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AEW Star Malakai Black Responds to Retirement And Injury Reports

Malakai Black took to Instagram to respond to reports of retirement and injury, but did not explicitly deny reporting regarding the status of his AEW contract.

Adam Barnard

Malakai Black hugs Adam Cole after his loss on Dynamite
Malakai Black hugs Adam Cole after his loss on Dynamite / Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

Earlier this morning, The Takedown on SI reported on news regarding the status of Malakai Black and his contract with AEW. Rumors swirled regarding whether we’d see his return to WWE or whether he was potentially ending his career.

A visibly frustrated Malakai Black took to his Instagram this morning to (sort of) clear up the rumor mill.

“Here we are once more a match down and again everybody is saying 'he’s retiring - he’s retiring because of his injury.' I’m not injured nor am I retiring nor am I leaving”, Black said in the post.

“I feel this happens every match I have, and I don’t understand how many times you’re going to say these things, and then them not happening and people still fall for that. I haven’t been injured in more than three years. I’m referring to my back injury, of course, and I only posted about that after it was already done, and if you would’ve read the post, you would’ve seen that, and not read what other people have written about it. I’m fine, I’ve been fine for the longest time. I would really appreciate it if that stuff stops, man. If I’m gonna retire, you’re gonna hear it from me and not after Adam [Cole] cuts a promo and says ‘thank you for the match’ because that’s all it was, so thank you.”

- Malakai Black (via Instagram)

Black did not specifically rebuke reports on his contract status with AEW, stating only “I’m not leaving”. Whether Black meant leaving the wrestling business as a whole or AEW remains unclear as of press time. There has been no confirmation from AEW on Black’s contract status since our first piece and Black’s post.

Previously, a report from Sean Ross Sapp at Fightful Select indicated that Black’s contract was believed to be ending “towards the end of 2024 or early 2025”.

"Tony Khan himself in 2022 had said that AEW had Malakai Black under contract 'for almost five years.' However, since then, we've been told that those include option years,” Sapp’s report stated.

This is a developing story.

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Adam Barnard
ADAM BARNARD

Adam Barnard is a writer and photographer from West Chester, PA. He co-hosts "Mind of the Meanie" with ECW Original The Blue Meanie every Monday, and "Foundation Radio" every Tuesday. You can follow him on X and Instagram at @ThisisGoober. Go Birds

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