Report: Andrade And AEW Began Negotiations In March
Shortly after his WWE release
On Friday night's episode of Dynamite, Andrade El Idolo made his debut for All Elite Wrestling, making his first appearance as a client of Vickie Guerrero's.
The debut came within 90 days of his WWE release, Andrade had no non-compete period stipulated within the release, thus he was free to sign anywhere else immediately.
According to a report from Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc, Andrade met with Tony Khan the week he was released from WWE. There was an apparent motivation to sign Andrade then, since there was no non-compete to worry about.
However, the report claims negotiations initially hit a snag due to Andrade wanting creative control, and veto power on losses.
Ultimately, a compromise was reached, affording Andrade a small amount of creative control on finishes.
As part of his demands, Andrade also wanted to be able to work for other organizations that aren't WWE (he's scheduled to wrestle Kenny Omega in AAA at TripleMania this August).
Andrade signed his AEW deal this past week. The sides had been working on the language within for several days.
Andrade was also in talks with Impact Wrestling. The promotion was willing to guarantee part of his creative wishes, but were far apart of number of dates that he'd be used (which is key to how Impact's payouts work). The report states that a one-off appearance was almost reached at one point.
ROH also had reported interest in Andrade. His close friend Rush is presently the ROH champion, though his deal expires in January.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
