More Details On What Led To Andrade’s WWE Departure
The WWE career of Andrade has ended, and more details have come out about what happened.
For the second time in his career, Andrade has been released by WWE. He has been moved to the alumni section on WWE’s website.
There are more details about what happened with the former SmackDown superstar who was part of WWE from 2015 until March 2021 and then again from January 2024 until this week. In between his two WWE runs, Andrade worked for AEW from June 2021 until the end of 2023.
It was reported by Sports Illustrated’s Jon Alba that Andrade “was effectively released by the company, and that the departure was not a mutual decision.” It was also noted that Andrade hadn’t been at TV tapings for nearly a month, and WWE talent were told on Saturday that he was being released.
The report from Alba added that budget cuts were not the reason for the release. It was also not yet known if Andrade asked for his release, as he did in 2021.
More information has been provided by Bodyslam’s Patreon, who claim that Andrade had creative differences with WWE since he returned in January 2024. That led to frustrations on both sides over the last year and a half. Bodyslam also reported that WWE was unable to reach Andrade for several weeks, which likely led the company to feel that the best thing they could do was release the disgruntled star.
Andrade’s WWE Release Did Affect Creative Plans
Fightful Select has reported that this isn’t a case of Andrade’s contract expiring and WWE choosing to let him go since he signed a new deal in January 2024, so there was likely time remaining on it. The departure of Andrade is isolated and not related to any other cuts.
Backing up what Sports Illustrated reported, Fightful also reported that Andrade had not been backstage for several weeks, and he was not on the company’s injury list.
Prior to his release, Andrade had formed a tag team with fellow Mexican wrestling star Rey Fenix, and the two men picked up several significant wins on SmackDown. According to Fightful’s report, Andrade’s “departure had been in the works for at least a week, and that this did affect immediate creative plans after Summerslam.”
It was mentioned by Fightful that there was a plan at one point for Andrade and Fenix to face the Wyatt Sicks at Clash in Paris on August 31st, but that didn’t happen, obviously.
Regarding WWE talent, those that Fightful spoke to didn’t know what was going on, nor did they know that Andrade was leaving.
As for Andrade’s AEW past, he was offered a long-term contract extension, and AEW thought he would stay, but Andrade didn’t want to stay. A return to AEW isn’t considered impossible, but it’s unknown if AEW has an interest in bringing him back.
The 35-year-old Andrade is the ex-husband of the legendary WWE superstar Charlotte Flair, who filed for divorce from him in June 2024, and the divorce was finalized in October 2024. They were both on SmackDown together during Andrade’s latest WWE run.
The final WWE match in Andrade’s career was at SummerSlam when he and Fenix were part of an outstanding 6-team TLC match for the WWE Tag Team Titles.