Despite starting a feud with Big E on the May 21 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Aleister Black was released by WWE on June 2, something that the former has opened up about in an exclusive interview with GiveMeSport.

Big E told our own Louis Dangoor in an exclusive interview that he was excited at the prospect of feuding with Aleister Black after working with Apollo Crews for several months, but didn't know what the plans for the feud were.

The SmackDown star said while he was surprised to learn of Black's release, he wasn't particularly worried about him following his dismissal from the company, going on to explain just how talented the former NXT Champion actually is.

"I don’t know the plans. I had no idea. Obviously we’d seen the vignettes for weeks and weeks, then he [Aleister Black] comes out at the end of the main event and kicks me in the face so I think ‘alright, it’s him and I. We’re going to run for a bit’. So I definitely was surprised [by his release]. I think he’s extremely talented, I think he has a ton to offer. I think people were excited to see us, you know because there’s such a difference in the way that we carry ourselves, in our characters, in many ways polar opposites. I think it could have made for a lot of fun. I’m not entirely sure why things went the way they did, but as I said, I think he’s an incredible talent, and he’s a guy that I didn’t worry about him and his future, because I knew he was going to get picked up somewhere. But yeah man, I didn’t know the plan, I didn’t know where we were going. I had been married to Apollo [Crews], and I think that Apollo has a ton to offer in the ring. I think that despite butting heads from a character standpoint, I think he has a ton to offer in the ring. He’s so so good and I think we have great chemistry, but it’s been a long time with him and I. The Aleister thing was an opportunity to do something different, a nice break from that, and it just ended up fizzling. Like I said, he’s very very good at what he does, and I wish him well."

Big E spoke to Louis Dangoor about the reaction from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon following his Money in the Bank win, which you can read about by clicking here.

In the same interview, the 2021 men's Money in the Bank ladder match winner also opened up about the reaction from New Day to his big win, which you can also read more about by clicking here.

You can watch Friday Night SmackDown, which will feature the fallout from Big E's big win, every week live in the UK on BT Sport.