Cole could have been huge in WWE if they went all in on him being a new Heartbreak Kid. And my feeling was HHH and HBK wanted to do just that, but the main roster wanted nothing to do with him.

I do wonder what happens with MJF say encounters the Miz or Rollins who do not give a shit about what the dirtsheets say about him and do not want him taking their shit for interviews anymore. Or deals with Reigns who will see him as another small indy guy with an ego who is not worthy of even 10 minutes with the Big Dog. What does he do then? Cry about WWE then and try to go back to AEW?

Also really curious if HHH even is interested in him. MJF gives off Punk vibes, and well, we all seen how Punk worked out. Do they REALLY want Punklite?

So now the whole story that Fish tried to get Cole and O'Reilly to go back to the WWE is all BS?

Link ringside news

Or he wanted them to leave AEW after he was released so they could get back into WWE together, because without them, why would they take Fish?

HHH gave Hit Row their jobs back, so I think he’ll sign pretty much anyone TBH!

Brody King and Keith Lee confirmed they have no interest in leaving. Sad we are at this point. Swerve not likely going anywhere either given he is in perhaps the hottest program in the company.

Brody King should have no interest in leaving considering I doubt WWE would even want him.

WWE should be pushing Dijak before even showing interest in Keith Lee.

Malakai Black just went live on instagram and said he is still with AEW and is absolutely ripping SRS apart.

He is my new favourite wrestler.

Said he can’t focus on his mental health with all this news coming out and SRS and everyone else is wrong.

Also said he requested time off from Tony and was granted it. Hasn’t been released and is still signed to AEW. He also said when his break is over he will be back with AEW. Straight up said that.

FUCK SRS

EDIT: “i will see you guys in a couple weeks, maybe a couple months.”

“You’ll see me back in AEW soon.”

“Don’t make me an instrument for tribalism. I don’t do that.”

All direct quotes.

Too difficult to finagle out of a contract when the dirtsheets are blowing your cover.

Better luck next time Mustafa Black, see you on Rampage in 6 weeks time.

Not sure if in that clip or not, but Black said he just wants a few months off to deal with other things, then he will be back to AEW. And it is likely true, since he has creative freedom in AEW, and this is line pushing for WWE sponsors who may see his stuff as too "satanic" to support. I mean from Black, from the start, this is what he said, he wanted some time to get his shit together.  

And honestly he should get his back fully fixed then come back next year at 100%.  Even if he does not, his return will be huge.

He fucking owned the wrestling media though so hard with this.

The odd thing is that in an earlier statement he confirmed that he had in fact asked for his release. I'm not sure entirely what the context was in regards to 'not one single thing of it is true' but if it's the dirt-sheets, that part is true unless he's outing himself as a liar.

http://instagram.com/p/CiqcGkFOAI8

He wanted a release so he could leave without a commitment or pressure to return before he was ready. He did want to go to WWE, he just did not want to wrestle for the foreseeable future and asked for release to clean up things which is why he got a conditional release which also allows him the option to just return.

Meltzer doubling down.

“Nobody’s getting released. That’s the doctrine, Tony Khan made it very clear I guess in the last couple of days. And so now, [Black’s] not being released, Buddy Matthews isn’t being released. Now they may be back sooner than before but that’s the situation.”

“You know what the situation is, they were wanting to go and you know trying to get a way out and that was the decision that was made. I mean, it’s not to say it’s hard and fast and it’s no way they’ll ever give anybody a release but I think it’s pretty much the deal that if happened in the other company would these people get releases and the answer is no and they signed the contract so they basically now their option is to sit at home and [Khan] can extend the contract if they sit at home, or wrestle. So now they’re gonna have to wrestle.”

itrwrestling.com/news/dave-meltzer-nobodys-getting-released-aew/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

It's happening again!

I feel like Meltzer is making a pretty hefty accusation toward Black. Is he not effectively saying that he tried to get out of AEW by using mental health as a reason, because Tony wouldn’t let his contract wind down if he was at home? That’s what it feels like he’s saying, indirectly obviously.

My take is Khan is within his rights to do it just as Vince was. But it’s a tough one for the AEW fanbase to swallow having killed WWE for it with the likes of Ali. It just goes to show if you signal virtue over what wresting company you prefer, you need to have a word with yourself.

Black was frustrated with wrestling, but not really AEW. He was upset his back kept getting fucked up so he could not really do what he wanted to do in the ring. He talked about it on his streams.

Personally, Khan should do what WWE will not and release talent. He claimed in the past he never wanted to be the guy who kept guys on contract that did not want to be there, and now he is that guy. It is worse when he is trying to sign people for five years at a time now.

Nobody is denying that he asked for his release. That happened. The man himself said so.

It’s the nonsense that’s gone on ever since. SRS and others stoking the rumour fires to keep people talking about it when the man just wants to be left alone for a little while. Because of them he received death threats from psycho fans that think anyone returning to WWE deserves to die. That’s on the “journalists” for continuing this after Black explicitly said “if it doesn’t come from me it isn’t true,” and asked to be left the fuck alone.

