After Malakai Black, two more big stars get removed from AEW's roster

Modified Feb 10, 2025 19:58 GMT

The House of Black is no more (Image credit: Malakai Black on X)

AEW recently lost the services of Malakai Black after the Dutch striker chose not to re-sign with the promotion. Now, it seems like Tony Khan & Co. are finally letting go of two other absent stars: Ricky Starks and Miro.

Ricky Starks and Miro have had controversial runs in All Elite Wrestling, and both have seemingly been dissatisfied behind the scenes. The former Rusev spent months on the shelf due to injury before reportedly asking for his release in September of last year.

Meanwhile, the circumstances of Ricky Starks have been more mysterious and controversial. AEW sparked a flurry of speculation when it pulled Starks from a GCW show in December, but the 34-year-old has remained active on the independent scene. According to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Dr. Chris Featherstone, Starks also asked for his release last month.

While AEW has provided no concrete updates on either star, both of them have now been pulled from the promotion's official roster. In the past, this has been an indicator that a wrestler is on their way out or has already departed the company.

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WWE is the obvious landing spot for both Starks and Miro, with the latter being well-known to fans as Rusev. Ricky Starks has drawn interest for a potential NXT run, and he remains good friends with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in real life. Whether the two find their way to Triple H's company remains to be seen.

About the author

Jacob is an AEW contributor and editor at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He has edited and published over 8,000 articles for Sportskeeda Wrestling in just over two years, and subsequently donned the hat of a contributor, demonstrating his commitment to continuous learning. His experience goes beyond wrestling, with five years as an editor for several independent publishing houses and three years as a captioning specialist.

Jacob's first memory of pro wrestling dates back to Sting vs. Ric Flair for the World Heavyweight Championship at Great American Bash 1990. He later began writing for a newsletter and blog at the University of North Texas, and his love of wrestling naturally led him to seek opportunities in the media.

His favorite wrestler is The Icon, as he feels Sting has evolved throughout his career on a parallel path with his own growth as a person. He was Jacob's childhood hero and teenage idol, and now he makes him less afraid of getting older.

Jacob ensures relevance and accuracy in his articles by working hard to maintain his ideals and objectivity without sacrificing his unique voice, inspiring other writers in the section to follow suit.

Jacob’s non-wrestling interests include Anime, video games, and fantasy novels.

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Edited by Sayantan Niyogi