In a recent segment on Wrestling Observer Radio, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer highlighted the possibility of two current AEW roster members making a move to the Stamford-based promotion WWE.
Meltzer identified Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews as the two wrestlers who could potentially transition to WWE. Both Black and Matthews are presently associated with the House of Black faction, alongside Brody King and Julia Hart, within AEW.
The wrestling journalist was talking about the recent cage match between House of Black and Daniel Garcia & FTR on Saturday’s episode of Collision. The fight was originally announced as an Elimination bout but later changed to an Escape the cage match. Meltzer implied that the change was due to the House of Black not wanting to be pinned during the bout:
“[…] Malakai Black never does jobs, and when this was going on and I am watching this, one of the things I was thinking watching this is like, these freaking House of Black guys never do jobs. And here is the other thing. I was thinking what if they win this match and they are just going, like, two of those three guys are going to the WWE.”
Meltzer also remarked that both wrestlers are reluctant to take losses as they aim to maintain the strong image of their characters once they become free agents. He questioned why AEW continues to book them strongly when they are expected to leave for WWE.
“I mean, they are going. As soon as they can go, they are gone. Even though they were treated like shit in the WWE, and they never do jobs here, and they are still going back to the WWE. And my thought is kinda like, why do you keep putting them over when you know they are leaving?”
House of Black Responds
Multiple members of the faction took exception to these comments from Meltzer and reacted on social media. Matthews responded to Meltzer’s remarks with a picture of his AEW stats, stating that Dave lacked research skills.
“For a ‘Reporter,’ he doesn’t know much or do ANY research! Lol,” he commented.
The attached image displayed Matthew’s career stats in AEW, revealing that in 2024, he won one match and lost three. Overall, in his career, he won 25 matches and lost 13. These figures contradict Meltzer’s statement, as Matthews has indeed lost a considerable number of matches, if not the majority:
For a “Reporter” he doesn’t know much of do ANY research! lol pic.twitter.com/ZF9N3LY1AS
— Buddy Matthews (@SNM_Buddy) January 29, 2024
Brody King explained that the format of the match was always going to be Escape The Cage. Will Washington, who works as a coordinator for AEW came to his support confirming the reason for the graphic change:
Funny how someone’s opinion just becomes fact because they’ve been watching wrestling a long time. The format and stipulation of the cage match was always what it was going to be. It’s not our fault the wording on the graphic changed. https://t.co/zGuNP61TxN
— Big Bad Brody King (@Brodyxking) January 29, 2024
I usually don't comment on stuff like this, but before this idea spreads or gets out of hand, the wording change was just for clarity.
It was absolutely escape rules when the first match graphic dropped. https://t.co/3nubqqtQNL
— Will Washington ? (@WillWashington) January 29, 2024
While the wrestling journalist has not responded to these remarks from the AEW stars, this discourse seems to be far from over. Stay tuned for more updates on the situation