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In a candid and very tastefully put interview, much more tasteful than deserved, Manny Andrade “El Idolo”, spoke to Lucha Libre Online about his recent release and career with WWE. The Lucha wrestler was positive about some experiences, and most of the talent he encountered, citing an encouraging culture amongst the veteran wrestlers, but there were also drawbacks to working for the billion-dollar company.
Starting the interview, Andrade spoke to his dream of being a wrestler. He’d known from birth that it was what he wanted to do. Wrestling was in his blood, a family tradition. Delving further into recent events, Andrade, discussed how he wasn’t sure about leaving the WWE until last month.
According to Andrade, in February, top WWE talents Randy Orton, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, and Cesaro, questioned his absence, and that’s when he started to suspect something was off. While he initially went undrafted in the most recent pool, it was cited that he’d been left off due to an eye surgery that he was cleared for in November, but after being cleared, there was still no story for him.
Despite several media outlets reporting an eventual push scheduled upon his return. Andrade had this to say about the locker room and his peers. “Everyone treated [me] with kindness, but no one speaks out, everyone vents but nobody stands up and says something.”
Fearing that there might be an actual problem within the ranks, both Andrade and his fiancée Charlotte Flair, pitched ideas to the WWE creative team regarding their future storylines. None of the ideas came into fruition. While he was unspecific about what the ideas were, it was very apparent that his English was the excuse they wanted to rely on for the lack of mainstream stories for the thirty-one-year-old wrestler. This seems to be a justification for lack of creativity where he is concerned, as there are several talents who speak perfect English who are also stuck in catering.
One of the most telling parts of his sit down, a source of high contentment, was the medical treatment, or lack thereof. While the timing is a bit suspicious, the Lucha wrestler kept it positive. He had this to say: “15 days ago, I asked for my release on a Monday, I tested positive for Covid, Sunday 7 days later. They then called me and said I was granted my release. The doc that punished me for testing positive for a substance is the same doctor who relayed the positive covid test.”
While his overall experience was filled with ups and downs, Andrade had nothing but great things to say about his fellow wrestlers, WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque and former executive producer Paul Heyman. “Paul always spoke the truth to me. He believed in me. None of the matches with Rey [Mysterio] were scripted, the matches kept taking place because the viewers loved it not because it was scripted to take place.”
Andrade was also very clear on the basis of that, while he fears some may have negative feelings towards Latinos in WWE, he doesn’t let it affect him. He doesn’t give things like that importance.
He had several things to say about his real-life romance, but the main consensus was that of respect for her wellbeing. He spoke on a few events, that I personally find reprehensible, but even then, he relayed their events with tact and poise. While his treatment and experiences leave a lot to be desired, there is one thing that stands out. Andrade is destined for greatness. Let’s hope he finds a place willing to showcase it.
The full interview can be found here.
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