Malakai Black is not the only person contacted by WWE recently to ask for their release from AEW.
Following All Out earlier this month, reports surfaced that Black had received a conditional release from the company. On Friday, our own Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Black was not the only person to ask for their release from AEW around this time.
“What we do know is that Black was one of the people WWE reached out to even though he had signed a five-year deal with AEW,” Meltzer wrote.
“When Paul Levesque took over from Vince McMahon, WWE contacted a number of former WWE talents that were working there that either had left on their own or that Vince McMahon had fired. Black was not the only person to ask for his release at the time.”
Other wrestlers who were also contacted informed AEW management that a member of WWE Talent Relations had reached out to them. This led to AEW’s head of legal, Megha Parekh, writing a letter threatening WWE for contract interference. Tony Khan announced this news to the AEW roster at a talent meeting last month.
Black’s release from AEW is believed to include a non-compete period that allows him to work shows but not for WWE.
Job Listing: Onlamp php/mysql developer. Experience with vbulletin and drupal/WordPress a plus. Email [email protected] with subject PHP DEVELOPER with resume.
The aftermath of the AEW brawl after All Out Why suspensions were lifted The CM Punk injury and how it changes things AEW video game promotion in Japan What people under suspension aren’t allowed to do Tony Khan position Clearing up some wrestling stories Ideas for AEW to improve the developmental rate of its young talent The most important thing for AEW long-term Ways to get wrestlers more time in the ring Ways to get wrestlers more time learning promos and angles Complete coverage of UFC 279 The life and death of UFC star Elias Theodorou Coverage of this past week’s Stardom PPV show How every wrestling show this past week did in the ratings, competition, football, where WWE & AEW fall in entertainment standings, how the segments on the major shows did Unique finish to set up CMLL tournament final Final build to the anniversary show CMLL star undergoes surgery Promotion talk about new reality show idea Stardom Five Star Grand Prix update New Japan and Stardom business rundowns, profits, losses, revenue, streaming numbers Kota Ibushi update Yuji Nagata celebrates 30 years in the ring New Japan Strong TV for the future Talk about the Desperado vs. Jun Kasai bloodbath Generational dream match announced between 80 legend and modern legend Konosuke Takeshita’s ten year anniversary Ricky Steamboat returns to the ring How viewing is changing Story behind Steamboat’s comeback More on movies about 80s stars and a movie on the life of modern star Hall of Famer from Japan wants match with Moxley Wrestling cartoon show canceled Latest on WBD and wrestling More AEW injury news Ticket sale numbers for WWE & AEW shows International TV numbers Streaming numbers More on the business of doing major shows Commission examining UFC backstage brawl More Clash at the Castle news WWE projected revenue for this year Why Raw will have a problem next week Gable Steveson update New talent coming to NXT A&E bio news
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Sunday News Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking all the weekend news and taking email questions to [email protected]. My show covering the last week of news with Garrett Gonzales, talking a number of significant stories about the future notably the possibility of a 2024 merger of NBCU and WBD, lessons of Wednesday’s AEW ratings and more is up on the site now.
Malakai Black released a statement about his situation, confirming his release from AEW, mad that aspects of it went public , and complained of promises not delivered. The full statement is:
Firstly thank you all for your messages, know they are being read and appreciated. With all the turmoil going on in the landscape of Professional Wrestling I took the time to think of my words but also needed to wait until conversations between mine and AEW’s camp had come to a conclusion.
Firstly, I dislike reading parts of my private conversations between myself and AEW in regards to my mental well being on the internet. These conversations were private and not meant to be shared with the public. As by now most people realize I am a very private person and do not feel the need to have stuff like this out on the internet.
If you’ve been following me longer than a cup of coffee you’re aware I’ve spoken about them prior but would like to be the one deciding when this finds its way to the public and not through someone else’s mouth, as with anything through the lips of someone else: that story gets distorted.
Secondly, to be in line with the above, they also need context:
I did indeed ask for my release, the last 2 years of my life have lended to a lot of set backs. Both me and my wife have been affected by uncontrollable actions from the outside that resulted in loss of life, medical set backs, career jeopardizing, the suicide of a close friend and a close family member almost losing their life, then experiencing an injury that I was sure was the end of my career.
