Malakai Black Posts Full Statement Regarding His AEW Release, Mental Health
After addressing fans at an independent wrestling event on Saturday, Malakai Black took to social media on Sunday to post an in-depth statement regarding his release request from AEW. He wrote, "All, firstly thank you for your messages, know they are being read and appreciated. With all the turmoil going on in the landscape of Professional Wrestling I took the time to think of my words but also needed to wait until the conversations between mine and AEW's camp had come to a conclusion."
After admitting that he likes to keep his personal matters private he opted to put all his cards on the table — "I did indeed ask for my release, the last 2 years of my life have lended to a lot of set backs. Both me and my wife (WWE Superstar Zelina Vega) have been affected by uncontrollable actions from the outside that resulted in loss of life, medical set backs, career jeopardizing, the suicide of a close friend and a close family member almost losing their life, then experiencing an injury that I was sure was the end of my career. I spend every week going through several sessions of rehab, dry needling and therapy just to be able to walk and compete. Now this being the tip of the iceberg and with the combination of the promises in my professional field that were not being upheld which resulted as a combination of all of these to a complete demoralization of life and career. This decision has been in my mind for the past six months.
"It's hard to really put a finger and say 'this was the moment it all went wrong.' But I can tell you after many years that I have learned from a rational point of view to see when I need to hit the breaks; which is what this is," Black continued. "Perhaps once my mind settles on certain things and processes the last 2 years a bit better I will convey (via a different platform that written out) what the exacts were that happened, and have a more informed conversation about them. For now know that I am good, and am taking, for the first time in 22 years, a few months to recalibrate the last 2 decades of my life."
He concluded the statement by saying any previous reports regarding his release were false. This included the report from Fightful Select in which a number of wrestlers believed he had been granted a "conditional" release. Stay tuned for more updates on Black as they become available.
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