Will Andrade el Idolo ever emerge as a star?
Andrade the anomaly. Perhaps that's what he should be called from now on since his career has been so hard to figure out.
Andrade el Idolo, the luchador with a Hollywood look, has been on the precipice of becoming a superstar for five or six years now. After making his name under a mask in Mexico as La Sombra, he signed with WWE in 2015 and was considered a surefire star in the promotion.
Now unmasked and sporting a different kind of swagger as a character, he was impressive in NXT, capturing the big title there and making his way to the main roster.
However, things didn't go as planned from there.
Andrade found the majority of his success in WWE when he was managed by Zelina Vega
ⓘ this user misses Andrade and Zelina Vega together 😥
@TheaTrinidad https://t.co/cG8b3MiWL1
These two were the perfect pair. He was the talent, and she was the talker. Andrade El Idolo does not speak English fluently enough to cut an epic promo. So, he needed someone with the right attitude and articulation to help him convey his message. Zelina Vega seemed to have the gift of the gab.
It worked out well for awhile, and it appeared as if Andrade had someone by his side who could help guide him to the promised land in WWE.
Despite winning the United States title and having razor sharp matches, he never seemed to get that last fingertip closer to the brass ring. He was proving more and more that he was special; he just wasn't 'main event special'. He didn't have the horsepower left to drive him all the way to the top of the mountain.
When Vega was separated from him and eventually let go for an extended period of time by WWE, the writing was on the wall for Andrade. He asked for his release and eventually parted ways with the promotion.
His time with AEW has been all over the place and incredibly inconsistent
It hasn't changed much for Andrade in All Elite Wrestling. Despite a lot of hype and build-up upon arrival, his booking there has been a hit-or-miss proposition.
In other words, he's basically been bounced around more than a beach ball at SummerSlam.
Since his debut just six months ago, he's already had different managers and handlers (Vickie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero didn't do much for him at all) and has been twisting in the wind in terms of his booking.
His highest profile match thus far in AEW was an Atlanta Street Fight with Cody Rhodes, which in all fairness was more about Rhodes and the spot at the end.
Andrade was third-string in terms of headlines regarding his own match... right behind 'Cody' and 'Fire'.
Cody Rhodes has shown off a number of painful looking injuries following the fiery climax of his recent clash with Andrade El Idolo.
[#AEW]
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Aside from that trainwreck, he's been relegated to about the same level he occupied in WWE. That's not what fans of All Elite Wrestling were expecting when this massive talent was originally signed.
It's going to get worse, too. AEW is adding more and more big names (like CM Punk and Bryan Danielson) who far out-rank Andrade in terms of notoriety and marketability. And there are likely to be more to come.
Before you know it, Andrade may be standing in line in AEW behind some of the exact, same guys who were ahead of him in WWE. And that's a shame since this was supposed to be his step into the spotlight.
AEW needs to do something soon to turn things around if they truly believe that Andrade can be a top-notch superstar. Otherwise, they simply invested in a whole lot of potential that will never be fulfilled.
What have you thought of Andrade's performance thus far in All Elite Wrestling? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.