I spend every week going through several sessions of rehab, dry needling and therapy just to be able to walk and compete. Now this being the tip of the iceberg and with the combination of the promises in my professional field that were not upheld which resulted as a combination of all of these to a complete demoralization of life and career.
This decision had been in my mind for the past six months. It’s hard to really put a finger and say “this was the moment it all went wrong.” But I can tell you after many years that I have learned from a rational point of view to see when I need to hit the breaks; which is what this is.
Perhaps once my mind settles on certain things and processes the last 2 years a bit better I will convey (via a different platform than written out) what the exacts were that happened, and have a more informed conversation about them. For now know that I am good, and am taking, for the first time in 22 years, a few months to recalibrate the last 2 decades of my life.
Lastly, I have read a few narratives online in regards to my “release”, mental health and my personal life that I can summarize swiftly; if it didn’t come from me, it didn’t happen.
Stuff about conditional releases, stuff in my marriage or using said mental health to leverage the other when as I said before that part wasn’t even going to be part of the public conversation are false. My marriage is fine, I am fine. It is just time to make sure those things stay that way.
Once again, I appreciate your support and we will see each other soon enough.
A photo has surfaced from a television appearance in Japan of Kenny Omega showing fresh bite marks on his left forearm. It was from an appearance a few days ago.
As far as Google trends this past week, only two things made the list. The Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight did 2.5 million searches, which was the same as last week’s Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson UFC show. The only other thing for the week making the list was the death of Elias Theordorou, which was No. 17 on Monday with 100,000. The last few days the list was dominated by pro and college football.
Notably, the Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul match did not make the list, nor did yesterday’s UFC show. The idea was to hold the press conference in Las Vegas yesterday when people were in town for the Alvarez fight and thus get legitimate sportswriters, notably the boxing press talking about it. From what I’ve seen, its mostly people who cover pro wrestling that are writing about it, unlike the MMA and boxing press who covered far more when Cain Velasquez and Tyson Fury were announced in Las Vegas for a Saudi Arabia show.
Jose Aldo, who had one fight left on his UFC contract, is retiring and has gotten a release from his contract. He was also removed from the rankings. He was WEC and then UFC featherweight champion from a 2010 win over Urijah Faber that was a huge PPV success until his 2015 loss to Conor McGregor, which at the time was one of the biggest UFC fights in history.
We’re looking for reports from these events over the weekend:
Smackdown TV from Anaheim with dark match results
WWE house show last night in Bakersfield, CA
WWE house show tonight in Oakland,CA
MLW TV tapings tonight in Norcross, GA
All Japan Budokan Hall show today
The MLW TV taping lineup tonight:
Alex Hammerstone vs. Bandido for MLW title
Willie Mack vs. Jacob Fatu street fight
Laredo Kid & Komander & Microman vs. Gino Medina & Black Taurus & Mini Abismo Negro
Myron Reed vs. Shun Skywalker for middleweight title
Davey Richards vs SB Kento for national title
Taya Valkyrie defends women’s featherweight title against winner of an earlier Lady Shani vs. Lady Flammer vs. La Hiedra & Reina Dorada match
Alex Kane prize fight
Mads Krugger vs. Mance Warner
We’ll have more on this later, but people were raving about the Jarochita mask vs. mask win over Reyna Isis and the Atlantis Jr. mask win over Stuka Jr. at Friday’s anniversary show of CMLL. I had those in the business in particular say that the women’s match was must-see.
Kento Miyahara beat Suwama to win the Triple Crown at the Budokan Hall main event today.
A correction from Friday’s update. WWE is having a show on 12/27 in Detroit. WWE released a schedule of events that didn’t include anything on 12/27 but that show is on the calendar and has been announced.
Another correction is that Devon Nicholson is not standing trial on 10/12 regarding the assault allegation of his ex-girlfriend. That date will be the next hearing. Nicholson on hid podcast noted his ex-girlfriend Minsaki Mona Yates also has assault charges from the incident. Nicholson is claiming self defense.
