Aleister Black, F.K.A Malakai Black, was among the first names part of the yearly post-WrestleMania budget cuts, along with his wife Zelina Vega. This immediately led to the question of where the Dutch wrestler is going next. The possibility of him going back to AEW is one that is dismissed due to a reported negative sentiment about him in the AEW locker room.
How much of that sentiment will really affect Tony Khan’s decision? How bad can his reputation be? And most importantly, the differences between AEW then vs now make it likely he is going back.
On backstage sentiment
Unlike say the New Day, where the Young Bucks and FTR opened their arms publicly, many AEW wredtlers spoke out about them not wanting to see Black back in AEW. These include MJF, Shawn Dean and Max Caster. How much you believe those to be in character is up to you. Plus, one would think such matters would be handled privately rather than with social media posts. And you never know how representative they are of the whole locker room. Black worked closely with the House of Black, which included Buddy Murphy, Brody King and Julia Hart, and one would think they could at least tolerate him.
The sentiment about Black is not limited to social media posts. There were plenty of reports during his AEW run about him just wanting to go back to WWE and him not being willing to do jobs. These have resurfaced following his release, with Dave Meltzer saying that while the sentiment about Andrade was neutral to negative, that of Black was negative. It remains to be seen how much of a difference neutral to negative makes compared to negative when ot comes to Tony Khan’s decision.
What’s more, Sean Ross Sapp reported that one source in AEW told him there was only one performer who genuinely burned bridges with AEW. He added that this performer was not the one you would expect. If that’s the case, Black would not be included, as he is one of the first names that comes to mind, along with Andrade, Rusev (Miro in AEW) and CM Punk.
Please, Sean, ask your sources to stop talking in riddles.
Even if he was ostracised, what’s the big deal? AEW have no problem fragmenting its talent. The Hurt Syndicate is said to be difficult to work with, MVP being adamant on protecting its members—which he admitted to doing. There was even a report saying that Shelton Benjamin could not stand “Speedball” Mike Bailey. AEW has a solution for this. The Hurt Syndicate has been in an endless feud with certified channel turners, The Demand (Ricochet and The Demand). Black could join the Dpon Callis family and feud with The Bang Bang Gang or serve as a bodyguard for The Triangle Of Madness, allowing him to avoid awkward interactions.
The new Tony Khan
Tony Khan seems to have changed his former mentality of us against the world. He now appears composed, not one to display coke breakdowns on X about anti-AEW bots and calling Shawn Michaels and Paul “Triple H” Levesque bald. The new behaviour culminated with him going into formerly hostile podcasts like Ariel Helwani and Jonathan Coachman.
With the usual disdain wrestling has for wrestling-specific media, that’s a welcome change in method. Khan has acknowledged this change, saying that AEW were no lonegr misfits. They are now an established brand.
As the promoter of AEW, Tony Khan personifies this change in perception. And one thing promoters do is never let bad blood get in the way of a paycheck.
Black never publicly buried AEW and said he enjoyed his time there after signing with WWE. Wrestling has a long history of improbable reconciliations. Bruno Sammartino sued Vince McMahon in the 80s but was eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019. Bret Hart agreed to come back to WWE in 2010 and face Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania 26 (He was previously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame but refused to engage in a long-term collaboration with the WWE).
More recently, CM Punk, who spent a whole decade burying WWE and especially the doofus son-in-law, is now sharing tearful hugs with Triple H.
Rising above rumours and pettiness would be further confirmation that Khan is a promoter like the ones who came before.
