It has been claimed that Malakai Black wasn’t the only AEW star to ask for their release this summer.
In early September it was reported that an unnamed AEW star had asked to be released from their contract, but this request had been denied.
This came after it was noted that WWE had made contact with a number of AEW contracted performers over moving to the company now Triple H was Head of Creative. The unnamed star was later revealed to be Malakai Black, who has since been granted his release, albeit with a number of caveats.
Reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirms that Black was one of the stars that WWE approached in the summer. Interestingly, he goes on to add that the Dutch star wasn’t the only wrestler to ask for their release during this period. By the same token others were happy in AEW and reported the approach to management.
This led to Megha Parekh, AEW’s Chief Legal Officer and the promotion’s second in command emailing WWE’s Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon, warning them “not to tamper” with talent.
“When Paul Levesque took over from Vince McMahon, WWE contacted a number of former WWE talents that were working there that either had left on their own or that Vince McMahon had fired. Black was not the only person to ask for his release at the time. Others did not ask for their release and were happy with AEW and contacted management, which led to Megha Parekh, head of legal, writing a letter threatening WWE for interference in contracts.”
There has been significant unrest backstage in AEW for a number of months which appeared to culminate at All Out. Following a melee backstage a number of key figures were suspended pending an investigation, while it has been reported that CM Punk could be about to leave the company altogether.