WWE Had 'Buyer’s Remorse' After Andrade’s Return In 2024

Just a few days back, Andrade left WWE for the second time. Fightful Select confirmed his departure, and shortly after, Andrade also bid his farewell to the WWE Universe online.

Andrade is one of those wrestlers who are really talented in the ring, but it seems like he just can’t stick to one promotion for long. Back when he was still working for WWE in 2021, there were reports that he was unhappy with his booking, so he left for AEW. But similar rumors emerged during his tenure in Tony Khan’s promotion. He eventually returned to WWE in 2024 and had some great matches against Carmelo Hayes and others but didn’t achieve anything significant during his time there.

Now a recent report from Dave Meltzer says that WWE actually expected him to become a huge deal just like Cody Rhodes and CM Punk did after departing from AEW but they had buyer’s remorse later.

WWE Believed Andrade’s Return Would Be A Huge Deal For Fans

On the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer said that WWE expected more out of Andrade’s return. They believed he’d be welcomed by the fans after returning to WWE from AEW, but that didn’t happen. Meltzer said:

“One person noted that WWE had a buyer’s remorse for Andrade. WWE thought bringing him in from AEW would be huge since talent that had come in from AEW like Cody Rhodes & CM Punk were received so well.”

There could be many reasons behind this. First and foremost, both Cody Rhodes and CM Punk returned and immediately became the center of attention. Cody came back at WrestleMania 38 and defeated Seth Rollins. On the other hand, Punk was WWE’s surprise return at Survivor Series 2023. Andrade returned at Royal Rumble 2024 and spent 20 minutes in the match before getting eliminated by Bronson Reed.

In the past few weeks, it seems like Andrade and WWE’s relationship took a sour turn as he didn’t talk to them when they tried to reach out.

Andrade Violated WWE’s Wellness Policy During His Last Run

There are a lot of details surrounding Andrade’s recent WWE release. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer mentioned that the company sent him home for disciplinary reasons last month. Although he couldn’t get more information about it.

“I don’t know the whole story, but I do know it was a discipline thing.

It was a disciplinary thing. It actually is a story from a couple of weeks ago that just broke today.

He was not fired until today, but a couple of weeks ago there was a disciplinary thing, and all I know is, it was at a TV shoot, and he was told to go home and he’s not been used since.

I was told it was not drug related, it was not alcohol related, it was not marriage related, but nobody would tell me what it was. But it was enough to be sent home.” (H/t Wrestletalk)

WWE didn’t use him after that and Meltzer believes his situation involved something serious. There were attempts from WWE to contact him, but Andrade didn’t answer their calls and that could’ve ultimately led to his release as well but this is just speculation. On WON, Meltzer also confirmed that Andrade didn’t ask for his release, and he also refused to work for AAA.

“I know that they wanted him in the AAA project – he didn’t do it, so there’s that. But I don’t know if that has anything to do with it or not.”

Sports Illustrated also reported that Andrade had recently violated WWE’s Wellness Policy and was suspended without pay during his last run. This was his second Wellness Policy violation (the first one happened in 2020).

Based on everything that’s been reported so far, it seems WWE deemed Andrade too much of a hassle to deal with and decided, it’s best to part ways with him. Many fans are now speculating Andrade’s return to CMLL.