# @wrestlingnewsco on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DYiQu-EGu2I
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/65738415-wrestlingnewsco-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/89036eeebf.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-19T21:28:33.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Wrestling News - WWE, AEW (@wrestlingnewsco) — https://gondola.cc/wrestlingnewsco

## Caption

MJF named Malakai Black by name as the biggest offender of using AEW as a stepping stone back to WWE, telling Ariel Helwani that the entire locker room had Black pegged the entire time.

"I think it's pretty obvious it is Malakai Black. I don't know the guy on a personal level. Do I think he's a bad guy? No. Do I think he was a mark for wanting to have his Mania moment? Yeah, and there were a couple of guys like that, and they got weeded out. Then they went over there and some found out the grass isn't greener."
He said the read on Black came directly from the locker room, not just his own observation.

"I'm not shitting on him. I'm just simply telling you what I was told by a majority of the locker room about this specific individual. As a team captain and a leader and someone who has been a part of this company since day one, I don't want to deal with guys that don't want to be team players. F--k off, go elsewhere, or f--king prove me wrong. I would love to be proved wrong."

He also predicted what would happen to talents who used AEW as a bridge: "I think you're gonna see a lot of those guys ask for a 50% pay cut from the office, or just get released."

That prediction had already come true before MJF gave the interview. Malakai Black was released by WWE on April 24, 2026, as part of the post-WrestleMania 42 cuts wave. Black signed with AEW in 2021 as the founder of the House of Black, spent three years there, requested his release in November 2024, returned to WWE in February 2025, and was released three months later.

MJF challenges AEW World Champion Darby Allin in a Title vs Hair main event at Double or Nothing on Sunday, May 24 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing, New York.

#MJF #AEW #MalakaiBlack #WWE #DoubleOrNothing

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 2,475
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 156

## Tags

aew, mjf, wwe, doubleornothing, malakaiblack

---
Copyright (c) Gondola