"That’s the trap Malakai Black fell into" - Wrestling veteran shares honest thoughts on WWE's prevention of AEW star's ability to reach the top (Exclusive)

Former WCW World Champion Vince Russo has given his thoughts on why he thinks popular AEW star Malakai Black failed to reach the top during his time in WWE.

The Dutchman had a mixed run during his five-year stint with WWE, becoming a stand-out talent on the NXT brand for many years before being called up to the main roster.

However, being called up to the main roster would be his downfall, as he suffered from a lack of TV time and in-ring exposure. He was famously released mere days after making a return to Smackdown in 2021.

So what went wrong for Malakai Black in WWE? Speaking on the latest edition of "Writing with Russo" with Dr. Chris Featherstone, Vince Russo believes that it was a simple case of Black being more talented than the creative team.

“I remember specifically. Bro, here’s the pattern, when somebody is more talented than the people they have writing for them, that person’s doomed. Because they can’t write up to that persons level, what do they do? They drag the person down. That’s the trap Malakai Black fell in to, Bray Wyatt, bro [Dexter] Lumis is falling into that trap right now you’re seeing it, he’s up here, creative is here, we can’t get there so we want you to do this." [1:21-1:59]

Russo also slammed Black's gimmick while on the main roster, where he spent most of his time in a room waiting for people to come and knock on his door.

“I remember specifically with Malakai Black bro, I remember a couple of things specifically with this dude. First of all, he cut the promo where he was going to be knocking on people’s doors, he never knocked on a single door. Never once did that ever happen, never once did that ever happen.” [2:00-2:20]

You can watch the full clip from Writing with Russo right here:

Malakai Black officially announced that he would just be taking time off from AEW

Following the decision to put Triple H in charge of the creative direction of WWE, many people suspected that some AEW talents would try and jump ship, with Malakai Black being one of them.

The rumor spread like wildfire when it was reported that Black had asked for his release. However, Black debunked all of those rumors in an Instagram Live video, where he stated he was just taking some time off and would be back in AEW soon.

When do you expect to see Black return to AEW? Let us know in the comments section down below!

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