It is believed that Malakai Black has finished with AEW and will rejoin WWE once he can legally do so. Therefore, there has been much speculation online about him making an unannounced appearance in the men’s Royal Rumble match to kickstart his WWE comeback. However, PWInsider.com has now reported that this won’t be possible because he won’t be a free agent at the time of the event, as his contract may not actually expire until March.
39-year-old Black, real name Tom Büdgen, worked for WWE between 2016 and 2021 as Aleister Black, notably holding the NXT Championship once. Yet despite starting a feud with Big E on the May 21, 2021, episode of SmackDown, he would be released on June 2 due to budget cuts. And while this would see AEW welcome him with open arms, rumors would soon spread that he was unhappy and wanted to return to WWE because Triple H was now running creative instead of Vince McMahon.
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