Other Notes
Stardom results from today in Osaka:
Utami Hayashishita & Lady C b Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo
Red block: Koguma b Unagi Sayaka
Red block: Saki b Mai Sakurai
Blue block: Starlight Kid b Mina Shirakawa
Blue block: Giulia b Ami Sohrei
Blue block: Saya Kamitani d Mirai 15:00
Red block: Tam Nakano b Risa Sera
Blue block: Suzu Suzuki b Momo Watanabe
Will Ospreay noted he had 30 hours of travel to get to today’s New Japan show in Beppu that ended up being canceled. The Fukuoka show today is also canceled due to the typhoon in Japan. Right next the next show is schedule for Wednesday in Kumamoto.
Pro Wrestling Eve has announced to Wrestle Queendom shows, an afternoon and an evening show on 11/13 at The Venue in Great Portland Street in London. Jetta defends the Eve title against Alex Windsor. It’s noted that Jetta’s fiance i Windsor’s best friend. Millie McKenzie faces Miyu Yamashita, noting that until now the match was impossible to book because McKenzie was with WWE UK and Yamashita worked with AEW. Both those matches will be on the afternoon show and the two winners will face for the title on the evening show. Takumi Iroha, the AAAW champion from Marvelous and Stardom faces Kanji.
Nick Wayne was to wrestle Callum Newman on today’s Progress show but Wayne had to pull out of the match due to an injury. Progress said the match will happen in the future when Wayne is healthy.
WAR on 10/8 in Lima, OH at the Empowered Sports Center.
Republic of Lucha ran a show yesterday in South Pasadena, CA in the parking lot of the Lucha store that Penta and Fenix own and they booked this show:
Demus b Mascarita Dorada (Fun opener)
Taya b Lady Flammer (hard hitting a lot of brawling)
Brian Cage won a three-way over Willie Mack and Black Taurus when Cage pinned Taurus
Rey Leon & Zokre b Latigo & Black Magic in a pure lucha match
Lince Dorado b Matt Sydal
QT Marshall & Aaron Solo b Penta & Fenix. Lots of crowd brawling. Marshall got great heat
Rush & Bestia del Ring caused Penta & Fenix to lose and challenged them to a match
They ended the show at 7:30 p.m. so fans had time to get dinner and watch the Canelo Alvarez fight (thanks to Chris Whitehead)
New Japan’s second show on 10/27 at the Palladium in New York only has 492 tickets out in a 1,000 seat building after the Friday show sold out. (thanks to Wrestle Tix)
Prestige Wrestling from Pomona, CA last night:
Jordan Cruz b Robert Martyr
Alan Angels b Bateman
Tom Lawlor & Jorel Nelson b Atticus Cogar & Rickey Shane Page
Taya Valkyrie b Dark Sheik
AC Mack b Sonico to keep IWTW title
Miyu Yamashita b Trish Adora
Alex Shelley b Calvin Tankman
Sandra Moone b Maki Itoh
Malakai Black b Kidd Bandit
MCW from Friday night in Joppa, MD:
KiLynn King won three-way over Katie Arquette and Zoey Skye
Amber Rodriguez & Adena Steele b Zayda Steel & Portia
Trish Adora b Dani Mo
Rey Lyn b Queen Aminata
Vicious Vicki b Gabby Ortiz
Kelsey Raegen b Brittany Blake
Mandy Leon won MLW women’s title in four-way over Gia Scott, Leila Grey and Melina
Boom Pro Wrestling from last night in Vancouver, BC:
Billy Suede b ?
Tony Baroni b Elliot Tyler
President Abraham Lincoln (Pete Powers) b Parm Singh Mann
Brady Malibu b Shareeef Morrow
Ravenous Randy b Travis Williams
Cat Power won three-way over Nicole Matthews and Liza Hall
Actor Sachin Sahel of “The 100” was at the show and turned heel to join Brady Malibu
While not confirming his current contractual status, Malakai Black took to Instagram Sunday to confirm that he did ask for his release from AEW — something that has been on his mind for the last six months.
