WWE Creative Expecting Arrival Of AEW Star

An AEW star appears to be heading to WWE.

On the January 8th edition of AEW Dynamite, Buddy Matthews came up short against Will Ospreay. After the match, Ospreay suggested Matthews and Brody King deserve more than standing in Malakai Black’s shadow in the House of Black.

Ospreay added that he had Matthews’ back before the pair shook hands.

Many fans felt this was a way of signaling that Black won’t return to television, and he could be done with the company. Interestingly, Julia Hart hasn’t appeared with the group since she returned to the company in December.

Following the episode it was reported that Malakai Black is in fact done with AEW, and may have already left. While Tony Khan previously stated that the star’s contract ran until early 2027, it’s believed the final two years were option years.

WWE Preparing For Malakai Black

Reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reiterated that people backstage in AEW don’t expect Black to wrestle for the company again. The report added that there’s been talk within WWE creative regarding the star, hinting that it’s a matter of when and not if he will re-sign with the company.

There was also talk from WWE that he was expected there when his contract expires. That’s been the case for a while, but evidently there has been talk in WWE creative about him of late.

Back in November, Malakai Black denied he was leaving AEW or planning to retire after he appeared to say goodbye following a match with Adam Cole. Black has been routinely linked with a return to WWE since 2022 when Triple H first began to gain creative control.

The star worked with Triple H extensively during the early part of his WWE in NXT. Black has been married to Monday Night Raw star Zelina Vega since November 2018.