Claim That Andrade Was Released Over His English Gets Called Into Question

The story around Andrade’s WWE release just took a sharp turn — and now one of the biggest talking points is being debunked.

Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE officials were frustrated with Andrade’s lack of progress with English and his inability to connect with fans the way they had hoped. According to Meltzer, some within the company expected big things when he arrived from AEW — especially after names like Cody Rhodes and CM Punk had huge momentum behind them.

“There was frustration internally that they wanted him to improve his English. There was no question regarding his talent, but there were a lot of talented people there and he never got the call to be a bigger star. Penta came in and usurped him as the new generation Mexican star and got over much stronger, and Fenix was in as well.”

Meltzer added that WWE thought Andrade would ride that same post-AEW wave of popularity, but it didn’t pan out.

“Some noted to us frustration that his English never got better. One noted to us that there was a buyer’s remorse, in the sense they thought bringing him in from AEW would be huge… but the fan base didn’t react to Andrade at anywhere near the same level after the initial first-day pop.”

But now, that entire angle is being questioned. Fightful Select reports they were never told that Andrade’s English was a factor in his release, directly challenging Meltzer’s claim. According to Fightful, that reasoning never came up in conversations with sources close to the situation.

On top of that, Ringside News is raising eyebrows at the idea that WWE would leak something so specific about a talent’s language skills. WWE rarely makes comments like this public — even anonymously.

At the end of the day, blaming Andrade’s release on his English feels more like spin than substance. Whether WWE misjudged his value or just couldn’t figure out how to book him, the company clearly didn’t get what it hoped for — but trying to pin that on a language barrier doesn’t sit right.

Do you think Andrade was ever given a fair shot in WWE, or was he set up to fail from the moment he signed? Drop your thoughts in the comments — we want to hear what you think.