Andrade on WWE Salary, Decision to Leave WWE, Vince & Triple H, Saudi Arabia, NXT Title Reign

As noted before, Lucha Libre Online held an interview with Andrade earlier this week discussing a variety of topics from his tenure in WWE. One of those topics included Andrade revealing that Charlotte was pulled from WrestleMania 37 plans due to a false pregnancy diagnosis by a WWE doctor.

Other notable highlights from the interview included:

  • Andrade initially stated that he was making around $3 million per year, which he later corrected in a second interview stating that he was earning a lot less per year and instead the total length of his contract was worth $3 million.
  • Andrade revealed that he made the decision to leave WWE following the company’s plans for his feud with Drew McIntyre to only revolve around him being squashed by McIntyre, who was vocal about it being a poor usage of Andrade’s talents. He also stated that Randy Orton was another notable person backstage who took issue with the company’s poor handling of him.
  • Andrade also stated that another reason for his decision to leave was due to neither Vince McMahon nor Triple H being aware for months that he had been medically cleared to return to the ring. He stated that he was cleared in November but it wasn’t until he told Triple H prior to his release request that Triple H became aware of his medical status.
  • Triple H tried to get Andrade to change his mind by offering him a stay in NXT for around a year, which he rejected due to viewing it as being a demotion in the company.
  • He opted out of WWE’s Saudi events following the plane incident in 2019 due to him not trusting WWE officials side of the story.
  • Karl Anderson was the person responsible for him and Charlotte getting together as a couple.
  • Andrade revealed that he was originally not planned to become NXT Champion and was only given a reign due to NXT officials at the time felt Adam Cole was too small to take the belt off of Drew McIntyre. He stated that the original plan was for him to have a transitional reign and drop the belt to Cole.

Sources: Fightful.com 1 & 2, LuchaBlog 1 & 2, MicroManFever