Dave Meltzer has claimed that Malakai Black asked for his AEW release in part due to a desire to return to WWE.
In early September it was reported that Malakai Black had been granted a conditional release from AEW. Black’s future had been under question for a number of weeks following claims that he had asked to leave the company, but that request had been denied.
It was noted at the time that Black’s desire to leave came from concerns about his mental health and creative direction.
Following a match at Prestige Perseverance on September 17th the star released a lengthy statement on Instagram where he confirmed he had asked to leave AEW. He also expressed displeasure at the fact that a number of issues from his personal life had made their way into the public domain.
Speaking on a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that there could have been another reason why Black asked to leave; he wants to return to WWE.
“He wanted out from AEW, and I guess we’ll see what happened. I mean obviously he wanted to go back to WWE, and he had a lot of time left on his deal. It’s like four and a half years left on the deal, so it’s an interesting thing because it’s like, really difficult to keep someone who’s under.. I mean you can do it, to keep someone who is unhappy, under contract for that length of time. He did sign for that length of time, and the reason that you sign people to contacts is so if they become unhappy they can’t just go somewhere else the next day.”
It should be noted that Malakai Black’s wife Zelina Vega remains under contract with WWE. The House of Black star signed with AEW in July 2021 after being released by WWE just a month earlier.
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