Malakai Black is coming back to the ring.
Progress Wrestling announced Black for The Odyssey Tour, with appearances at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange on Friday, September 4, O2 Academy Leeds on Saturday, September 5, and the O2 Ritz in Manchester on Sunday, September 6. Progress says these will be his first matches back on the independent scene: “He’s held gold in every major company he’s set foot in.”
Tickets are available now through Ticketmaster and the Progress Wrestling website. The Edinburgh show is an evening event with doors at 6 PM, while the Leeds and Manchester shows are afternoon events with doors at 2 PM. The Odyssey Tour continues to the O2 Academy Bournemouth on September 12 and the O2 Academy Birmingham on September 13, though Black is not currently announced for those dates. Progress events stream on Hooked On Wrestling TV.
Black is a free agent after WWE released him on April 24 alongside his wife, Zelina Vega, one year into his second run with the company. He previously spent 2021 to 2025 in AEW under the Malakai Black name. Black recently changed his look and is now bald, debuting the new appearance in a vignette he posted as a free agent last week. He used his old Tommy End name in that video, though Progress is billing him as Malakai Black for the tour.
Black was regularly featured on WWE television this year. He feuded with Damian Priest to start the year and Randy Orton in the early months, and was most recently in segments and matches with Sami Zayn and Matt Cardona.
There has been talk about Black perhaps not being welcome back in AEW. There were conflicting reports in May about a possible return, with reported resistance within the company, and the feeling being that during his last AEW run, Black only wanted to get back to WWE. Several AEW talents, most notably MJF, have spoken negatively about his first stint, and Jim Ross said on Grilling JR that he believes Black’s chances of returning are running out, pointing to reliability as the issue. Some fans have speculated that if Black does return to AEW, it could come as soon as All In in London later this month, but to be clear, nothing has been reported connecting him to the show, and his UK dates with Progress do not begin until the week after.
For what it is worth, I think AEW should consider signing him and his wife, who is now going by the name Xelina after trademarking it in July and who streams on Twitch. Explaining the new name, she told Instinct Culture (h/t Fightful), “That means no more handcuffs,” saying she wants people to see what she can actually do. If used right, you can do some cool things with Black. If he stays healthy, he is someone fans would get behind if he is booked consistently as a strong character. In the past, there have been starts and stops, injuries, and perhaps other issues that have prevented him from getting to a different level.
That is part of what made his release surprising. On SmackDown, when WWE paired him with Vega in the feud with Damian Priest, it looked like they were starting to book him stronger. Vega helped Black beat Priest in a Last Man Standing match, the highlight of their run as an on-screen pairing, and the two were let go a few months later anyway.
For now, the next confirmed stop is Progress. Black, a former NXT Champion, has not wrestled since his WWE release, so the Edinburgh show is expected to be his first match anywhere in over four months. He returns to the ring the first weekend of September in Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester. His plans beyond the tour have not been announced.
