Can the House of Black survive as an ongoing thing in AEW with just Brody King and Julia Hart? Because if not, it appears the group might be done.
The faction was dealt a big blow when the man from which it took its name, Malakai Black, was reportedly granted a conditional release from AEW. Black confirmed as much in an Instagram post a week ago, flat out saying “I did indeed ask for my release.”
The House of Black went forward, however, with Buddy Matthews and King booked in a tag team match against Darby Allin and Sting that opened the Rampage portion of AEW Grand Slam in New York. The Great Muta assisted Allin and Sting in getting the victory, spitting his iconic green mist into the face of Matthews.
It turns out Matthews was the intentional victim of that spot, as he too is possibly on his way out of AEW. Here’s what Fightful Select had to say about Matthews this weekend:
After this week’s AEW Rampage Grand Slam, Fightful was informed that the Great Muta spot was a way to write Buddy Matthews off television for the time being. We weren’t given context as to whether or not Matthews was being released, but had heard numerous times over the previous couple of months that he’d expressed dissatisfaction regarding his situation
Matthews himself later said at a Fight Life Pro Wrestling show that he needed “to go away for a while” and “recalibrate.”
The common thread between Black and Matthews, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer, is that they both would prefer to be back in WWE but can’t just jump ship due to their AEW contracts.
Meltzer explained on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio:
Like Malakai Black, they both wanted to leave, they want to go to WWE. They’re both under long-term contract, and we’ll have to see how this plays out.
As for King, he seemed to reinforce his status with AEW with one GIF on Twitter on Sunday night.
— Big Bad Brody King (@Brodyxking) September 26, 2022
It will be interesting to see if AEW decides to rebuild the House of Black around King and Hart (who has seemed to find herself creatively since joining the group) by adding new members or gives them a new direction. It wouldn’t be hard to see things going either way, as there are plenty of underutilized talents who could get a boost by joining up, but King also has unrealized potential for a singles push.
If this the end for House of Black, it’s a bit of a bummer because they seemed to have something good going a few months ago but never quite made it past the periphery of AEW’s main event scene. Hopefully, Black, Matthews and everyone ends up where they want to be, professionally and personally.