A new report has seemingly confirmed that WWE contacted Malakai Black earlier in 2022 despite him being under contract with AEW.
Back in late August it was reported that WWE had contacted “multiple” AEW stars over moving to the company. With Triple H assuming creative control of WWE he was busy reshaping the roster and re-signing a number of former Superstars. This is a process that appears to still be continuing.
At an AEW talent meeting, President Tony Khan addressed the situation by revealing that Megha Parekh, AEW’s Chief Legal Officer and the promotion’s second in command had emailed WWE’s Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon, warning them “not to tamper” with talent.
This was followed by reports that an AEW star had in fact asked for their release, only to have their request denied. This was later confirmed to be Malakai Black. The star later appeared to confirm his release, while it was noted that he wanted to return to WWE.
It has now been reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that Malakai Black was one of the stars that WWE contacted in the summer. That is despite him only being one year into a five-year deal.
“What we do know is that Black was one of the people WWE reached out to even though he had signed a five-year deal with AEW. Tony Khan had pushed that a few weeks back, but then Black waved goodbye at the PPV. Khan would not comment on Black’s situation but the belief is that Black was able to get a conditional release from that contract.
The belief is that it would include a non-compete period where he could work, as his wrestling this past weekend shows, but not for WWE. Whether that means he will go to WWE or return her is unknown, but going as far as to say promises not kept comes across as someone who doesn’t look to be returning.”
In a recent social media post, Malakai Black addressed his AEW exit, also taking issue with how a number of personal issues entered the public domain.
Under the name Aleister Black, the Dutch star competed in WWE from 2016 until June 2021. During this period he won the NXT Championship as well as the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.