Major AEW Star Reportedly Released

This top name's time being #AllElite is up.

by Andrew Pollard
Malakai Black
AEW

With plentiful recent reports that Malakai Black has requested his AEW release, it now looks as if that request has been granted.

As per Fightful Select, "numerous talent" informed the outlet that Black's time with AEW has come to an end for now. Some of these talent claim the House of Black leader has outright been released by the the promotion, with this release said to be "highly conditional" - as in, the Dutchman will have had to agree to certain strict terms in order to depart All Elite Wrestling.

One has to imagine that these conditions rule out any immediate return to WWE, although that's merely speculation from your writer.

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Black first requested his release last month, but that request was refused. When pressed on Malakai's situation during the post-All Out media scrum, Tony Khan chose not to comment. Of course, this came hot on the heels of Black taking a bow and blowing a kiss to the Chicago crowd as he made his way to the back following House of Black's loss to Miro, Sting and Darby Allin.

Fightful adds that another meeting took place recently, with it decided that if Malakai Black wanted out of the company then it would be best to facilitate this. The outlet noted how the door isn't closed on the former NXT Champion returning to AEW at some point in the future, though for now it looks as if Black's time being #AllElite is up.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.