With Malakai Black coming out and denouncing reports that he was released from AEW, it’s brought to question whether we can expect any releases from AEW in the near future, and it looks like there won’t be any.
This comes at the height where several AEW stars are reported to have been reached out to by Triple H about a possible return and Tony Kahn continuing to lash out at the WWE for tampering.
AEW CEO Tony Kahn Won’t Release Anyone per Dave Meltzer
While their conversations could be anything from Triple H saying there’s a place for them in WWE when their contracts run out to asking if they can leave or worse, it’s all speculation on our part.
But that doesn’t mean AEW is taking a stance, whether real or for show, as Tony said their lawyers sent a letter to WWE co-CEOs Stephanie McMahon and Nick Kahn warning them not to tamper with AEW talent.
Chris Jericho was the first to speak about this in a tweet, which led to many believing he was the one they reached out to.
Others that were reportedly reached out to by the WWE include Black, FTR, and Swerve Strickland since Triple H took over WWE Creative.
Learning from the best
While many have pointed out Tony has a lot to learn about wrestling with booking and so on, it does appear he learned from Vince McMahon that releasing talent willy nilly is a bad idea.
By the WWE releasing so many wrestlers over the last couple of years under Vince’s watch, they reinvigorated the Indies after pillaging them for years.
AEW was arguably the biggest benefactor as they snatched up former WWE talent right and left, leading to many mocking Tony when he says there’s a big announcement coming as it just being another former WWE talent making an appearance.
Dave Meltzer covered this on the Wrestling Observer Radio when he said Tony won’t be granting any releases.
“Nobody’s getting released. That’s the doctrine. Tony Khan made that very clear I guess in the last couple of days. Now it’s just, he’s (Black) not being released, Buddy Matthews isn’t being released. Now they may be back sooner than before, whatever. That’s the situation. I think they both wanted to go and tried to get a way out, and it’s what we talked about last night. That’s the decision that was made. It’s not to say it’s hard and fast, and there’d be no way they’d ever give anybody a release, but I think it’s pretty much the deal that if this happened in the other company, would those people get releases? and the answer is no. They signed the contract, so basically, now, their option is to sit at home, and he (Khan) can extend the contract if they sit at home, or wrestle. So now they’re gonna wrestle.”
If Meltzer’s right, it looks like there’s no way out for any AEW talent that want to leave aside from honoring their contract, which for some, may not be until they’re out of their prime.
Do you think Tony Kahn is doing the right thing by not releasing anyone? Let us know in the comments below.
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