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“Andrade is a terrible guy,” Tony Khan told Robbie Fox on the My Mom’s Basement show. “So if Andrade loses this match (with Pres10 Vance of the Dark Order) he will leave AEW forever and frankly, you know, the way things have been gone with Andrade and the ways things have carried on, I don’t think a lot of people would mind that.” – needless to say, when the president and head booker of a company is talking that way about one of their in-ring performers, it's not a good thing, even if Khan delivered his lines in an objectively tongue-in-cheek sort of way.
After an impressive initial run in Khan's company where the man formerly known to the NJPW sphere as La Sombra went through the introductory Cody Rhodes program, Charlotte Flair's husband has been in a bit of a holding pattern in AEW, with no clear path or long-term booking philosophy. He was infamously barred from competing at Forbidden Door due to his connections with Lucha Libre AAA despite being a major part of NJPW's Los Ingobernables de Japón, has switched managers three times, from Vicki Guererro, to Chavo Guerrero, to Jose the Assistant – with a rumored Ric Flair run canceled in part because his part in the now-infamous “The Plane Ride From Hell” episode of Darkside of the Ring – and has been severely miscast as the co-owner and now sole proprietor of the Andrade Family Office, a faction that has halted every performer's push who has joined the group.
Sure, the AEW-side La Faccion Ingobernable faction has been a very intriguing development, with Rush's addition a resounding success and their occasional bouts with Dragon Lee providing a fantastic degree of story growth of all three performers, but that story has been very stop-start-y, with no clear commitment to the group on the weekly television sheet.
Speaking with Mas Lucha on the addition of Rush, who officially signed a full-time contract last week, Andrade lauded his addition and long-term value.
“I am happy that he got signed,” Andrade told Mas Lucha, as passed along by Fightful. “I tried to help as much as possible and they (AEW) liked his work. People wanted to see Los Ingobernables back together after I joined WWE. I went to AEW and reforming Los Ingobernables is something awesome and there will be a lot of stuff coming. May be good or it may be bad, I don't want to get ahead of myself.”
Based on that statement, it sure sounds like Andrade is committed to AEW long-term, right, as the promotion is wholeheartedly committed to the concept of factions, but that might not be the case, as La Faccion may lose their leader if he loses his forthcoming match with Vance. In theory, that should be an easy W for Andrade if all things were equal, as the former NXT Champion is by far the better performer, but what if he doesn't want to win? What if he doesn't want to stick around in AEW and instead wants to take his talents back to WWE with the Flairs? Andrade addressed that subject with Mas Lucha too.
“It's difficult,” Andrade said. “I was in WWE and I had a big contract and they offered me an even better contract but I rejected it because I wanted to continue growing, you know? That's why I chose to go to AEW, but right now I feel a little stagnant and I want more. I feel like I am going through what I was going through in WWE right now. Although I have a great contract and the schedule is good too because the WWE schedule is unimaginable. People believe that you only wrestle once a week, but you wrestle non-televised matches in other cities and countries. Right now, it's difficult because I want more in AEW, especially now that RUSH came in. Since he joined, I was like I want more. There is lots of stuff happening, including people saying I want to go back to Triple H, but I don't want to speak too much about that.”
If Andrade wants more in AEW he may have just found it, as his Mas Lucha interview may have inadvertently started a new feud with Sammy Guevara.
Andrade's AEW drama has expanded outside of the ring.
When asked if he'd ever had any issues with anyone else in AEW, Andrade delivered only one name: Sammy Guevara.
Now granted, having heat with Guevara is nothing new in AEW – it's practically a right of passage in the promotion at this point – but this particular interaction drew heavy criticism from Chris Jericho's right-hand man, with the former TNT Champion taking to Twitter to clap back.
“You are a jobber,” Guevara wrote. “A favor hire. Be grateful b*tch.”
Andrade responded, firing off a tweet of his own.
“I said it to your FACE if you had a problem with me and you said NOTHING,” Andrade responded. “I wont beat your a– because im a professional, don’t be scared. When I say something I name names, and im not scared to get fired! #Sammy“
That's it, right? Nope, Guevara quote tweeted El Idolo and escalated things even further.
“YOU didnt say shit to me you liar but heres some truth you ungrateful pr*ck,” Guevara responded. “You would be jobless if it wasn’t for your dad in law. Are you really mad at me or mad at yourself for failing to get over for a SECOND time. Just go back to Wwe like we all know you want to do & f*ck off.”
Andrade couldn't let that slide, right? Naturally, he finished things off in a very tranquilo way.
Is AEW about to have another backstage brawl? Will Khan embrace the battle between the JAS and La Faccion, assuming Andrade is still a member of AEW next week? Only time will tell, but if Andrade has been looking for a rivalry to reinvigorate his AEW run, he could do a lot worse than a program with Guevara.
UPDATE: Andrade's match with Pres10 Vance is officially off as per Tony Khan. Buckle up, this story just got a whole lot more dramatic, folks.
Friday's bout @Pres10Vance vs @AndradeElIdolo is off.
We'll still celebrate the anniversary of @ThisBrodieLee's final match at #AEWRampage as 10 will get the shot he missed at All Out:World Trios Championship
Death Triangle vs Dark OrderSee you tonight for #AEWDynamite on TBS
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) October 5, 2022
UPDATE II: Andrade and Guevara reportedly got into a fist fight in the backstage area before Dynamite that saw “Sammy allegedly pushed Andrade, and punches were thrown, according to our sources. It's unclear if anyone was hit.” according to TMZ. Wow.
