Andrade was officially granted his release from WWE on March 21st, but the story around his departure continues to rumble on.
It was initially reported on March 12th that Andrade had asked for his WWE release, but that his request had been denied. After confirming that he had asked to leave, the Mexican star left the company just a few days later.
With speculation at an all-time high, the rumour mill went into overdrive concerning Andrade’s next destination after he confirmed that he wasn’t subject to a no-complete clause as part of the terms of his release.
In a new interview with Lucha Libre Online, the former NXT Champion has shed more light on his departure. Andrade explained that when he was due to work with Drew McIntyre, a producer told him that he had to make McIntyre look like a monster, but McIntyre stood up for him, telling him to do what he did best.
“When the pandemic started, they put me with Drew McIntyre. Drew was great with me and behaved well with me in NXT and on the main roster. We had the matches and a producer came to me and said, ‘Make sure Drew looks like a monster, because he’s the champ.’ Drew came to me and told me to wrestle how I know to wrestle, saying that he doesn’t need me to make him look good, but to wrestle how I wrestle best. A lot of people treated me well, Drew too and Randy Orton. [Randy] would ask me, ‘Why aren’t they using you?’ I didn’t know what to say and didn’t know what was going on. After that, I made the decision [to leave],”
The man formerly known as La Sombra went on to reveal that he was making “several million dollars” per year with WWE, a lot more than other NXT graduates.
“I’ve been with WWE. I had a great contract with WWE, a great contract. Three million per year. Several million dollars per year, a lot more than plenty of guys coming up from NXT. I heard about some of those contracts. I made a lot more than those guys,”
Epico, another former WWE Superstar disclosed that he had met with Andrade just prior to his release, where Andrade told him how much he hated “sitting at catering every week.”
Andrade last appeared on WWE television back in October 2020, where he was taken out by ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription with additional credit to Luis Pulido and Carlos Toro for the translation.