Aleister Black was amongst six names released by WWE on Wednesday afternoon. 

News of his departure was especially baffling to fans given that his return to SmackDown was being heavily hyped by the company.

Ahead of his return to the Blue Brand, which happened on May 21, WWE aired vignettes for an entire month teasing his comeback. 

Black even had a new character, which he has since referred to as the 'Dark Father', but fans will never get to see him compete in the ring on SmackDown.

The timing of his release then, is pretty strange. Soon after news broke, Black took to his wife Thea Trinidad’s Twitch stream to discuss his departure. 

During the video, he details the company's reason for Wednesday's firings, his interactions with WWE creative and why his last two years felt like a slow death. 

"I got told it was budget cuts,” Black said.

Black has detailed his WWE release

"Whether that is budget cuts or not, doesn’t matter. I’m here now and I’ve had a great time. I’ve had a phenomenal four or five years in the WWE.

"If I didn’t, we wouldn’t have had so many viewers right now. And I’m just really thankful for a lot of things that WWE has done for me.

"The most thankful I am is that I was given a platform that, although in limited amount, I was able to give you guys parts of myself and my character."

Black went on to explain that he feels 'bittersweet' about leaving and revealed he was trying to create things until the very end.  

Black was trying to create until the very end

"It’s bittersweet, cause I owe everything to WWE. I think the last two years were a slow death for me.

"I think that it was very hard to get the creative approved despite numerous conversations that I’ve had with Vince, and everybody trying really hard. It did numbers on my self-esteem too.

"Because at one point you’re like ‘the ratings are good, the numbers are good, the merch is good, why are we not, you know?’ 

Black deserved more of a push in WWE

"It’s like one of those things where they, like, the word intrigue was always there. ‘Oh we find you very intriguing.’ I’m like ‘okay good. Let’s present something there, let’s doing something.’

"I have thrown so many things at the wall, cause I keep creating. I keep creating characters and gimmicks and storylines over and over and over and over and over. You know?" 

(h/t to WrestlingInc for the transcription)