wrestling / News
Malakai Black Says He’s Still in AEW & Plans to Return Soon, Denies Rumors of Release
– As previously reported, AEW star Malakai Black released a statement on September 18 confirming that at one point that he did ask for his release from AEW. He also said that he was going to “take a few months to recalibrate” his life. It was previously rumored that Black was granted a “conditional release” by AEW following All Out. Yesterday (Sept. 26), Black conducted a livestream on his personal Instagram account, addressing many of the rumors surrounding his career in recent weeks.
During the livestream, Black claimed that he was not leaving AEW and that he’d be back “in a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months.” Additionally, Black said the length of his AEW contract was not for five years. Below are some highlights and clips from the livestream:
Malakai Black on the length of his AEW contract: “Alright so, guys, how many times do I have to tell people if you can’t even get the years of my contract right, which is a very minuscule detail, then how are you expecting or how are people expecting that these guys know very intimate and private detailing in regards to my private business? My contract is not five years, my contract’s never been five years. It’s is all bulls***, it’s all lies. So you know, I posted a statement, and even if you — of course, all of you, have read my statement because even if you read my statement, it clearly reads that even release is in quotations.”
Malakai Black on receiving death threats over the rumors: “In a time where I’m supposed to take care of myself and kind of wind down, I have to deal with this kind of stupid bulls*** from people who are not in the business and pretending that they are in the business with all their sources. You know, the worst thing about it is for the past three days, nothing but weird, hateful comments, and today, even two death threats. Death threats? Death threats? You wish death upon a person because of what someone else had said, and then say that it’s confirmed? It’s not confirmed. Clearly, it’s not confirmed. None of it’s confirmed! There’s no confirmation because I haven’t left. That’s what this whole thing was about. I’ve been given time off by Tony [Khan] to take care of a bunch of stuff. All this stuff has been cleared up like weeks, weeks ago! All this stuff was weeks ago.”
Black on the statement he posted on September 18: “I posted that statement as a summary for you to understand why I’d take some time off. Again, it’s in the statement. Like it is in the statement. Like it’s mind-boggling — if this isn’t enough incentive for you to stop believing these people, then I don’t know what is. Because if you like — again, if you were were part of this whole mob that went into sending me a bunch of hateful comments based on the words of someone else, then sorry, but you’re dumb. Like you’re stupid. Does anyone understand that like in the time where I’m going through this stuff and I’m kind of dealing with a bunch of stuff, in a very productive manner, that that exactly doesn’t help, and what I hate about it is that none of these dirt sheets will take responsibility, none of these guys will take accountability and say, ‘Oh s***! We f***ed up, I’m sorry. We should have probably not said that. Oh, he’s going through some stuff. Maybe we should not. Maybe we should not make all these baseless assumptions because again as it turns out, it’s not true! None of it’s true! Not one single thing of it is true!”
“So again, if you were part of this mob that like felt the need to even send me death threats, well, then thank you dirt sheets because they don’t care about my mental health. They don’t care about your mental health. They don’t care about your feelings, they don’t care about my wife, they don’t care about my family. They don’t give a s***. All they want is dumb clicks with stuff that they’re making up. Because they’re tying bridges between things that are no longer there, they’re tying things… that don’t exist. Because they want the narrative to exist. But again, I’m sure, tomorrow there will be a different narrative, and tomorrow it’ll be, ‘Oh, we got the wrong information. Oh, we heard it from this. Don’t blame us, we’re just reporting.’ A real person will own up to their bullshit. They will own up to their words and then say, you know what? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. If the words come out of your mouth, then you know, own it. Just own it. Anyway, I would like to very much go back to just working on my stuff, working on my private life, working on getting to the point of feeling good again. So I hope that this puts all this stuff to bed. I am definitely not going to be on my social media for a while because like my god. Again guys, stop believing these things. It is unbelievable.”
Black on his time off, staying in AEW: “I’ll be back in a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months. As I said, I’m only taking some time off. Just taking some time off. That’s it. There’s no conspiracy to this. Just taking some time, alright? I will see you guys. Take care of yourselves. Stop believing any other narrative. Right now, I’ve debunked it. There’s nothing going on. Don’t believe these people. Yeah? Don’t write — don’t believe it, nothing! I’m fine, 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. That’s it.”
On being made an instrument of tribalism: “Don’t make me some instrument for this whole tribalism, us versus them thing because I don’t do that stuff. That whole Team AEW versus Team WWE. I don’t play that.”
With regards to Malakai Black’s contract, AEW President and CEO Tony Khan stated on Busted Open Radio in July, “Malakai Black has almost five years left on his deal. I wouldn’t expect him going anywhere anytime soon.”
If using any of the above quotes, please use an h/t for 411mania.com for the transcription.
Malakai Black just went live on IG & went off on a rant confirming & shutting a lot of things down.
Including receiving death threats, still with AEW, contract was not 5 years long, says the dirtsheets don’t care about anyone's mental health.
Thread of whatever I could capture: pic.twitter.com/zvdhBdY0tW
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) September 27, 2022
— PWUnlimited (@PWUnlimited) September 27, 2022
Malakai Black just went live on Instagram and debunked all rumors. Confirmed he just taking time off and will in fact be back with AEW. pic.twitter.com/mYlzXLYcxm
— Matthew | Pro Wrestling Enjoyer (@BRAlNBUSTAH) September 27, 2022
Malakai Black is tired of your tribalism bullshit, too.
oh, he also hasn’t been released and will be back with AEW soon. 🤙🏻pic.twitter.com/evOHdOkU9Y
— Melissa (@melissax1125) September 27, 2022