WWE SmackDown picked Andrade in the Draft 2024 earlier this year. The top star has been fairly quiet since returning to the company, but now he’s set to compete in a championship challenger match to start dominance on the blue brand.
El Idolo left AEW at the end of 2023 and returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble. He did not wrestle again until defeating Apollo Crews on March 4 and Giovanni Vinci later that same month. Andrade teamed with Rey Mysterio for a WrestleMania XL win over Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio, but then was moved from RAW to SmackDown in the 2024 Draft.
SmackDown has aired teaser vignettes for the former NXT Champion, but it appears his first match as a blue brand superstar will take place on WWE Speed. It will likely be taped before or after Friday’s SmackDown in Albany, NY.
Andrade vs. Karl Anderson will air on next week’s Speed episode. The winner will go on to face Tommaso Ciampa, who defeated Ludwig Kaiser on today’s episode, taped in Saudi Arabia. The winner of Ciampa vs. Andrade or Anderson will become the new #1 contender to Ricochet’s WWE Speed Championship.
The Highlight of the Night became the inaugural Speed Champion by defeating Johnny Gargano in the tournament finals earlier this month. The first #1 contender’s tournament saw Tyler Bate defeat Berto and Ivar defeat Apollo Crews, but Crews then replaced the injured Ivar in the finals match against Bate, who won. The Iron Master became the first #1 contender to the Speed Championship but Ricochet successfully retained over the UK star last week.
Charlotte Flair pays tribute to WWE faction
Charlotte Flair has been out of action with knee injuries since December 8. After undergoing surgery in early January, she was expected to be on the shelf for around 9 months, meaning she could miss SummerSlam in August.
Andrade left AEW to return to WWE while Flair was away, but the 38-year-old has been backstage at several events to support her 34-year-old husband. Andrade was aligned with Rey Mysterio and The LWO for months, but the partnership was dropped when El Idolo was drafted by SmackDown in the 2024 Draft. This is the same brand Flair was on at the time of her injury.
As seen below, The Queen and the former AEW star posed with LWO t-shirts during WrestleMania Weekend in Philadelphia.
Andrade’s return to The Grandest Stage of Them All, which was his first appearance on the main WrestleMania card, saw him and Rey defeat Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar.
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