This Embarrassing WWE Mistake Led To Aleister Black's AEW Debut
Malakai Black's Dynamite arrival couldn't have happened without this WWE oversight...
An embarrassing WWE clerical mistake made Malakai Black's debut on last night's AEW Road Rager show possible, reports PWInsider's Mike Johnson.
The former Aleister Black showed up during last night's Dynamite special, interrupting Arn Anderson while he was in the ring with Tony Schiavone, putting both the former Horseman and Cody Rhodes down. It was an impactful arrival - and drew a great response.
That it happened so soon after Black's WWE release on 2 June raised eyebrows, given that the promotion typically slaps cut wrestlers with a 90-day non-compete clause. If active, this would have prevented Black from showing up elsewhere before 31 August.
But it wasn't active. According to Johnson, WWE failed to update Malakai's non-compete clause from NXT's standard 30 days to 90 when he was promoted to the main roster in 2019. Thus, Black was able to show up in AEW long before many may have expected.
Fightful reported last month that at least one recently released WWE wrestler had had their non-compete clause shortened after negotiating with the company. Given this new story on Black, it's probably safe to assume that this wasn't the former NXT Champion.