Backstage News & Notes from AEW WrestleDream 2025 – Andrade El Idolo Plans Update, Wardlow Injury & Plans Update, AEW Tailgate Brawl Show Status, Mina Shirakawa & “Timeless” Toni Storm Tag Team Plans

Fightful Select reported that their sources provided several details regarding AEW’s plans for their WrestleDream 2025 event on Saturday, October 18th in St. Louis, Missouri.

It was reported that AEW officials did have plans in place for Andrade El Idolo but those plans were dropped due to issues over him having a non-compete clause with WWE that could be for up to a year. Those spoken to reportedly stated that many within AEW are putting the blame on AEW’s legal department for not verifying if Andrade actually had a WWE non-compete clause ahead of time and prior to his surprise return appearance.

Besides Andrade, it was reported that Wardlow’s recent torn pectoral injury also affected some of AEW’s original plans for WrestleDream but it is currently not known if this would have been the show where the planned Wardlow vs. Hangman Adam Page match for the AEW World Championship would have taken place at.

It was reported that AEW’s new Saturday Tailgate Brawl show is now part of AEW’s current media rights deal with Warner Bros Discovery and it counts towards AEW’s committed four-hours of weekly content for TBS and TNT.

It was also reported that AEW CEO Tony Khan was set to miss Sunday’s Jacksonville Jaguars football game in London, England due to travel-related issues over him not being able to make it there in time after AEW’s WrestleDream post-show.

In a follow-up article, Fightful Select reported that their sources provided additional details regarding WrestleDream 2025 following the event.

It was reported that those spoken to later clarified Andrade’s status for the event stating that while his non-compete clause situation affected AEW’s original plans for WrestleDream, it appears that he was not expected to actually wrestle at the event.

In regards to the Mina Shirakawa vs. Mercedes Mone Open Challenge match for the Interim ROH Women’s World TV and AEW TBS Championships, it was reported that Shirakawa was internally listed as “TBD” for the runsheet for the scheduled TBS title match. It was also reported that the TBS title match was a late addition to the card for WrestleDream.

It was also reported that AEW officials current plan is for “Timeless” Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa to start teaming together soon. AEW is currently scheduled to start their AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship tournament to crown its inaugural champions and if Shirakawa and Storm are named as one of the teams, that would make them a heavy favorite to win the tournament.

It was also reported that Swerve Strickland was backstage in attendance at a recent AEW Dynamite show but the reason for his appearance was due to him just visiting and not meant to be any indication of him being ready for a potential return. Strickland has been out of action since this past August due to a torn meniscus injury and surgery.