Report: There are people in AEW that are said to be “pretty negative” about bringing back Aleister/Malakai Black

Aleister Black aka Malakai Black was among several WWE departures announced on April 24th 2026. While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com addressed Black potentially returning to AEW…

“From what I have heard, the idea of Aleister Black and AEW was not fondly thought out by the people I spoke with there. Now, I did not speak to Tony Khan.

Andrade was mixed. I know people there that were not high on Andrade at all and others who were. Black, from what I gathered, pretty negative. There were even people who publicly said that. That they were negative on Black.” (quote courtesy of Cultaholic.com)

One AEW wrestler who has seemingly opposed the return of Black is Shawn Dean, who also serves an Extras Coordinator for the company. Responding to a Threads post about the potential return of the House of Black, Dean simply wrote, “No.”