As noted before, Andrade El Idolo has been out of action for AEW since this past October, first due to a suspension and afterwards due to him undergoing surgery for a torn pectoral muscle.
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Andrade is expected to make his return to AEW soon but there has been some “speed bumps” in his road to a return.
It was reported that Andrade was seen backstage at the May 10th Dynamite show in Detroit, Michigan. AEW officials originally had planned for Andrade to appear in backstage segment similar to Miro and Thunder Rosa’s surprise return segments on the show as part of the tease for the impending announcement of AEW Collision. It was reported that Andrade had turned down this plan for exact reasons currently not known.
Andrade reportedly was also in attendance backstage at the May 17th Dynamite show in Austin, Texas and had filmed a backstage segment for AEW’s social media.
Andrade reportedly is also currently expected to compete on AEW’s upcoming new Collision brand as originally revealed by the official poster released for Collision’s debut announcement by both AEW and Warner Bros Discovery.
In regards to Andrade’s injury status, it was reported that Andrade had been working out in the ring ahead of the May 10th Dynamite show but those close to him stated that he had insisted he was not physically ready for an official return at that time.
Andrade’s in-ring return status reportedly had changed since then due to him recently announcing that he will be competing in an event in Mexico on June 15th in a Triple Threat match against Psycho Clown and Cibernetico. This will be Andrade’s first match since this past September AEW All Out 2022, which featured Andrade competing in a Casino Ladder match for a future title shot for the AEW World Championship.
It was also reported that their sources denied rumors that Andrade had specifically gotten surgery for his torn pectoral injury this past Fall in order to be ready for AEW’s debut Collision show. Andrade nor the rest of AEW’s roster reportedly had any knowledge about the plans for the debut of Collision nor the potential of a new third weekly AEW television show at that time.