Almost a day later and the shocking news of Andrade El Idolo signing with AEW has still rocked the pro-wrestling landscape. Wrestling Inc. has released a number of details regarding the former NXT champion’s big signing, which you can read in the highlights below.
-Andrade and Tony Khan actually met in Florida back in March, only one week after he was granted his WWE release. Negotiations were able to happen since El Idolo did not have a 90-day non-compete clause, and Khan was adamant about him coming in.
-The reason that a deal wasn’t immediately reached was due to Andrade’s demands. The reports states that he wanted a level of creative control for his character, as well as veto power on losing matches. It is said that a compromise on that was eventually reached.
-Andrade also wanted the opportunity to work with other companies outside of WWE, which would appear to have also been granted as he’s already made an appearance for AAA, and has a high-stakes title bout with Kenny Omega at TripleMania XXIX.
-IMPACT Wrestling was a potential landing spot for Andrade. They were willing to offer him the creative control that he wanted, but he would have been paid on a per-appearance contract and not received a downside guarantee. The report says they were close on doing a one-off but it never happened.
-ROH was also interested at bringing Andrade in. His Los Ingobernables brother RUSH is the current ROH world champion.
