AEW not granting any requests for release

At this time, AEW head Tony Khan is not going to grant any releases for those wrestlers that have requested it.

Talking on Monday’s Wrestling Observer Radio about Malakai Black’s situation, Dave Meltzer said, “Nobody is getting released. That’s the doctrine Tony Khan made very clear I guess in the last couple days.”

The news comes on the heels of Black taking to Instagram Monday night and denying reports he had secured his release, taking umbrage with how the story has been reported. 

He said Khan had given him some time off and that he will be back in AEW “pretty soon.” He alluded to not asking for his release, saying the word was in quotation marks. However, the first reference in his September 18th post specifically states, “I did indeed ask for my release”. He also denied he has a five-year deal even though Khan said during a July interview with Busted Open Radio that he has nearly five years left on his deal.

The story also comes after Buddy Matthews told an indie crowd Saturday he was taking time off, followed by a Fightful story citing sources that he had expressed dissatisfaction with AEW in recent months. Matthews appeared to deny any problems by using a Seinfeld meme.

This all follows the tampering issues AEW had with WWE contacting contracted talent that recently went public. On WOR, Meltzer said that nearly everyone who had a previous relationship with Paul “Triple H” Levesque had been contacted by WWE in an effort to secure their AEW release and return. Several wrestlers informed AEW management about the reach-outs and had no interest in leaving while others did request their releases.