AEW have reportedly denied the release of one unnamed wantaway star.
In recent weeks there never seems to be a dull moment in AEW. In the lead up to All Out on September 4th controversy has reigned supreme with a number of stars unsettled to some degree or another.
There have been reports that Thunder Rosa has heat with other members of the women’s division, while there was a high-profile confrontation between Sammy Guevara and Eddie Kingston which ended in a suspension for the Mad King.
This is on top of the well publicised issues between CM Punk and Hangman Adam Page which saw Punk go off-script on a recent episode of Dynamite to send a couple of well aimed shots at his rival.
Then just to add more fuel to an already combustible situation, Tony Khan and AEW’s legal team sent a letter to WWE warning them against contract tampering after the company had expressed an interest in signing multiple talents.
It has now been reported that AEW have recently denied a release request from an unnamed star. Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that at least one person had asked to leave, despite having a number of years left on their current deal.
“Regarding the talent approached by WWE, as we noted last week it was multiple people, generally the people who had worked with Paul Levesque in he past in NXT. Several told AEW which led to the legal letter sent to Levesque, Stephanie and Nick Khan. There was at least one person who asked for his release, which hasn’t been granted and the person has a long time left on his deal.”
This ties in with an earlier report from elsewhere which claimed that Malakai Black had requested his release, but his request had been turned down. It is said that Black cited creative issues as well as concerns about his mental health for his desire to leave.
Malakai Black is currently one year into a five-year deal with AEW following his departure from WWE in June 2021.