Andrade El Idolo believes Mexican wrestlers have not received the same opportunities as some other talent in WWE.
During an appearance on the Luchando Por Tus Sueños podcast (see video below), the reigning AEW National Champion reflected on his latest WWE run and said the company wanted him to work with AAA after re-signing in 2024. Andrade explained that his goal was to become a featured WWE star rather than return to a promotion where he was already established.
“When WWE wants to push you, they will push you, it’s that simple,” Andrade said through a translation by Fightful’s Luis Pulido. “There are wrestler who have been given a chance WWE about 20 or 30 times and they still push them until they become stars. It doesn’t matter how bad you are because they want to make you a star.”
Andrade feels he made the most of his television time but was never given the sustained opportunities that WWE has offered others.
“I feel that I never got to be given the opportunity, they never gave me a chance, but when it was my turn to be on television, I took advantage of it. If I won or lost, those 10, 15, 20 minutes, I took advantage of them and I sold myself because I said: ‘The public is watching me, I still got it’ I always thought that way.”
While Andrade won championship gold during his first WWE run, he believes Mexican wrestlers such as Angel and Berto have also been overlooked.
“Yes, I got championships in WWE and all that, but I saw that there were people who gave them a chance and kept giving them another chance. And I just said: ‘He was already with this one, let him loose a little bit’, because there are very few opportunities they give Mexicans.”
Andrade then recalled WWE approaching him about appearing for AAA following his return to the company.
“It’s that easy, they have Humberto Garza… Well, Garza, Berto, very good friends of mine, they haven’t been given a real chance. When I returned to WWE they tell me: ‘Hey, wed love you to be in AAA’, but I told them that I sign with WWE, I didn’t want to return to AAA. I know that AAA is a big company, but it’s at the national level, at the Mexican level. Maybe one or more places in the world knows them, but it’s not WWE.”
Andrade stressed that he was not attempting to criticize AAA, but wanted the opportunity to establish himself internationally through WWE.
“You want to be a WWE star, he doesn’t want to be a AAA star, here in Mexico they already know me,” he continued. “Now that they have already given them the Perros del Mal, and I hope they do very well, but it is a national level, if you go to Saudi Arabia, they don’t know what it is AAA, they have no idea. If you go to Scotland they don’t know AAA, it’s not for speaking badly, it’s just that it is.”
Although Andrade intends to make occasional appearances for CMLL, he again pointed to Angel, Berto and Santos Escobar as wrestlers he believes deserved greater opportunities in WWE.
“You know me, I was already a star in Mexico, maybe I didn’t fill as many Arena, but I was a star. I wanted the opportunity to be in WWE, not in AAA. Now people ask me why I’m going back to CMLL, but I’m going to return a date or two, but I see Berto (And Garza), and they both have a good physique; they work well, they have charisma, they have everything to be superstars in WWE. Why don’t they give them the opportunity? Escobar (Santos Escobar) never had the opportunity.”
Andrade also compared those situations to the opportunities afforded to some of WWE’s Samoan wrestlers. While acknowledging Roman Reigns’ success, he argued that others have continued to receive chances despite failing to connect.
“Then you see wrestlers, maybe it’s going to sound bad, but there are some jokes about the Samoans. Not everyone; Roman Reigns succeeded, he did well, but there are several that don’t got it and they are constantly pushed. I’m there like they’ve been doing it for 20 years and they still don’t have it, and we never had those opportunities.”
The topic later resurfaced on social media when a fan questioned why Andrade left AEW for WWE in 2024 if he felt “Samoan guys” were holding him back. Andrade cited his desire to work alongside his now-ex-wife Charlotte Flair and made it clear that Reigns and The Bloodline had always treated him well.
“1 I wanted to work with my ex-wife,” Andrade wrote. “2 No! They always treated me great. 3 AEW is the best wrestling company and respects all wrestling styles; the company is less than 10 years old and features wrestlers from all over the world, they give everyone a chance.”
Andrade concluded, “I’m tranquilo, happy, and focused on AEW.”
Andrade El Idolo is scheduled to appear on tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite in Allen, TX. after winning the Casino Gauntlet at AEW All In: London to become the new No. 1 contender to the AEW World Champion, which is currently Will Ospreay.
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingHeadlines.com every Wednesday night at 8/7c for live AEW Dynamite Results coverage.
1 I wanted to work with my ex-wife.
2 No! They always treated me great.
3 AEW is the best wrestling company and respects all wrestling styles; the company is less than 10 years old and features wrestlers from all over the world, they give everyone a chance.I'm tranquilo, happy,… https://t.co/Gf5ZPWQBor
— Andrade “El Idolo” The Real Latino Man! (@AndradeElIdolo) September 2, 2026
