AEW SHUTS DOWN Rumored Interest In Released WWE Star's Return (AEW News)
Rumours abound that AEW fancies signing ex-WWE man, but things are more complicated than that.
There are split reports on AEW's interest in re-signing ex-WWE star Aleister/Malakai Black.
Firstly, SEScoops claims that negotiations have been ongoing between All Elite boss Tony Khan and Black "regardless of the public framing". That "public framing"? Concurrent reports that Khan/AEW wouldn't be interested in bringing Aleister/Malakai back into the mix at all.
Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp then got word from AEW itself that the company "denied to Fightful that they are currently in negotiations with Malakai Black". Then, The Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez told subscribers to his posts on X: "I know people in AEW who saw the report that AEW was negotiating with Aleister Black, and I can tell you that they were absolutely astounded".
This is all very intriguing.
It's worth noting that SEScoops only updated their original news report to include the "public framing" line after Ross Sapp and Alvarez had their say on social media. In a follow up item, Fightful Select then noted that Black couldn't appear on AEW television for at least another 2 months, because that's the length of time remaining on his deal with WWE/TKO.
They also stated: "As of now, things haven't progressed with AEW and Malakai Black".
So, whilst it's possible that Khan has met or spoken with Black about coming back in, it doesn't look like anything has been finalised. Furthermore, the wrestler couldn't show up on Dynamite, Collision or AEW pay-per-view anyway until time ticks down on his pre-existing deal with WWE.
The plot thickens, and all that!