Where in the world is Andrade?
The short answer to that is, he won’t be anywhere other than his couch anytime soon, as his termination from the WWE just over a month ago brought with it non-compete clause that will keep him out of any other professional wrestling organization for the following year.
The longer, more complex answer brings with it a few different layers to this story and thus makes a few statements about the dynamics within the industry.
As mentioned, when Andrade was fired from the WWE, with his last appearance at Summer Slam in August, it was reported that he failed drug tests and also went on vacation without telling the office so their attempts to contact him went unanswered.
On the surface, this looked to be a rather simple story, he was an athlete that should be in the prime of his career, but outside of the ring issues prevented that. As disappointing as it would be if he wasted his opportunity to be a major star in the sports entertainment industry, it’s not a new narrative. Sadly, wasted talent and wasted opportunities come with the territory of any live entertainment field.
The situation got exponentially more complicated when Andrade made a surprise return to All Elite Wrestling, where he worked for a rather undistinguished two and a half years previously, on an episode of Dynamite at the beginning of October to attack Kenny Omega, joining the Don Callis family. Just a few days later, he returned to Mexico, winning The Crash heavyweight title.
Considering that Andrade showed up on TBS just two weeks after his was released by the WWE, many assumed that he wasn’t under any type of non-compete since he was fired immediately rather than paid during the standard 90-day non-compete clause for most talent that are cut from the organization.
However, just days after his appearance on All Elite television, it was revealed that since he was fired for disciplinary reasons, Andrade had a one year non-compete enforced upon his WWE exit. So, he showed up to attack one of the top stars of AEW and won’t legally be allowed to work an angle for a theoretically payoff to the feud. That certainly didn’t do Kenny Omega any favors, as he continues to try to reignite his momentum that was stalled after some very serious injuries put him on the sidelines for an extended period of time.
The situation is two-fold as far as what it says about the narratives of the industry.
First and most importantly, this makes AEW look absolutely bush league. How in the wide world of sports does this happen with the second biggest national pro wrestling company that has access to the same legal team as an NFL franchise? Obviously, Tony Khan just took Andrade’s word for it, and it’s more than possible that the lucha star honestly thought that he was clear to work for a different organization if something got lost in translation since English isn’t his first language, but it’s almost inexcusable that the AEW legal team didn’t confirm Andrade’s contract status before he was allowed on television. I’m not trying to imply that Andrade went rouge to attempt to snub WWE, he has been back and fourth between both groups to know enough not to burn a bridge, but rather to point out that a truly professional organization doesn’t let a faux pas like this happen.
It’s 2025, the contract scrambles of the late-90s are well documented, and the WWE had to settle a $20 million anti-trust lawsuit with MLW last year so every promoter in the business should understand how important the fine print on the contract is. Given the amount of legal jargon involved in modern day contract specifically to prevent talent jumping or the terms of their departure, it becomes even more important to be aware of that fine print to avoid any accusations of contract tampering, especially based on the previously mentioned MLW lawsuit.
On one hand, you can make the argument that WWE contracts are too one-sided, but that argument is moot. The talent knows the terms of the deal when they put pen to paper, or at least they should. With an alternative league that offers comparable money, it’s not as though the talent is necessarily at the mercy of TKO contracts, they have the option to negotiate the terms of the deal or explore their options elsewhere. It goes without saying that it’s one of the many reasons why competition is so important for a healthy industry, but the point is, Andrade made the decision to ink a deal with WWE for a comeback last year. The fact that he didn’t gain any stream, and to be fair wasn’t really put in a position to get more traction as a bigger star, even after the AAA purchase, is irrelevant. The fact that his dismissal, or his arrival in AEW won’t make a dent in the WWE at all is also irrelevant. It sounds harsh, but the bottom line is, the WWE has the legal right to enforce the terms of the contract, and those terms dictate that since they decided to fire him for disciplinary reasons that they can prevent him from working elsewhere for a year.
On the other hand, you can say that this has a lot less to do with the value of Andrade as a performer, and more to do with the WWE blocking All Elite Wrestling from doing something simply because they can flex their muscle as the top sports entertainment corporation in the world. Let’s be honest here, Andrade is a talented guy, but given the nature of his firing from WWE, it appears that he might have some problems that he has to take care of before he gets back in the ring, and based on his prior AEW stint, even if he didn’t have the disciplinary issues, it’s not as though the return of Andrade was going to propel the ratings of Dynamite.
Again, not to down grade Andrade, he can go in the ring, but his ability or cache as a star isn’t the story here.
The WWE had their ducks in a row, and clearly AEW didn’t. Sure, the WWE had contract blunders in the past, but the timing of this scenario sends a bigger message than anything else. There was a period of two years where backstage chaos and lack of structure was the biggest narrative around All Elite Wrestling. Now, after much of that chatter had quieted down, they made one of the most basic blunders of the business, “can this guy legally work here?”
No, I don’t think that this or any one situation itself will completely damage AEW, but the cumulative effect of different scenarios over the course of time could lead to All Elite being typecast as a minor league group, if it hasn’t already. That becomes a problem because as mentioned prior, competition is key for the industry to flourish, and at this point, the optics of the business, including how the Andrade situation unfolded, implies that the dynamics of the industry are almost one-sided.
Of course, I hope I’m wrong, and as mentioned prior, we’ve seen the narrative within the genre flip before, but I still think All Elite is in danger of being labeled as the definitive distant second to the WWE, much like TNA was in its heyday, rather than a true competitor that could impact the direction of the business the way that it did in 2019.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
