Is Malakai Black done with AEW?
We seem to go through this news cycle of the Black being done with AEW every couple of months. Another one has popped up as Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select says that the 39-year-old could be finishing up with the promotion. As of now, there’s no official word on when Black’s contract with AEW expires; Reports claim that his deal ends sometime in early 2025, with possible option years on his contract. But Tony Khan has stated that Black was under contract until 2027.
There have been signs lately that Black may be nearing his end with AEW. It goes back to that strange match he had with Adam Cole where it felt as if the former AEW Trios Champion was saying goodbye. Black squashed the rumors on that, but that segment was pretty strange overall.
Black also hasn’t been seen on AEW Television since Full Gear. Buddy Matthews has been notably doing singles matches as of late. So has Brody King. In fact, King was in the Continental Classic. Given Black’s pedigree as a singles wrestler, one would think that he would’ve been the first choice to fight in the annual tournament.
Nevertheless, these are all still rumors and if Black shuts them down again then it’s likely that his contract isn’t up just yet. But Malakai Black is leaving AEW. It’s just a matter of when at this point. Of course, this is pure speculation on my end as anything can change.
But It’s not just the fact that his wife is still in WWE. It’s the fact that the company just hasn’t used him in a meaningful way in a very long time. Jim Ross spoke on Grilling JR about how “disenchanted” Black looked when he talked to him during an AEW pay-per-view in 2024:
“I talked to him a couple of pay-per-views ago, and he didn’t tell me this, but you could tell he was a little disenchanted. I mean, God Almighty. Think about this. They work a day a week. They wrestle a day a week for AEW, maybe two if they get booked on both the Saturday show and the Wednesday show, but that didn’t happen that much. If it did, you’d be working two days a week. I think his future is always going to be bright. He’s a creative guy.”
We’ll see if Malakai Black’s time in AEW has come to an end soon.