The reason he has been silent is that he needed to wait to take the time to think about the words he wanted to say with all the “turmoil going on in the landscape of Professional Wrestling” in addition to when the conversations “between mine and AEW’s camp had come to a conclusion.”
In the statement seen below, Black wrote that the last two years of his life has “lended to a lot of set-backs” for both he and his wife. Those included “loss of life, medical set backs, career jeopardizing, the suicide of a close friend, and a close family member almost losing their life” followed by a injury that he believed was career-ending.
After detailing what he needs to go through in order to just walk, Black wrote, “Now this being the tip of the iceberg and with the combination of the promises in my professional field that were not upheld which resulted as a combination of all of these to a complete demoralization of life and career. This decision has been in my mind for the past six months.”
He said that perhaps once his mind settles on certain things and processes from the past two years, he will discuss more exact details and have a more informed conversation about them.
Similar to his promo from Saturday night at an indie show, he wrote that he is taking time off for the first time in 22 years.
He disliked that private conversations between he and AEW, in addition to topics surrounding his mental well-being, made their way public as he wanted to be the one to decide such things.
He said none of the narratives about his release, his mental health or the state of his marriage are true.
“My marriage is fine, I am fine. It is just time to make sure those things stay that way.”
For the first time since AEW All Out, Malakai Black stepped into a wrestling ring and had a message for the fans: he’s not quite done just yet.
Following the House of Black’s loss to Darby Allin, Sting & Miro at All Out, Black blew kisses to the crowd and waved as if he was done with the promotion. Tony Khan would not answer question about Black’s status afterward.
Black returned to action for the first time since then on Saturday, picking up a win over Kidd Bandit for Pomona, California’s Prestige Pro Wrestling. He then took the mic for two minutes (clip below) and said that he understands there are a lot of questions and that he will answer them in due time.
But, he asked the fans to give him “a few weeks, a few months to recalibrate myself…I promise you that this is not goodbye, this is ‘We will see each other soon.'”
He said that in 22 years, he hasn’t taken a step back and recalibrated his life either inside or outside of the ring. He’s had blinders on and thought globally and not locally when it comes to his career and that’s what got him to come to the U.S. in the first place.
While neither Black or AEW have clarified what is happening, a report emerged recently that the two sides either worked out a “highly conditional” release or that he is done with AEW for the foreseeable future.
AEW has filed to trademark “House of Black” for wrestling purposes.
The filing was submitted on September 8, one day after reports were released that Malakai Black had received a conditional release from the company.
Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart continued to be referred to as representing the House of Black on Monday’s edition of Dark: Elevation. Our own Dave Meltzer posted to Twitter on Monday that the faction will continue despite Black’s reported departure.
Following his match at All Out, Black took a bow and blew a kiss to the live crowd, leading to speculation it was his last match in AEW. Tony Khan would offer “no comment” on his status during the post-event media scrum.
The purposes of the trademark are listed as “Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a group or individual wrestlers; Entertainment services, namely, televised appearances by a group or individual wrestlers; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer.” As well as “Beanies; Hats; Shirts; T-shirts.”
Malakai Black has been removed from the lineup for Friday’s Northeast Wrestling show.
NEW posted to social media on Wednesday that Black was off the event “due to health issues.” He had been scheduled to face Matt Taven. The promotion has booked Jay Lethal and nZo as replacements.
“Due to health issues @malakaiblxck will not be appearing for @northeastwrestling @mvscrappers this Friday night at Eastwood Field in #nilesohio Replacing him are @aew star @thelethaljay & @real1 fka NZO!!” NEW wrote on Instagram.
After his All Out match on Sunday, Black took a bow and blew a kiss to the fans. While this did not air on the pay-per-view, many have speculated it was Black saying goodbye to AEW and its fans. Tony Khan then offered no comment on Black’s status with the company during the post-event scrum.
“I’m not sure, I can’t comment on that, though. That was for the live fans and it definitely got some people talking, so it is a thing that happened but no I can’t comment on that,” Khan said.
It has since been reported that some in AEW believe Black has been granted a conditional release from the company.
Northeast Wrestling presents Wrestling Under the Stars on Friday, September 9 from Eastwood Field in Niles, Ohio. The lineup for the show is as follows:
John Morrison vs. Brian Pillman Jr.
