Malakai Black expected to be a free agent soon, unlikely to work for AEW again, details on situation and WWE’s perception of him

Malakai Black, once known as Aleister Black and Tommy End, appears to be finished with AEW after a less-than-ideal run with the company.

PWTorch has learned that his contract expiration date had been a point of contention, as he had a lot of time added to the expiration date due to inactive time due to injury. He recently pushed back against the extension of his contract and sources say a deal has been either already reached or is in the works for him to be a free agent soon. The timeline on exactly how soon he’ll be an official free agent isn’t clear, but it’s at a point where people are being told “he won’t be back” and some AEW-related side projects with him have been halted.

On Dynamite last week, Will Ospreay defeated Buddy Matthews and then encouraged him to quit being a follower and take control of his own destiny. On Collision last Saturday, Adam Copeland had a similar message for Brody King and Julia Hart, telling them to grab the reins and run. It would appear then that the HOB members are being prepared for a life after Malakai.

Although most assumptions are he’ll return to WWE, as he sees the landscape there more palatable with Paul Levesque in charge of creative rather than Vince McMahon, he had told some people in AEW in the last year or two he was burned out and just wanted time away and perhaps even mentioned potentially retiring. (He’s 39 years old.) Whether that is still the case isn’t clear, and it’s feasible he was telling people in AEW that so he could more easily talk them into a release.

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PWTorch has heard that there are influential people in WWE who are big fans of Black and see him as a possible top singles act in the company, so it seems as if he’d be welcome back and embraced.

Black was criticized by colleagues in AEW who were frustrated by the perception that he was resistant to “doing business,” including a reluctance to doing jobs and frequent claims of injury issues. He and Tony Khan never developed rapport.

He was the leader of the House of Black in AEW with Buddy Matthews and Brody King. Last week on AEW Dynamite, Will Ospreay beat Matthews, and after the match praised him and said he could be great on his own, which sent a signal that the House of Black was likely disbanded.

Black’s popularity with AEW fans, despite being cast as a heel, was one of the Dominoes that fell in terms of Cody Rhodes’s popularity with the AEW fanbase. Fans cheered Black and booed Cody during their interactions, which was part of Cody falling out of favor with AEW fans.