AEW star Andrade El Idolo has opened up about his departure from WWE, revealing that his divorce from Charlotte Flair, creative frustrations, and a proposed move to AAA contributed to his decision to leave the company.
Speaking to Chris Jericho on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Andrade El Idolo said his second WWE run failed to meet his expectations, despite initially returning with ambitions to compete against the promotion’s biggest stars. Andrade admitted that working in the same company as his former wife, Charlotte Flair, became uncomfortable following their divorce.
“I’m back to WWE, working with my ex-wife [was] feeling like little weird. Not feeling [at] home or not feeling like comfy, you know,” Andrade said.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with the creative direction he was given, claiming that WWE failed to establish a meaningful storyline for his character.
“The story they give me, they did not give me a specific good story, [or] direction. So later they wanted to send me to AAA.”
According to Andrade, WWE presented a potential move to AAA as a positive opportunity, but he was reluctant to return to wrestling primarily in Mexico after establishing himself internationally. While emphasising his respect for AAA and other wrestling promotions, Andrade explained that he joined WWE to expand his worldwide recognition.
“I moved here to work with WWE. I know AAA, I respect AAA, I respect all the companies. But the WWE is worldwide and AAA is just in Mexico.”
Andrade argued that he had already built a reputation in Mexico and wanted to use WWE’s international television and streaming reach to connect with audiences in other countries.
Andrade El Idolo Discusses AEW Return And Kenny Omega Attack
Following his departure from WWE, Andrade El Idolo returned to AEW and immediately made an impact by attacking Kenny Omega. Andrade explained that the opportunity to work with one of the promotion’s biggest names represented exactly the type of creative direction he had been seeking during his WWE tenure.
“When I come I went back to AEW, people [gave me a] good reaction, and I attacked Kenny Omega, [I thought to myself] I attacked [one of] the big guys. I wanted that,” Andrade said.
He added that defeating Omega had only strengthened his ambition to continue competing against AEW’s top stars.
“So now that I beat Kenny, I need to go for the big guys.”
Andrade also revealed that he was initially unaware of the length of the restrictions attached to his WWE release. Rather than the customary three-month non-compete period he had expected, Andrade discovered that his agreement prevented him from working for AEW until five months after his departure.
The delay temporarily prevented him from resuming his career with the promotion, although he has since returned to AEW programming. Despite his frustrations with WWE, Andrade El Idolo’s comments suggest that his primary motivation for leaving was the opportunity to pursue more prominent storylines and work with established main event performers.
