Malakai Black (former WWE Superstar Aleister Black) made his shocking debut for All Elite Wrestling on AEW Dynamite last week. Many believed that due to the standard 90-day non-compete clauses, Black would be unable to work elsewhere until September. But a clerical error on behalf of WWE changed all that.
On a recent Twitch stream, Malakai Black was asked about United States President Joe Biden, who is currently looking to change non-compete clauses in the country. While Black says he understands WWE utilizes non-competes, he believes there should be some form of middle ground,
“There is a middle ground,” Malakai Black said. “From a business point of view, I understand having a non-compete. As a person who works on TV, I understand that they want separation between you going from one place to another. I get that. Do I think it needs to be three months? No. That’s the standard contract. Obviously, with me, you guys know what happened. Something definitely needs to change and maybe there needs to be better prior notice. One of the things that I don’t think is completely accurate is ‘hey, today we decided to do that and we’ll follow up on it.’ I think you need a little more notice, but it’s a different process.”
Malakai Black says that WWE is not a normal company
While WWE currently makes the rules regarding how non-compete clauses work, Malakai Black believes that Biden will look to make these types of clauses fairer for both the employer and employee in the future.
“The WWE is not a normal company,” Malakai Black continued. “They kind of make the rules themselves. That’s where I think [Joe] Biden is trying to make a change where they have all the pros and you have all the cons. I understand the need for change on multiple levels and I also understand that there needs to be a middle ground and that there needs to be spacing in between. They still pay you when you’re no longer working for them for the duration of your non-compete.”
Do you agree with Malakai Black that there is a middle ground when it comes to how WWE handles their non-compete contracts? What would you like to see them do with them going forward? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
Thank you to Fightful for the transcription of this Twitch stream.
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