The news recently broke that Andrade had been released by WWE. There have been lots of conflicting reports surrounding the reason behind his departure, though the former NXT Champion did recently share a post on social media expressing gratitude to the company.
Now, Dave Meltzer has elaborated on what happened in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It's said that WWE had a case of "buyer's remorse" after bringing him back into the fold and were disappointed with his lack of momentum following his decision to leave AEW.
The fact that Andrade's English had not improved was another issue, as it was felt that it hampered his character's progression. Ultimately, the likes of Penta and Ray Fenix "usurped" his position and value in the eyes of management, with his partnership with the latter viewed as his "ceiling" as a WWE Superstar.
It seems WWE had hoped that Andrade's return would generate the same buzz as when Cody Rhodes made the jump from AEW. However, after an "initial first-day pop" at the 2024 Royal Rumble, fans cooled on him. However, WWE's lack of "focused direction" is also said to be to blame.
In other news, Meltzer has also learned that Gunther is being lined up to make his WWE return "very soon." Since losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Jey Uso at WrestleMania, he's only appeared sporadically. He won it back from Uso in June, faced Goldberg in his retirement match, and then lost the time to CM Punk at SummerSlam.
He was written off television with an injury, but it sounds like he'll soon be back in full force.
Interestingly, current World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins was recently interviewed by Nightcap and addressed his own contract status:
"I don’t know if I want to do it into my 50s. I have a couple of years left on my contract in WWE. My daughter is four-and-a-half, almost five. I wouldn’t mind spending some extra time with her in a few years. We’ll see what happens. I love this business; I’ve given my entire life to it, it’s given me a great life. I met my wife through this business, I have my daughter because I met my wife through this business. I’m able to provide jobs at my wrestling school down in Iowa for other people. I’ve built a mini-empire out of this industry. I imagine in some capacity I will stay involved one way or another for as long as I can."
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.