Penta Oscuro vs. Derek Dillenger
Jerry Lawler vs. Man Dime Elijah Dean
Cole Karter vs. Spencer Slade
Ray Lyn vs. Katie Arquette
Bill Collier vs. Jaxon Argus
Ricky Starks, Erick Redbeard, nZo, and Jay Lethal are scheduled to appear
According to Fightful, the rumors of Malakai Black being done with AEW in some form appear to have some merit.
Their reporting has “numerous talent” telling them that they have been told he has either received his “highly conditional” release or is done for the foreseeable future.
It’s unknown what those conditions are. They speculated that they could restrict Black from wrestling elsewhere, including indies, as he has withdrawn from an Ohio indie show this week.
Speculation increased as to his status following Sunday’s All Out when, off-screen, Black blew kisses to the fans and bowed after House of Black fell in defeat to Darby Allin, Sting & Miro. Black took the pin after Sting gained a measure of revenge by misting him in the eyes.
The outlet reported last week that Black’s request for a release back in August was denied. They noted that Tony Khan wanted to keep Black, but a decision was made to honor his request following a recent meeting.
The former Aleister Black in WWE made his AEW debut in July 2021 by making a surprise appearance and attacking both Cody Rhodes and Arn Anderson. He was released in June 2021. His wife, Zelina Vega, is currently in WWE after re-signing prior to Black’s AEW debut.
The AEW President isn’t commenting on what Malakai Black’s current status with the company is.
Following the six-man tag match between the House of Black and Sting, Darby Allin, and Miro at All Out, Black took a bow and blew a kiss to the crowd. This did not air on the pay-per-view broadcast. Tony Khan was asked about Black’s actions during the post-event media scrum.
“I’m not sure, I can’t comment on that, though. That was for the live fans and it definitely got some people talking, so it is a thing that happened but no I can’t comment on that,” he said.
Our own Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer addressed the situation during Sunday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
“I think he’s done,” Meltzer said about Black.
“I don’t know if he’s done because Tony was asked about it and Tony didn’t answer, he said he couldn’t talk about it,” Alvarez added. “And if he’s not leaving why didn’t he just say, ‘No, he’s here.'”
“What’s interesting about it is that like two weeks ago, a week and a half ago, when it was brought up, ‘Oh, Triple H is back and he’s going to want all these guys back,’ and the two names [Khan] mentioned were Adam Cole and Malakai Black and he said they are under contract for five more years, four more years basically,” Meltzer said.
“Here we are two weeks later and Malakai Black’s waving goodbye or seemingly waving goodbye. If it was him just blowing a kiss and it means nothing, Tony wouldn’t have said, ‘I can’t talk about it,'” Meltzer continued.
“We are under the presumption he’s gone, it is not official that he’s gone. I’ve heard his name mentioned as far as rumors about wanting to be gone so a lot of stuff seems to add up. But we can not confirm that he’s gone but he certainly gave the impression that he was and Tony didn’t say anything that would make you think differently.”
Malaki Black was dealing with an injury that nearly sent him into retirement.
Black on Tiktok showed a video of himself lifting weights. He wrote that until three months ago, he was dealing with a back injury that nearly forced him to retire.
“Till about 3 months ago I was dealing with a back injury I was convinced was going to force me into retirement,” he wrote. “But after a literal year of treatment that went from working to complete failure on several occasions we all of a sudden hit the correct vertebrae during a dry needling session and everything released. From there we were able to rehab and strengthen.”
Black also said that he is now slowly moving back into deadlifting, along with more compound moves.
In recent months, Black has formed a stable, The House of Black, which includes Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart. Black and King recently wrestled on Rampage on July 13, where they defeated Alex Reynolds and John Silver.
Ahead of his opportunity to win the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic title at Sunday’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view, I talked to Malakai Black about the event, future NJPW goals, and the match itself.
You can watch the full interview on YouTube above.
