Watch: AEW's Malakai Black Explains His Situation Following AEW Release
Malakai Black, fresh off being granted his conditional release from AEW, competed at Prestige Perseverance on Saturday night in Pomona, California. After defeating Kidd Bandit, Black grabbed a microphone and explained his situation to the fans in attendance. Reports recently popped up that Black wanted out of his AEW contract and that, while he was apparently initially talked down from that, his request was eventually granted. Many of those reports cited mental health as the reason behind Black's request, and that was what he hinted at during his latest promo.
"I understand all of you have questions," Black began. "What am I doing, where am I going? On a serious note, understand that in due time, I will answer the majority of these questions. However, for the last 22 years of my life, I have never not once taken one step back and recalibrated my life and took a chance to look back at all the stuff I've done in-ring but the stuff I've done out of the ring. I've never done that because I always had this attitude of [horse blinders]. I've done that for my entire professional career because I had this one attitude towards wrestling that you have to think globally, not locally.
"This is not goodbye, this is see you soon." Malakai Black at #Perseverance pic.twitter.com/OzAtEsuBjJ
— DOUKI Love Blog (@hellawretched) September 18, 2022
"If you think locally, you get stuck in one place. That applies to everything. If you want to branch out, you have to focus on the little thing. As cliche as that sounds, it's what got me here to the United States," he continued. "For the 22 years that I've given my absolute everything, please allow me to take a few weeks, maybe a few months, to recalibrate myself and put it in perspective. I promise you this is not goodbye, it's 'we'll see each other soon.'"
It's unknown what the conditions to Black's release were, but they likely pertain to him not being allowed sign back up with the WWE for a given amount of time. Where do you think Black will wrestle next — AEW or WWE? Let us know down in the comments.
While Black's departure was briefly mentioned by Miro in a recent promo, Black's House of Black group is still moving forward. Brody and Buddy Matthews will face Darby Allin and Sting in a No Disqualification Match at AEW Grand Slam in Queens, New York this Wednesday.