I’m glad he came out and said something and that other wrestlers have chimed in too. Shit is getting out of hand with rumours being treated as news and leaks from within this company, and these things need to be addressed. Once again we go back to CM Punk’s rant that was 75% truth and 25% “fuck Colt Cabana.” He was fed up with the locker room talking out of school and the EVPs being some of the worst offenders. Sounds like Punk isn’t the only one.

Sept 27, 2022 11:12:42 GMT Todd said:

I feel like Meltzer is making a pretty hefty accusation toward Black. Is he not effectively saying that he tried to get out of AEW by using mental health as a reason, because Tony wouldn’t let his contract wind down if he was at home? That’s what it feels like he’s saying, indirectly obviously.

My take is Khan is within his rights to do it just as Vince was. But it’s a tough one for the AEW fanbase to swallow having killed WWE for it with the likes of Ali. It just goes to show if you signal virtue over what wresting company you prefer, you need to have a word with yourself.

What I got from Meltzer’s post was “if this situation happened in WWE we would be in the same position,” and nothing more. Dude likes to use a lot of words to say very little.

Sept 27, 2022 13:11:50 GMT RT said:

Sept 27, 2022 11:12:42 GMT Todd said:

I feel like Meltzer is making a pretty hefty accusation toward Black. Is he not effectively saying that he tried to get out of AEW by using mental health as a reason, because Tony wouldn’t let his contract wind down if he was at home? That’s what it feels like he’s saying, indirectly obviously.

My take is Khan is within his rights to do it just as Vince was. But it’s a tough one for the AEW fanbase to swallow having killed WWE for it with the likes of Ali. It just goes to show if you signal virtue over what wresting company you prefer, you need to have a word with yourself.

What I got from Meltzer’s post was “if this situation happened in WWE we would be in the same position,” and nothing more. Dude likes to use a lot of words to say very little.

“You know what the situation is, they were wanting to go and you know trying to get a way out and that was the decision that was made.

so they basically now their option is to sit at home and [Khan] can extend the contract if they sit at home, or wrestle. So now they’re gonna have to wrestle.”

I'm certainly leaning more towards todd's interpretation, especially based on the bolded.

Sept 27, 2022 14:35:32 GMT jTjohncenaGOAT said:

There is one thing I don’t understand and maybe someone could help me here. Why would Black ask for his release? What would he gain by getting it? If he has the option to sit out from work for his mental/physical health (which appears to either be guaranteed in his contract or TK offered to let him) why would he then need to suddenly need to be out from under this contract? Am I wrong to assume that the only thing this contract prevents him from doing is to join the WWE? Doesn’t TK let them book pretty much anywhere else? And if it’s mental health or health issues in general, you wouldn’t want to book anywhere anyways, right? If it’s legit health concerns, why do you need your release?

I’m glad TK has decided to not cut these contracts. He made a VERY smart business decision by looking at the landscape and locking these guys into long term contracts. I wouldn’t cut a single one loose.

It would give him the freedom to do what he wanted without worrying about or being pressured to return to AEW TV.  As long as he is employed by AEW, he will feel like he should be working, instead of taking care of himself.  He has been in this cycle for months now with his back going to hell.  He just wanted to a clean break to get well.  He cancelled all of his other bookings outside of the match with Kidd Bandit, so he clearly does not want to work right now.  And likely he only kept the Bandit match, since it was Bandit's biggest match so far, and Bandit is kind of a very special wrestler.  

By all accounts he would have likely returned to Tony and did a new contract when he was well.  He just did not want to feel like he is screwing over his fans by not appearing for months while technically a wrestler still for the company.  

Sept 27, 2022 14:35:32 GMT jTjohncenaGOAT said:

There is one thing I don’t understand and maybe someone could help me here. Why would Black ask for his release? What would he gain by getting it? If he has the option to sit out from work for his mental/physical health (which appears to either be guaranteed in his contract or TK offered to let him) why would he then need to suddenly need to be out from under this contract? Am I wrong to assume that the only thing this contract prevents him from doing is to join the WWE? Doesn’t TK let them book pretty much anywhere else? And if it’s mental health or health issues in general, you wouldn’t want to book anywhere anyways, right? If it’s legit health concerns, why do you need your release?

I’m glad TK has decided to not cut these contracts. He made a VERY smart business decision by looking at the landscape and locking these guys into long term contracts. I wouldn’t cut a single one loose.

I'd imagine the story would be: 'Hey, I don't want to be paid while I get my life in order. I promise I'm not going to the WWE, so release me so I don't have this burden and when I'm in tip top shape I can actually give you your money's worth'.

I don't think it's believable for a second. The timing of it etc. Way too fishy and he has enough reason to be upset.