His initial reaction to the Forbidden Door announcement
“My goal in professional wrestling was always Japan, and preferably New Japan. When I grew up, I never watched WWF/WWE at the time because we didn’t have access to it. I grew up watching New Japan because we had a channel called EuroSport and it had NJPW. That was my introduction to wrestling as a whole and what I grew up with. Later on, it was WCW. So New Japan always had a special place in my heart and it’s also how my style somewhat got orientated. It’s much more martial arts influenced so I started doing martial arts because of what I saw.
“Right before I moved (to the US), there were talks between a company that I worked for that had a good working relationship with New Japan at the time and myself as to bringing me over for a tour or multiple tours. That was obviously the big question for New Japan and I had the contract for NXT on my table. I was like, well, even though New Japan is the goal at the time, NXT at the time would have been a three-to-five year contract and guaranteed money whereas (with) NJPW, they run multiple tours but we don’t know (if) they might have kept me for [more than] one tour. So, I went with the route we all know.
“I always felt that in the back of my mind that I still wanted to do New Japan in any capacity. I worked with them when they did the European tours back then, but not on a scale like we’re about to do on Sunday where it’s an actual collaborative event between two companies.
“So when Tony (Khan) made this announcement, I was hoping that I was gonna be involved. The rumor mill backstage kinda started coming up because we saw some of the New Japan officials walking around and we saw some of the wrestlers walking around, so we all knew something was brewing and when it was finally there. It’s just cool. We live in such a unique era when it comes to wrestling. There is so much going on and everything has its place which I think is really really cool. It’s very exciting.”
“For me, it’s always been Tanahashi.”
Black said that due to his NJPW fandom growing up, one of his current goals after Forbidden Door is to wrestle for the promotion on their turf in Japan.
Known for incorporating his kickboxing skills into his wrestling, I asked him who are some of the NJPW talents that he feels he can make some in-ring magic with.
“For me, it’s always been (Hiroshi) Tanahashi. I think he and I would mesh so well. I am purely basing that off what he presents as a competitor, how he flows, his footwork, his pacing, his timing and I understand that a lot and it’s a bit of a vague explanation but the way he wrestles is something that really connects with me. In a different setting, Shibata would be incredible, I would have really loved the opportunity to kind of tangle with Ishii this Sunday, but it is what it is and unfortunately, he got injured. These things happen. In a singles setting or a Japanese setting, absolutely those three would be at the top of the bill.
“But then, also a guy like Zack Sabre Jr. He and I have such a tremendous history and it’s been so long since him and I have tangled.”
All-Atlantic Championship match changes
Black talked about Clark Connors replacing Ishii due to injury in Sunday’s four-way title match.
“He’s a true representative of New Japan. He has big shoes to fill, because he’s filling for Ishii, which is no small feat. At the same time, it can be because of what New Japan carries and the grueling regiments that New Japan puts their students through and how they teach these younger kids to become wrestlers, you can’t take that out of the equation too.
“So, this man is a walking weapon. Yes, he’s gonna come in there with the least amount of experience, the least amount of name value, but also it means he has nothing to lose. In a certain way, he’s one of the most hungry because now he’s getting an opportunity. Out of the four of us, he’s the least known, but also the least known to all of us. He has that level of being unpredictable, so he’s definitely not someone to be counted out. He has big shoes to fill but also out of everyone most of the pressure is on him. Guys like myself, Miro and PAC, we’ve been in positions like this before, I would even say that I thrive in positions like this. I am best when I am under pressure.”
The four-way match to crown the first ever AEW All-Atlantic Champion is now set for Forbidden Door.
Malakai Black defeated Penta Oscuro to win the fourth spot in the Forbidden Door title match after hitting Penta with the black mass. After the match, PAC came out to face off against Black. A video then aired with Miro saying he would send everyone to meet their maker at Forbidden Door.
PAC was the first to qualify for the title match, defeating Buddy Matthews. Miro defeated Ethan Page to advance, while Tomohiro Ishii defeated Clark Connors at New Japan Road on June 21 to score the third spot.
Here is the current lineup for Forbidden Door, which takes place at the United Center in Chicago on June 26:
Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the interim AEW World Championship
PAC vs. Miro vs. Malakai Black vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship
Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki vs. Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, and Shota Umino
Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy for the IWGP United States Championship
Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship
FTR vs. United Empire vs. Roppongi Vice for the ROH and IWGP Tag Team titles
Buddy Matthews has signed with AEW, and has aligned with Malakai Black.
