3 Reasons why Malakai Black is reportedly leaving AEW

In a shocking twist, reports have come in regarding Malakai Black leaving AEW following the conclusion of his current contract with the company. As of now, it seems he will not be making any more appearances till his deal expires.

A few days ago on Dynamite, Will Ospreay hinted at Buddy Matthews and Brody King pursuing singles runs without Malakai. This prompted questions regarding his status.

Following this, PWInsider reported that the House of Black leader's AEW contract will go on until February or March. However, he had no further plans of appearing on-screen for the promotion for the remainder of his time with them. This may be the reason for the rest of his faction seemingly moving forward without him.

Here are some reasons why he may have chosen to leave AEW.

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#3. Malakai Black could reunite with his wife Zelina Vega in WWE

During his time with WWE, Malakai Black made a name for himself with a great run in NXT. In 2018, he became the NXT Champion after dethroning Andrade who at the time was being managed by Zelina Vega.

Malakai would end up leaving the company in 2021 and signing with AEW, while Zelina remained with them and is now affiliated with LWO. He could look to depart from the Tony Khan-led promotion and want to be in the same company as his wife.

This does not necessarily mean directly working together, but Malakai Black could be signed with WWE under the RAW brand so that he could reunite with his wife. Several other couples within the company have been positioned on the same brand, so this could be the case should he make the move.

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#2. Better creative plans for him

Over the past two years, Malakai Black has unfortunately been reduced to a tag team and trios specialist in AEW. He has only competed in a total of five singles matches in that span, with the last one being against Adam Cole back in November 2024.

Despite the House of Black being one of the more dominant groups in the company, Malakai may decide to go another path seeing as his singles career hasn't been the best. The closest he has gotten to a singles title was during his feud with Cope (FKA Adam Copeland) for the TNT Championship, but they did not pull the trigger on him winning the title then.

This could motivate him to move to WWE, seeing as they may utilize him more as a singles competitor. Apart from being a former NXT Champion, they could put a belt on him sometime in the future should he sign with them.

The closest Malakai Black has gotten to a singles title in AEW

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#3. Take a break from wrestling

Outside of competing on live TV, Malakai Black and his wife Zelina Vega have founded their wrestling school, The Dark Arts Gym. On social media, Malakai is seen training and holding events in his school. His goal is to combine teaching professional wrestling with other combat sports such as Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Should his contract end with AEW, Black could focus on his wrestling school. He could treat this as him going on a hiatus until he is completely ready to sign with a major company like WWE.

As of now, it is still unclear what Malakai Black's future plans could be. Seeing as he has reportedly wrapped things up with AEW, the possibilities are endless.