Andrade El Idolo says he is in negotiations with WWE to reduce a 12-month worldwide non-compete clause.
In a Spanish-language interview with Deportes in Mexico, Andrade said he is already several months into the restriction while his legal team works on an agreement with WWE’s lawyers.
He explained that a one-year non-compete clause, written to apply globally, was discovered in the contract he signed for his 2024 WWE return.
In the contract I signed, my lawyer, I don’t know if he didn’t realise or what, but it had a 12-month non-compete clause…They pulled out that clause and I had to hire another lawyer.”
Andrade said the clause is currently being enforced on a worldwide basis:
Right now we’re tied up with that. We’re in that phase. Right now I’m about to complete three months – three months of the non-compete…it’s worldwide.”
According to Andrade, both sides are now working on an agreement that would see him sit out a shorter period rather than the full 12 months.
The lawyers are getting good responses. And I think soon, more or less, I think I have a date in mind, and my lawyer does too. But it still needs to be signed off, WWE has to sign, everything has to be made official. Once that’s done it will be, ‘OK, this is the day Andrade comes back to the ring.’
Andrade returned to WWE in early 2024 after his first AEW run before being released in mid-September 2025. Multiple reports stated that he was fired “with cause” following Wellness Policy violations.
In the interview, Andrade said the Wellness issue stemmed from using substances that are commonplace in Mexico but prohibited under WWE’s rules.
I got a warning because there are a lot of medicines or supplements that you can use in Mexico that you can’t use there…There are supplements that have things we can’t take as athletes because of doping rules.
Andrade stated that he later spoke directly with WWE and “reached an agreement” to leave the company, saying they parted “in the best possible way” at that time.
Less than three weeks after his September release, Andrade made a surprise return on the sixth-anniversary episode of AEW Dynamite on 1 October 2025, attacking Kenny Omega and aligning himself with the Don Callis Family in his first AEW television appearance since December 2023.
Shortly after that broadcast, WWE informed AEW that Andrade was still bound by the 12-month clause, and he was immediately removed from AEW creative plans.
Andrade said that, based on his understanding at the time of his exit, he initially believed he was free to wrestle immediately after leaving WWE and that the non-compete was only enforced after his AEW return.
At the start I didn’t have a non-compete clause. At first I didn’t have one, so I could have wrestled right after leaving WWE. The clause came into play later, once they saw me debut in AEW. That’s when they enforced that non-compete clause.
Andrade stated that his legal team had considered challenging the restriction in court, but were concerned that litigation could take longer than a negotiated solution and come with significantly higher costs.
He said the goal of the talks is to formally reduce the practical length of the non-compete, which he now expects to keep him inactive for several more weeks or months rather than a full year.
While sidelined, Andrade is living in Miami Beach and described his current routine as treating the enforced break like a short rest period while staying physically ready.
He confirmed that he already has offers on the table for his next move, but is unable to sign anything until the dispute with WWE is resolved.