After Kings of the Black Throne defeated Death Triangle (PAC and Penta Oscuro) on tonight’s Dynamite, Black grabbed a shovel and was about to attack Penta when the lights went out. Matthews then appeared and at first acted like he was going to help PAC and Penta. However, he soon turned on them and a 3-on-2 attack ensued, ending with Matthews curb stomping Penta into a chair.
Tony Khan then tweeted that Matthews had signed with the promotion.
Matthews is best known for his run in WWE under the name Buddy Murphy, signing with the company in 2013. After spending time in NXT, he was called up in 2017 as part of the 205 Live brand, winning the Cruiserweight title. The following year, he moved up to the main roster and was best known for his matches with Black, which eventually led him to align with Seth Rollins, serving as his disciple. After turning against Seth, Murphy was mostly left off television until his release last June.
Two new matches have been announced for next week’s AEW Dynamite.
After making a surprise debut this week, Brody King will see his first in-ring action in AEW, teaming with Malakai Black against The Varsity Blonds. Black has been targeting the Blonds for weeks, and King aligned himself with Black in his debut.
Also announced, FTR will take on The Nightmare Family’s Lee Johnson and Brock Anderson. The match was set up during this week’s Dynamite, when FTR and Tully Blanchard confronted Johnson, and Brock and Arn Anderson in a backstage segment.
Both new matches were announced during tonight’s AEW Rampage.
Dynamite next week will take place in Washington, DC. Here is the lineup:
Britt Baker & Adam Cole vs. Kris Statlander & Orange Cassidy
Brody King appeared on tonight’s Dynamite, aligning himself with Malakai Black.
After Penta El 0 M defeated Matt Hardy on tonight’s show, Black appeared as he and Penta brawled. The Varsity Blonds (Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr.) then came to the ring, and together they attacked Black three-on-one. The lights went out, and when they came back on King appeared, attacking the Varsity Blonds and Penta. The end of the segment had King and Black, who were referred to as The Kings of the Black Throne, standing tall.
Brody King is best known for his run in Ring of Honor, where he was originally part of Villan Enterprises. He later helped form the Violence Unlimited stable, which ran until the end of last year when ROH released everyone from their contracts. King also currently works for New Japan Pro Wrestling, appearing on NJPW Strong regularly.
King and Black have teamed before in PWG, and are the current PWG Tag Team Champions, defeating Black Taurus and Demonic Flamita for the vacant titles back on September 26.
On a night of physical matches, two of the talents on the AEW Full Gear card were reportedly feeling the aftereffects and couldn’t make a scheduled appearance Sunday.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported both Eddie Kingston and Malakai Black missed Sunday’s Big Event convention in New York City Sunday with an announcement being made that the reason was due to injuries suffered at Full Gear.
Via PWInsider, Northeast Wrestling (who was hosting Kingston) posted the following regarding Kingston:
Eddie Kingston contacted us late last night. Due to an injury to his shoulder in his match with CM Punk last night at the AEW PPV, he will be unable to appear at Big Event NY Convention today. He is having his shoulder checked out and having a series of medical tests this morning.”
Johnson said he was told there was actually no injury from the match itself. Rather, Kingston is suffering from a “culmination of different issues.”
As of now, neither man posted on social media about any injury or missing the event. Tony Khan didn’t mention any injuries during the post-event media scrum.
Kingston lost to CM Punk Saturday while Black and Andrade El Idolo were defeated by Cody Rhodes and PAC.
At the aforementioned scrum, Khan did give an update on Lance Archer who sustained a neck injury during a World title eliminator tournament match with Kingston. He confirmed that Archer suffered a “twisted neck” and not a head injury/concussion as had been speculated. Khan said Archer cleared all ImPACT testing and “concussion stuff.”
Khan said Archer was in attendance in Minneapolis and there is no rush to have him return given their roster depth.
AEW returns this Wednesday in Norfolk, Virginia, for Dynamite.
