Andrade El Idolo Confirms AEW Departure; Thanks Tony Khan

Andrade El Idolo has confirmed that he is no longer a part of All Elite Wrestling.

Reports had begun to circulate shortly before AEW Worlds End that Andrade El Idolo’s departure was imminent. Following a loss to Miro at the pay-per-view, Tony Khan addressed El Idolo in the press conference and stated that his contract would expire on January 1st 2024.

In an update by El Idolo on social media, the former AEW star thanked many people in the company for all that they have done and wished everyone well for whatever comes next:

I want to thank you for this time that I belonged to the company @aew and above all to Tony khan I also want to say goodbye to all the talent, security people, cameramen, referees and everyone who works in the company for being part of my time in AEW. kenny, young bucks, tazz, Shiavone, Aubrey, Jerry, Hobbs, hook, Kingston, Ricky, Orange, thunder, jack Perry, Austin, Colten, Sonjay and many more that I can name, also how to forget all the Mexicans (todo el relajo) I enjoyed sharing the ring with STING, PAC, Darby, García, Jay and many more. I would have loved to face MOX, Page, Hobbs, Ricky, Dante, Cage, Dustin. Thank you AEW AND Thank you to all the fans for your support always. I wish you the best always!!!

El Idolo signed with AEW in June 2021 after requesting his release from WWE earlier in the year.

Will Andrade El Idolo Sign With WWE?

Due to his previous affiliation with the company and being married to SmackDown star Charlotte Flair, many expect an Andrade WWE return to take place sooner rather than later. With the former NXT Champion now a free agent, there is no non-compete attached and he is free to wrestle wherever he chooses. Many expected to see Andrade on the Day 1 edition of Raw, but the former United States Champion was absent from the broadcast. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that with The Rock’s return and multiple big matches, Andrade would have been lost in the shuffle:

It would have made no sense to debut him on the show tonight. I mean, it would mean nothing because of Dwayne being on it, would be so lost in the shuffle, why do it? Plus, they had already advertised all this stuff. There’s no time for it on this show. The Dwayne segment between the start of Jinder Mahal and the end went like 28 minutes, which was way too long. And everything else was kind of the matches they already advertised were pretty much the rest of the show.

H/t to Inside The Ropes.