Malik Blade Reflects On WWE Release, Says He Wants To Wrestle In Japan

Malik Blade was among the post-WrestleMania 42 releases from WWE and he says he’s set a goal of working in Japan now that he’s a free agent. Blade was one of a number of releases from NXT that accompanied the cuts of Kairi Sane, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, The Motor City Machine Guns, and more. Blade was best known in NXT for being a tag team partner with Edris Enofe, and had last wrestled for WWE in late February.

Blade spoke to Justin Dhillon for Casual Conversations With the Wrestling Classic and detailed how he was told about his release. He said he was initially upset but got excited that same day for what’s next. You can see the highlights below (per Fightful):

On His Release:

“It’s a bit weird. It’s just a phone call from a person that I’ve never met. They just simply say, ‘Business decision. We’re moving on.’ That was really it. It was a few second phone call. The first season, I was kind of upset, but a few hours later, I got excited about the fact that I could go anywhere.”

On His Goals:

I have a big goal of wrestling in Japan. Now, I’m free to do that. I have no reason to stay in the States, and I’m able to expand my wings in wrestling. WWE is amazing, but it’s a bubble. Now, I can go anywhere and do anything. As much as it was scary, it’s also very exciting. I do believe that in Japan, my style is more high-flying and athletic. I do believe it’ll be more appreciated over there. I would love to explore that, whether it’s NOAH, All Japan, New Japan, I would love to take that up.”