Massive speculation on Malakai Black's potential return to WWE following AEW exit
Malakai Black could be headed back to WWE after departing AEW.
Black last competed for the promotion during the All Out event, where he teamed with Brody King and Buddy Matthews to take on Miro, Sting and Darby Allin. As of now, that appears to be his last appearance in AEW, as he bid farewell to the crowd in attendance.
News has since broken that he has been granted a conditional release from the company. Malakai fulfilled what seems to be his final booking for the foreseeable future at a Prestige Wrestling event last night, and is now officially on hiatus from wrestling.
Dave Meltzer discussed the situation during a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, describing Black's desire to return to WWE under Triple H's new leadership.
“He wrestled last night, which is interesting. Then he put out a statement today and he wanted out from AEW. I guess we’ll see what happened. Obviously, he wanted to go back to WWE and he had a lot of time left on his deal. I think 4 and a half years left on the deal...The whole reason he was signed to a 5-year big money contract was so if something happened in WWE and they wanted him back and they changed his mind, that they had him and they could book him for all those years." (H/T WrestlingNews.co)
Black signed with AEW in 2021 following his release from WWE. He built a popular faction in The House of Black and has enjoyed wins over the likes of Cody Rhodes, but also endured losses against the Dark Order, Sting, Darby Allin and Miro as of late.
How long could it be before the former AEW star returns to WWE?
Dave Meltzer on today's WOR about Malakai Black: "He wanted out from AEW.
Obviously he wanted to go back to WWE and he had a lot of time left on his deal, 4 and a half years. And it's really difficult to keep someone who's unhappy under contract for that length of time." https://t.co/8ox4gASHQq
If it is indeed the case that Malakai requested his release for the purpose of moving back to WWE, there remains a wait before the move can manifest itself.
Meltzer further described the supposed conditions for the Dutch Destroyer's departure. He speculated that one of them may prohibit a move elsewhere for the time being.
“The story going around was that it was a conditional release and what that meant, I don’t really know. The assumption of a conditional release is that it’s probably something where he can’t just go right to WWE. Maybe there’s a timeframe or something like that. I don’t think he would agree to it if the timeframe was four and a half years.” (H/T WrestlingNews.co)
Under Triple H, Black enjoyed perhaps the best years of his career thus far. He captured the NXT title and shared instant classics with the likes of Johnny Gargano, Tomasso Ciampa and Ricochet. All have enjoyed periods of prominence since Triple H took over and Malakai may look to enjoy the same.
What do you think? Could Malakai rejoin either promotion? Let us know what you think in the comments below.