Andrade El Idolo Details Where Things Stand With WWE Non-Compete

Andrade El Idolo is still on the sidelines after he re-debuted in AEW nearly two months ago, and there is still no exact timeline for his return to the television.

The former WWE Superstar was released from his contract back in September after some reported issues with the company, that included at least one wellness policy violation. Just weeks later he appeared on the AEW Dynamite Six-Year Anniversary special and aligned himself with the Don Callis family.

In a new interview with DeporTV, Andrade claimed it wasn't until after he showed up to work for rival AEW that WWE enacted a 12-month non-compete clause.

“At first I didn’t have clause, I could fight leaving WWE," Andrade said in Spanish. "Then the clause came when they saw me debut in AEW. Now, it’s nothing more than getting ready and a normal day is waking up, having dinner, training, going down to the beach, sunbathing, tanning, more than anything not thinking about that."

Andrade left All Elite Wrestling in late 2023 and re-signed with WWE in time to compete as a surprise entrant in the 2024 Men's Royal Rumble Match. He told DeporTV that he made the decision to go back to WWE because he wanted to be with his wife at the time, Charlotte Flair.

The couple later got divorced, which Andrade admitted made his employment with WWE uncomfortable at times. He then expounded upon his other issues with the company.

The Takedown on SI's Jon Alba first reported Andrade's Wellness Violation

"I had a warning call because many medicines and supplements that in Mexico can be consumed but not [in the United States]. We have certain restrictions on recipes that we cannot consume as athletes because of doping and things like that. I was a little annoyed."

Typically when wrestlers are released from WWE, they are subject to a 90-day non-compete clause. Andrade was under the impression he was allowed to work elsewhere immediately upon negotiating his separation from the company, but Fightful Select has reported that WWE has the option to fire a talent for cause and hold them out for one year.

“My lawyers are already talking to the WWE lawyers, they are already reaching an arrangement," Andrade told DeporTV. "I think I have a date and my lawyer too, but it remains for WWE to officially sign it to say, ‘okay, this is the day Andrade returns to the ring.'”

Credit to the folks at Fightful for the Spanish to English translation.

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