Malakai Black looks to have been given his release from AEW in the midst of a troubling week for the company according to a new report.
At All Out, Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews – representing the House of Black – took on the team of Miro, Darby Allin, and Sting in trios action. In a hard-fought contest, it was Allin, Sting, and Miro that picked up the victory, keeping The Icon’s undefeated streak in the company intact.
Rumours had emerged before the event over uncertainty regarding Malakai Black’s AEW future despite the star signing a five-year deal with the company in July 2021. As noted by Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc, Black has expressed concerns about his mental health due to his personal life and displeasure over the way that his character has been presented.
Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer was the one to note that after the House of Black lost at All Out, Malakai Black blew a kiss to the Chicago crowd and took a bow, implying that the AEW faithful could be saying goodbye to the Dutch star once and for all. Black’s wife Queen Zelina Vega is still a part of the WWE roster.
Now Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful has reported that AEW talent are under the impression that the Dutch star has been given a conditional release from the company:
“AEW talent are of the belief that Malakai Black was granted his conditional release from AEW. His original request for release was denied. We’ve reached out to AEW for official word, but haven’t heard back.”
Fightful Select had more details regarding the release and any possible conditions that may be attached to it. That report states that Tony Khan specifically wanted to keep Black in AEW and the release is unusual in that the company is not in the habit of releasing contracted talent unless disciplinary issues are involved.
The belief is that conditions on the release could prevent him from wrestling for another company in the near future. Sources are said to believe that a return for Black to AEW isn’t out of the question and recent talks to try and salvage the working relationship were useful but the decision was made that if Malakai Black wanted to leave then the best thing to do was allow that to happen.