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More Details On AEW Departures Of Miro, Malakai Black And Ricky Starks

Miro, Malakai Black and Ricky Starks are all free agents after they were either released or saw their AEW contracts expire.
Rick Ucchino|
Miro's last match came at Worlds End 2023
Miro's last match came at Worlds End 2023 | Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

Miro, Malakai Black and Ricky Starks are officially on the free agent market.

All three men saw their AEW contracts come to an end on Monday and are reportedly free to go wherever they choose. There are no non-compete clauses associated with any of their releases, according to Sean Ross Sapp with Fightful Select, and each of their exits had apparently been in the works for some time.

Ross Sapp says that Ricky Starks actually requested in late 2023 that AEW not pick up his one-year option that was on the table in the spring of 2024. The company did just that, however, and then essentially benched him. This despite Starks' willingness to work through the end of his deal.

Ricky was a guest on Insight with Chris Van Vliet ahead of the holidays and claimed to have no concrete answers for why he was being kept off television.

"I could have 1,000 theories about what’s really going on. The fact of the matter is that if I don’t have a definitive answer, I can’t just make up an answer for people and just assume. Would I love to know the exact reason? For sure. Do I have speculations about why? Absolutely"

Starks had just months left on his deal before being released on Monday.

The same could not be said for Miro. The former TNT Champion was under contract for at least another year after he agreed to a long-term extension in 2022. He only wrestled a little more than a handful of matches after putting pen to paper, with creative differences reportedly driving a wedge between him and AEW management.

Miro requested his release a few months back and had been negotiating his departure ever since. Sean Ross Sapp reported Monday that the situation had gone 'radio silent' for an extended period of time before everything was made official on Monday.

"Miro had not been brought up creatively from what we've heard in about six months," Ross Sapp said. "Most everyone we spoke to in AEW had not expected to see him again."

Malakai Black's exit from AEW had been expected for a while now, which was contrary to claims made by Tony Khan in the past that Black's agreement with AEW could have extended into 2027. WWE is expected to have interest in a reunion with the former NXT Champion now that he's on the open market.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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