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Cody Rhodes has found himself a new challenger for the Undisputed WWE Championship in the form of Aleister Black. Black's wife and on-screen partner, Zelina Vega, warned The American Nightmare.Rhodes became a two-time Undisputed WWE Champion at SummerSlam 2025. He dethroned John Cena to win the title and has successfully defended the title twice against Drew McIntyre. On SmackDown, he was confronted by Black and Zelina, who slapped Rhodes during the show's opening segment.On Instagram, Zelina shared photos from this week's SmackDown, including the one where she could be seen slapping Rhodes. The former Women's United States Champion put The American Nightmare on notice."yournightmarebeginsnow," wrote Zelina.Check out Zelina's post on Instagram: View this post on Instagram Instagram PostAleister Black on his pairing with Zelina Vega on WWE TVAleister Black opened up about his pairing with Zelina Vega on SmackDown. Speaking on Sports Illustrated, the former NXT Champion revealed that they were shooting vignettes and creating outfits for it.Black added that the idea was for Zelina to join forces with him during his initial WWE run. He said: "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. 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,"Black was in action against Cody Rhodes in a non-title match, which headlined this week's episode of SmackDown. The match concluded in a controversial manner after Drew McIntyre hit the referee with a Claymore, leading to Nick Aldis suspending the Scotsman. McIntyre and Black briefly joined forces and set their sights on The American Nightmare before Damian Priest came to the champion's aid. The feud between Black and Rhodes is far from over, despite McIntyre and Priest's involvement.