Sept 27, 2022 14:49:26 GMT Big Pete said:

Sept 27, 2022 13:11:50 GMT RT said:

What I got from Meltzer’s post was “if this situation happened in WWE we would be in the same position,” and nothing more. Dude likes to use a lot of words to say very little.

“You know what the situation is, they were wanting to go and you know trying to get a way out and that was the decision that was made.

so they basically now their option is to sit at home and [Khan] can extend the contract if they sit at home, or wrestle. So now they’re gonna have to wrestle.”

I'm certainly leaning more towards todd's interpretation, especially based on the bolded.

True but it also doesn’t feel like these guys are being held prisoner by the company either. Or at least if they feel that way they aren’t saying so.

In Ali and Luke Harper’s and others cases they were very outspoken about wanting to leave the company and not being granted their request. Black and Matthews seem perfectly fine with their situation from what I’m seeing and are mad at the media for spreading rumours and speaking about things they aren’t privy to. I think that’s where the difference lies.

CM Punk opened a huge can of worms going off about people leaking information the way he did and the second a couple bigger names in the company wanted to be released or take time off the media was all over it. This wouldn’t be nearly as big a story if Punk didn’t very publicly dunk on the locker room.

Full Black stream is here:

www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/xp79dr/full_10_minute_video_of_malakai_black_going_off/

And really see here that Black is stressed the fuck out and if you are familiar with him out of character, he is not well.  

And Tony can try to force people to work indefinitely, but there is a limit to what courts will allow for contract extensions.  In general courts hate these sort of non-competes and it is a coin toss at the best of times whether or not they nullify them right then and there.  

Sept 27, 2022 15:24:41 GMT RT said:

Sept 27, 2022 14:49:26 GMT Big Pete said:

“You know what the situation is, they were wanting to go and you know trying to get a way out and that was the decision that was made.

so they basically now their option is to sit at home and [Khan] can extend the contract if they sit at home, or wrestle. So now they’re gonna have to wrestle.”

I'm certainly leaning more towards todd's interpretation, especially based on the bolded.

True but it also doesn’t feel like these guys are being held prisoner by the company either. Or at least if they feel that way they aren’t saying so.

In Ali and Luke Harper’s and others cases they were very outspoken about wanting to leave the company and not being granted their request. Black and Matthews seem perfectly fine with their situation from what I’m seeing and are mad at the media for spreading rumours and speaking about things they aren’t privy to. I think that’s where the difference lies.

CM Punk opened a huge can of worms going off about people leaking information the way he did and the second a couple bigger names in the company wanted to be released or take time off the media was all over it. This wouldn’t be nearly as big a story if Punk didn’t very publicly dunk on the locker room.

The theory is that Malakai is going a different route, using a mental health problem to break a contract. If Malakai went further and tried to disparage AEW it would give the jig up.

At least that's how it comes off coming from Dave who can be extremely cynical when he wants to be.

Black is clearly not doing well. Mentally now, as well as physically with his back. Sure he feels ok now, but sticking a needle into the spine will not fix serious spinal damage. He admits to having problems with AEW but this does not feel at all like a stunt to break a contract.

My take on all this is Black is really struggling with whether or not he should even get back in a ring given how far his back is gone. Was not reported on but he said on his House of Black twitch streams months ago that it hurt so bad he could not get out of bed some days. This is not a minor injury.

wreddit has done a complete 180 on SRS in the past 48 hours and I’m so here for it. This thread is like porn to me.

Yes I have an unhealthy obsession with SRS’s demise and no I don’t care that it’s weird!

reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/xpo957/srs_the_tweet_i_posted_about_receipts_was/

Yeah reddit turning hard against wrestling journalism is wild to see.  I still will read the news, but we all knew that most of it was bullshit, and it is a coin flip if what they report was ever real or not.  In recent years due to some of the younger guys getting close early on with journalists they had a lot of luck with leaks, but most of us remember the early 2000's when most news was utter shit.  

Holy shit, he burned a source reporting he had screenshots of a Black conversation with a WWE guy?  Yeah that is not gonna end well for anyone.  Watch someone get released out of nowhere from WWE now with ties to Black.

I'd take a guess and say " pro wrestling " is one of the few industries where you can call yourself a " journalist " and have absolutely zero experience or credibility in that industry... or in journalism for that matter.

The biggest brains in this business, the Dave Meltzer types make 90% of what they report or say up.. yet, we eat it up. This wouldn't happen in any other industry.

Wrestling is a step above a lemonade stand so I'm surprised anyone's reporting was ever respected.

Honestly I think Meltzer was just in it so long that people decided to listen to him. Dude was essentially just a wrestling and MMA blogger for like 20 years then started getting backstage scoops somehow. It wasn’t until the rise of social media that others started popping up. And most of them were just clickbait rumours anyway.

Hell this site exists because of the same thing. PW was a wrestling headline page with a discussion board. We all ended up here because it was the first site that popped up when you googled “professional wrestling news.”