Much has been said about what the future holds in store for Andrade. He recently parted ways with WWE in what was widely reported to be a firing. However, there continue to be conflicting reports about what happened to lead to that.
Regardless, believing himself a free agent, Andrade wasted no time in returning to AEW and appeared on the October 1 edition of AEW Dynamite.
Despite being inserted into a pretty significant storyline, he immediately vanished from the company's programming, and it's since been reported that WWE is enforcing a one-year non-compete clause. The usual non-compete for a release is 90 days, but the 365 days is to ensure that wrestlers don't deliberately get themselves fired so they can jump ship.
Now, WWE Hall of Famer and former WCW boss Eric Bischoff has weighed in, revealing what Andrade and AEW can potentially do about the situation on his 83 Weeks podcast.
"Every judge and every jurisdiction is going to be different," Bischoff shared. "Obviously, in WWE's case, they're probably using Connecticut as the state in which these things need to be fought out or Florida, wherever it is. California, for example; good luck enforcing a non-compete in California. Florida, good luck. Alabama, try enforcing that in certain states. You'll get laughed out. A judge won't even talk to you."
"It really comes down to: do you have the money and the time to challenge it? If you do, you'll probably win. You'll burn a bridge in the process and you'll blow probably 150 to 250 grand in the process, depending on who you are and how hard you have to fight, but you'll probably win," he continued. "Most people aren't willing to fight it. They'll just ride it out, but it'll get challenged eventually."
"I've had attorneys where I wanted to challenge it and I wanted to fight, attorneys that were working for me, just tell me it's not worth it."
Bischoff went on to express surprise that AEW didn't do its due diligence, and didn't blame Andrade for misunderstanding the situation. As for whether he thinks AEW President Tony Khan will battle WWE in court, the pro wrestling legend doesn't believe that's something we should expect to see play out in the coming months.
"I mean, Tony if he wanted to spend the money, he could certainly spend the money and be competitive with WWE in the process when it comes to legal fees, but he's going to have to sit through depositions and discovery. Even if you can afford it, it's a time suck. It's gonna take up so much of your time and focus. I just don't think Tony wants it."
"I just can't imagine it would be worth it to him. I mean this no offense to Andrade, I don't mean this to sound like it's going to sound because I can't help it, but this is not a guy that you're going to spend half a million dollars in legal fees fighting for," Bischoff concluded.
Recent weeks have seen WWE release some cryptic teasers that many fans believe could be signalling Andrade's WWE return. If so, it will be quite the serve and another blow to AEW. However, it's looking more likely that they're for former World Heavyweight Champion Gunther.