As PWMania.com previously reported, a source revealed that Malakai Black requested a release from his AEW contract, but it was denied. According to reports, Black “has repeatedly shown concerns about his mental health due to personal life and demoralization due to the booking and handling of his character.”
Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com confirmed that Black’s personal situation has been weighing heavily on him, and he has privately discussed taking a long, and possibly permanent, break from professional wrestling in order to deal with the issues.
While Black was not 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, “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.
