The picture surrounding Malakai Black’s potential AEW future following his WWE release is becoming clearer for the immediate future.
According to WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, sources within AEW do not believe Black will be back in the promotion any time soon. However, Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp was separately told that the bridge is not considered burned there.
Black worked in AEW from 2021 to early 2025, forming the House of Black faction with Buddy Matthews and Brody King after an initial singles program with Cody Rhodes. At the time of his AEW exit, it was reported that he had drawn criticism from those in the promotion over a perceived reluctance to do jobs in the promotion and frequent claims of injury, and that his relationship with Tony Khan was not strong.
The WrestleVotes report aligns more closely with earlier reporting from Dave Meltzer, who said the people he spoke with in AEW were pretty negative on the idea of Black returning. AEW’s Shawn Dean, who also serves as the promotion’s Extras Coordinator, publicly replied “No” when someone raised the possibility of the House of Black returning following Black’s WWE release.
Black was released by WWE on April 24 as part of the post-WrestleMania 42 roster cuts, alongside his wife Zelina Vega and 23 other wrestlers. He had returned to WWE on the post-WrestleMania 41 episode of SmackDown before being let go approximately a year later.
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