, we don't want him to lose coming back at WrestleMania. That doesn't make any sense,'" Black said.

Aleister Black would ultimately return to WWE on the post-WrestleMania 41 episode of SmackDown. Randy Orton, meanwhile, defeated then-TNA World Champion Joe Hendry in a quick match at WrestleMania.

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