Malakai Black believed to be finishing up with AEW

[Chris]

the wont do jobs thing was so weird because they tried to include the other HOB guys and I was like...uh what they job all the time wtf lol.

I did like the matches he had in 2024 but he hasn't had many and they have been far apart, but we can only theorize why that is the case (could be health, booking, attitutde, dates on contract etc)

He's claimed he's perfectly healthy now and has been after that first back issue got taken care of too fwiw

 

[Chris]

I will say he did seem very particular about who he put over (like how he would lose, what he would do after etc) but again, that's up for interpretation

Yeah but it goes back to my larger dispute of any "they won't do jobs" narratives bc I just have a hard time believing they have that freedom. It's semantics but I think more accurately they don't seem enthusiastic or push back on the booking so Tony "agrees" and probably pettily decides to slot in someone else or not do anything with them bc they didn't go for the idea. Like that's so much more plausible than them just refusing to come to work and getting away with it lol

 

[Kim Jong Umb]

I think he proved he can still go in his few 2024 appearances unless he was really good at hiding it so I'm not really worried there. I think the run could have been way better obviously too but I'm not really that down on it somehow still, probs just bc when he was on screen I still always liked it.

Plus I know there's still crazy narratives out there that could still be proven true, but a lot of the earlier controversy he very much disputed himself so I don't think this is gonna be another messy breakup or anything, even if he has issues he seems like a guy to keep them to himself but we'll see. Can't imagine anyone at AEW is gonna say anything bad either bc they probs would have stoked those "he won't do jobs" rumors even harder already if they wanted to

Never did get to the heights I wanted to see him in AEW. That AEW debut was pretty good and I grew to like the name change but I missed Alister Black so I'm happy to see him comeback. The stuff he did at end of his first WWE run was fun. I always liked the visual he had with the eye patch after Seth tried to blind him. Black vs. Rollins feud was the last real thing I was really behind Rollins on. (Then again I have stated I love Messiah gimmick over Freaking one)

 

[Chris]

If he comes back going right for Seth that would be pretty hot I can't lie

 

[Kim Jong Umb]

If he comes back going right for Seth that would be pretty hot I can't lie

Lights out in ring Black Mass . I'm always a sucker for that kind of shit lol

 

[Kim Jong Umb]

Imagine Zelina gonna be thrilled to have her hubby back on road together.

 

[Comrade Khan]

He's claimed he's perfectly healthy now and has been after that first back issue got taken care of too fwiw

yeah but flare ups and shit can happen so to me that doesnt mean a whole lot one way or the other - he could have been sore the next day after making that statement and he would still not be lying

 

[Cwalker]

It did seem like he had future star written all over him when he debuted and took out Cody.

Whatever happens, just hope he ends up happy and thriving.

 

[Chris]

It did seem like he had future star written all over him when he debuted and took out Cody.

Whatever happens, just hope he ends up happy and thriving.

The way the Cody feud ended for both Malakai and Andrade really hurt both their momentum, it was one of the first notable things I remember being really down on and probs when I started turning on Cody some myself

 

[Comrade Khan]

Yeah but it goes back to my larger dispute of any "they won't do jobs" narratives bc I just have a hard time believing they have that freedom. It's semantics but I think more accurately they don't seem enthusiastic or push back on the booking so Tony "agrees" and probably pettily decides to slot in someone else or not do anything with them bc they didn't go for the idea. Like that's so much more plausible than them just refusing to come to work and getting away with it lol

yeah i mean, there's plenty of arguable precedent for this too - we've seen people who were difficult to work with get less opportunities in this company while the go getters that were less skillful would be rewarded. I think this theory has a lot more legs too than like u said, just outright refusal.

We've heard plenty of times tony wont force you to do anything but it might be at your booking detriment to keep saying no and being difficult

 

[Comrade Khan]

The way the Cody feud ended for both Malakai and Andrade really hurt both their momentum, it was one of the first notable things I remember being really down on and probs when I started turning on Cody some myself

kind of blame both cody and tony on that. booking the boot shit was fucking awful

 

[Chris]

yeah i mean, there's plenty of arguable precedent for this too - we've seen people who were difficult to work with get less opportunities in this company while the go getters that were less skillful would be rewarded. I think this theory has a lot more legs too than like u said, just outright refusal.

We've heard plenty of times tony wont force you to do anything but it might be at your booking detriment to keep saying no and being difficult

Yeah I think the level of how "difficult" they are vs if they're trying to offer other ideas etc (which in fairness we've heard very small cases of) is what's so disputed and has people planting their flags when tbh we'll probably never know the extent

 

[Kim Jong Umb]

The way the Cody feud ended for both Malakai and Andrade really hurt both their momentum, it was one of the first notable things I remember being really down on and probs when I started turning on Cody some myself

Feel like Black has mic skills and while Andrade has improved drastically I still don't think he's at where needs to be to break that threshold. I mean Andrade was at his best with Vega. That said that look he had with suit and mask is sexy af

 

[Comrade Khan]

Yeah I think the level of how "difficult" they are vs if they're trying to offer other ideas etc (which in fairness we've heard very small cases of) is what's so disputed and has people planting their flags when tbh we'll probably never know the extent

for sure, and you kind of also have to point out this all kind of started when Hunter took over and tried to force ppl to leave aew and break their contract. Andrade fighting Sammy and all the other bullshit all started at the exact same time (regal, malakai, andrade, swerve )

 

[Comrade Khan]

I bring that up because like if you're one of the guys who tried to sneak out of their deals, then start being contentious about every booking decision...well ya im not gonna push u as a booker.

but then again they still won trios gold ll