MJF has publicly named Malakai Black as the biggest offender on the list of wrestlers who used AEW as a stepping stone back to WWE, telling Ariel Helwani that the AEW locker room had Black pegged as a “mark for wanting to have his Mania moment” during his tenure.
Black signed with AEW in 2021 after being released from his original WWE run as Aleister Black. He spent three years with AEW as the founder of the House of Black faction alongside Buddy Matthews and Brody King. Black requested his release from AEW in November 2024 and returned to WWE in February 2025 as Aleister Black, where he has worked on SmackDown as a top-tier wrestler. He was released by WWE on April 24, 2026, as part of the post-WrestleMania 42 cuts wave.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, MJF was asked who the biggest offender was on the AEW-to-WWE bridge.
“I think it’s pretty obvious it is Malakai Black. I don’t know the guy on a personal level. Do I think he’s a bad guy? No. Do I think he was a mark for wanting to have his ‘Mania moment’, yeah, and there were a couple of guys like that, and they got weeded out. Then they went over there and some found out the grass isn’t greener. And some of them did, for them the grass was greener, but I’d say a majority that were like ‘I’m gonna use AEW to go back to WWE’, I think you’re gonna see a lot of those guys ask for a 50% pay cut from the office, or just get released.”
He continued, “It’s unfortunate because if you show up to our company and work hard, there’s really no need to burn bridges. I’m not shting on him, I’m just simply telling you what I was told by a majority of the locker room about this specific individual. So as a team captain, and a leader, and someone that has been part of this company since day one, I don’t want to deal with guys that don’t want to be team players. Fck off, go elsewhere. Or, f*cking prove me wrong. I would love to be proved wrong.”
The “50% pay cut” reference connects directly to the recent WWE post-WrestleMania 42 wave that saw multiple wrestlers asked to take pay cuts on guaranteed deals or be released, with Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Black himself all subjected to that math.
Black was widely reported to have requested his AEW release in late 2024 due to creative frustration. Per Sean Ross Sapp’s Fightful Select reporting at the time, Black wanted out of his deal and was eyeing a return to WWE. His February 2025 WWE return was framed by the company as a significant signing, with Black landing on SmackDown and getting featured spots in the post-WrestleMania 41 build.
If you use quotes from this article, please credit The Ariel Helwani Show and include a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
