Following the news on Saturday that Andrade had been moved to the alumni section of WWE’s website, new details have emerged regarding the circumstances of his departure. According to a report from Jon Alba’s “The Takedown on SI” at Sports Illustrated, Andrade’s exit was not a mutual decision but a release initiated by the company for disciplinary reasons.
The report confirms what was first reported by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, stating that the release was disciplinary. The Takedown on SI adds further context, with multiple sources indicating that Andrade “had at least one wellness policy violation during his most recent WWE run”.
The specifics of the violation, whether it was a positive test for a banned substance or a failure to produce a test, are not known. It was noted that he was suspended without pay as a result of the violation.
Further details from the report state that Andrade was told to leave a SmackDown taping last month and was “escorted out of the building”. A high-level source cited in the report asserted that his dismissal from the building was related to his suspension and that it “affected major creative plans for his tag team with Rey Fenix”.
This would not be Andrade’s first wellness policy violation with WWE. In January 2020, during his previous run with the company, WWE publicly announced that he was suspended for 30 days for his first violation of the policy. He would later leave WWE in 2021, spending several years with AEW before his return at the 2024 Royal Rumble.
Since the TKO merger in 2023, WWE has not publicly announced any potential wellness policy violations. A report from Cory Hays of Bodyslam.net on Saturday night stated that WWE had been unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with Andrade for several weeks.
As of press time, WWE has not made an official comment on the nature of Andrade’s release. His last performance for the company was in a Six-Pack TLC match at SummerSlam. Andrade has also not commented publicly.
