Update on Malakai Black reportedly asking for his release from AEW

As previously noted, a source indicated to Raj Giri (former WrestlingInc.com owner) that Malakai Black asked for a release from his AEW contract but it was denied. Giri wrote that Black reportedly “has repeatedly shown concerns about his mental health due to personal life and demoralization due to the booking and handling of his character.”

In regards to the report, Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com noted the following…

“We can confirm that in speaking to closes source to Black, there has been a personal situation weighing heavily on him and he’s privately talked about taking a long, perhaps permanent, break from professional wrestling, in order to deal with the issues.”

While Black wasn’t mentioned by name, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline wrote that “there was at least one person [in AEW] who asked for his release, which hasn’t been granted and the person has a long time left on his deal.” Johnson added that “AEW doesn’t want to create a precedent where anyone who could potentially return to WWE gets a chance, but if something is wrong with Black’s mental or spiritual health, you also don’t want to chance him or someone else getting accidentally hurt, either.”