Booker T Says AEW’s Lack of Structure Hurt Malakai Black and Miro

February 10 was a major day in wrestling, as Ricky Starks, Malakai Black, and Miro were all released from AEW. With their departures, fans have begun speculating on their next moves, with many believing they could make their way to WWE.

For Black and Miro, a WWE return would be familiar territory, as both were previously released from the company earlier in the decade. On his Hall of Fame podcast with Brad Gilmore, Booker T shared his thoughts on their AEW run and why some wrestlers struggle in that environment.

Booker T compared AEW’s system to his own experience transitioning from WWE to TNA, saying that moving from a highly structured company to a more independent-style promotion can be a difficult adjustment. He explained that in WWE, everything is professionally handled, from travel to creative direction, whereas in AEW, wrestlers often have to create their own stories.

“We need to talk about Ricky Starks, we need to talk about Malakai Black, who made his journey over to AEW as well as Miro, making his journey over to AEW from WWE. Again, sometimes the grass is not so greener on the other side. Sometimes, guys just aren’t made for that system. The reason I say that is because I remember when I left WWE and I was off for a while, TNA called, and I went and did some work. When I went, nothing against TNA back then, it was a great company, but after working for WWE for 15, 18 years, it was a hard adjustment. It really was a hard adjustment. You’re used to being in that system where everything is done from a professional perspective all the way across the board, I’m talking from travel to catering to in-ring, business purposes, whatever, everything’s done a certain way. When I went to TNA, I was like — I had to do a lot of the work myself. I would go to towns and from an advertising perspective and go to the McDonalds down the street and no one knew we were there. I was like, oh man, come on, what’s going on here. I’ll be going through the airport, somebody would see me and say, ‘Hey Booker T, what’s going on?’ They said, ‘Man, I thought you retired? Where you been?’ What are you talking about, I’ve been on television this whole time, I’m on Spike TV. No diss, that’s what I’m talking about. I’m talking about this from a personal perspective. I’ve been in it, that’s what I’m talking about. It’s kind of hard making that little bit of adjustment right there.”

Specifically addressing Malakai Black, Booker T stated that the lack of creative direction in AEW hurt his career. He pointed out that while the idea of the House of Black was great, the faction had no clear direction or storyline. Without a structured creative team, Black had to figure things out himself, which made it harder for him to succeed.

“In WWE, everything was done for him, right? Everything was set up for him, all he had to do was just go out there and boom, get it done. He didn’t have to write stories, he didn’t have to create factions or anything like that. But then, you go to AEW and it’s like going to some of these independent shows and the guy that’s running the show, you show up and you say, ‘What do you want from me?’ They go, ‘What do you want?’ That’s what it is when you get to the AEW.

Boom, let’s create this House Of Black. Great, that’s a great idea, then you create the idea and nobody has written anything for it. You got to start figuring out what you’re gonna do yourself. Go to guys and say, ‘Hey guys, y’all want to do an angle?’ It’s the stupidest thing in the world for me personally. Again, going over there and not having that structure, that hurt a guy like Malakai Black.”

Booker T also talked about Miro, criticizing the fact that he had to write his own promos. He argued that not every wrestler should be responsible for creating their own material and compared it to Hollywood actors showing up with their own scripts. He suggested that leaving WWE’s structured environment ultimately hurt these wrestlers’ careers rather than helping them.

“Going over there and not having that structure again, letting a guy like Miro do his own promos. Who do you think wrote those promos? Exactly my point. That’s not a conducive way to go out and create a promotion. Can you imagine Hollywood actors just showing up with their own script? It would not go over very well at all. My thing is, I felt like getting out of the system, that WWE system, hurt these guys more than it helped them. As far as star power, as far as legacy? I think it hurt. I could be wrong.”

With Black, Miro, and Starks now free agents, many fans are wondering what their next moves will be. If they return to WWE, they could benefit from Triple H’s leadership, which has been more focused on long-term storytelling.

February 11, 2025 11:17 am