Malakai Black Done With AEW?

Could Malakai Black's time with AEW be coming to an end? Seemingly so. In fact, as per Fightful Select, Malakai's AEW tenure may well have already wrapped up.

Last night's AEW Dynamite saw Will Ospreay get a win over Buddy Matthews, with Ospreay then encouraging Buddy to step out of Malakai Black's shadow. Following this, Fightful made inquiries over Black's status with AEW, to which those the outlet spoke to were under the impression the House of Black leader was finishing up with the company, if he hadn't done so already.

Interestingly, Tony Khan has previously stated how Malakai Black was under contract with AEW through until 2027. Fightful had earlier reported how Black had option years after 2024, meaning those option years would need to be triggered - likely by AEW - for him to remain with the promotion after that point. The outlet notes how they can't "definitively" say that Malakai's existing contract is up or what the situation is with any options not being triggered.

Of course, this isn't the first time that Malakai Black's potential AEW exit has been in the news cycle, and it remains to be seen whether this really is it for the Dutchman's time with AEW.

Malakai Black In AEW... And A Possible WWE Return?

It's been somewhat of a strange run for Malakai Black in AEW. Having debuted in July 2021, Black made a hugely impactful mark, picking up back-to-back wins over Cody Rhodes upon landing in AEW. By the start of the following year, his Kings of the Black Throne team with Brody King would become a staple of AEW, soon adding Buddy Matthews, and eventually Julia Hart, to become the House of Black.

The House of Black has been one of those acts where they'll be a prominent part of AEW programming for a few weeks, then be absent for several more weeks. And while King, Matthews, and Hart may appear, they have often done so without Malakai being alongside them.

Despite being an incredibly talented singles wrestler, Malakai Black only had five AEW singles matches last year and bafflingly had zero one-on-one bouts in 2023. As for those singles contests, the most recent of them came back in November, where Black lost to Adam Cole on an episode of AEW Dynamite. Interestingly, a post-match show of respect between the two saw some fans speculating that Malakai's time with AEW was coming to an end.

Should Malakai Black indeed be done with AEW, a WWE return would seem like a no-brainer as and when his contract situation would allow it. Not just is Malakai married to WWE star Zelina Vega, but Triple H was a huge fan of 'Aleister' Black during the talent's time in NXT. Of course, like certain other NXT names, things turned sour for Black upon moving to the main roster, but the WWE main roster of today is very different to the WWE main roster of back then - not least in how the person steering the ship is now Paul Levesque.

As Aleister Black, the real-like Tom Büdgen had previously been with WWE from 2016 until 2021, defeating Andrade 'Cien' Almas at TakeOver: WarGames in late 2017 to become NXT Champion. Prior to that, the Dutch star was a major favourite on the independent scene, kicking plenty of ass as Tommy End.