The former WWE star Andrade stunned the fans when he made his AEW debut at this week’s edition of Dynamite. As it turns out AEW President Tony Khan had been keeping an eye on the star when he was released from his WWE contract in March and even met him in that week itself.
Khan was in favour of signing the Mexican star and it is to be noted that he did not have a 90 day non-compete clause. However a deal wasn’t made.
Why Andrade was signed so late?
Negotiations had stalled and it was because of the demands put out by El Idolo. He had wanted creative control and veto power on losing.
There was a compromise made on that, and he will have a limited amount of creative control on his finishes. He also wanted to work for other companies outside of WWE.
The former WWE United States Champion was also in talks with IMPACT. They were willing to guarantee part of his creative control demands but they did not agree on the number of dates as he would be paid per date and not a guaranteed downside. They were also pretty close on a one-off appearance. WWE Raw Champion Hospital Photo Leaks
ROH was also reportedly interested in Andrade and his close friend Rush is the ROH World Champion, and his ROH contract will expire in January.
But, ultimately it was AEW that bagged the huge signing of El Idolo and it is a great acquisition for the company. We will see how he performs in Tony Khan’s company.
