An AEW debut went unnoticed last weekend.
All eyes were on former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Isla Dawn as she made her debut against Mega Bayne on Collision. However, Dawn’s fellow NXT UK co-worker, Mark Andrews also made his debut for AEW.
Now it wasn’t much of a match as Andrews was pretty much squashed by Big Bill. In fact, based on the way he was treated on Collision, this seemed more like a one off than Andrews signing with AEW, but he’s still a pretty notable name for AEW to bring in for one night.
Andrews gained notoriety back in 2015/2016 working as Mandrews (this was seriously his name) in TNA/Impact Wrestling. He came over to WWE for the NXT UK brand thanks to the NXT United Kingdom Title tournament. Though he didn’t win, Andrews impressed WWE officials so he signed a deal to work under NXT UK and he had plenty of notable matches during his time in the developmental brand.
Andrews would eventually win the NXT UK Tag Team titles with Flash Morgan Webster, though they only kept the belts for 34 days. He continued to compete in NXT UK until the brand was shut down in 2022. The 33-year-old briefly went back to Impact Wrestling and won the Impact World Tag Team titles with Webster, but that reign barely lasted 50 days.
There’s no word on whether this was just a one off or not. Andrews was originally supposed to make his AEW debut in 2024, but those plans were ultimately scrapped.
“I knew All In was happening on the Sunday, but more importantly, I knew their Cardiff tapings were happening the Wednesday before.” He said on The Soul Sessions. “So, two days before that Riot Cabaret show, AEW was in Cardiff for the first time. I’d argue it was maybe the second or third most important wrestling show to happen in Wales.”
“With this AEW show, it really felt like an opportunity. They were in Wales, they were in the UK, and there are so many talented wrestlers in Wales right now. Flash and I showed up hoping to get a spot on that show, and we were kind of under the impression that maybe we would. For a moment, it looked like we were going to be on the show. It seemed like there was going to be some sort of tag team match for us.”
But, I guess the nature of televised wrestling is that things get cut, plans change, and maybe matches go over. I’m not entirely sure why, but we didn’t end up making our AEW debut that night, which was slightly heartbreaking, if I’m honest.
“It wasn’t just about me and Flash not getting to work or debut for AEW. It was more the fact that no Welsh talent at all got to be on that show. That’s what always feels like the real kicker to me.”
It’s great that Andrews got some TV time on AEW though hopefully, he’s given a featured spot that allows him to showcase his talents instead of being someone’s punching bag.