Malakai Black Provides Major Update On His AEW Status
Malakai Black has confirmed he is still with AEW, and that he plans to make a comeback to the promotion in the near future.
Through an Instagram Live session Monday night, Black stressed that reports of AEW granting him "a conditional release" are false, pointing out how he specifically put the word "release" under quotations in his statement released last week - with the intention of debunking the reports.
"I have read a few narratives online in regards to my "release", mental health and my personal life that I can summarize swiftly; if it didn't come from me, it didn't happen," Black wrote on Instagram on September 19.
On Monday, a perplexed Black questioned why people were still speculating about his status with AEW.
"Why are people still writing that I got my release [from AEW]? Why do you trust these people to tell you the truth? Because it's not true," Black said.
Black, who stepped away from wrestling following the All Out pay-per-view, teased returning to AEW TV imminently.
"I will see you guys in a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months," Black said. "Like I said, I'm only taking some time off. That's it – there's no conspiracy to this. Alright? I'll see you guys soon, stop believing any other narrative.
"I'm going to be fine, everything is fine, you'll see me right back with AEW pretty soon. I'm just going to take some time off. And lastly, please don't make me an instrument for this whole us [AEW] vs. them [WWE] tribalism, I don't do that stuff."
For what it's worth, Black did confirm asking for his release from AEW in his earlier statement. One can assume that he was either denied his release or that Black and AEW found a way to move forward with their partnership. Soon after Black released his video message Monday, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful tweeted that an AEW source told him that "things were somewhat mended before All Out" and that Black & Buddy Matthews – who also recently took a leave of absence from wrestling – will both eventually return to AEW.
Through his video message, Black also refuted reports about the duration of his AEW contract and rumors of him wanting to go back to WWE. You can watch the entire video here.