On March 8th of this year, Andrade requested his release from the WWE and he was granted that release on March 21st, but unlike other WWE Superstars who were released from their contracts, Andrade is not under a 90-day non-compete clause with the WWE and can sign with any pro wrestling company he chooses to as soon as WWE granted his release.
It was revealed that on the week of Andrade being released from his contract with the WWE he met with AEW President Tony Khan and since Andrade is not under a 90-day non-compete clause with the WWE, Tony Khan was motivated to sign him, however despite there being talks between both parties, a deal wasn’t made. Andrade listed a number of demands prior to a deal between himself and AEW being reached, which lead to the negotiations being put on hold.
Andrade’s demands include wanting full creative control on his character and veto power on losing, in which a compromise was made as he will have a limited amount of creative control on his finishes. The former WWE Star reportedly also wanted to work for other pro wrestling companies outside of the WWE.
Andrade was reportedly in talks with IMPACT Wrestling as well and they were willing to guarantee part of his creative control demands but things were not clear on the number of dates he will appear as he will reportedly be paid on a per date basis, not an amount which is guaranteed, which is how IMPACT’s deals have been structured as of late. A one-off agreement between former WWE Star Andrade and IMPACT Wrestling was reportedly even close to happening, but a deal did not materialize.
ROH had also shown some interests in signing former WWE Star Andrade to a contract and with Andrade’s close friend Rush as the ROH World Champion, a possible deal could have been reached. With things not getting done initially and the talks between Andrade and All Elite Wrestling happening in a slow pace Andrade finally signed his AEW contract this past week, though the language factor has been worked on as part of the deal for several days now.
