AEW: Andrade’s addition creates a lot of opportunity

All Elite Wrestling made another major acquisition with the addition of Andrade to the roster. The former WWE NXT and the United States champion made his debut during a segment on Friday’s edition of AEW Dynamite, promising that he was going to be the face of AEW. He is yet another acquisition that can become a main event-level player within the promotion after seeing success in other players.

AEW has done an exceptional job of building up the stars that were considered under or misused in other promotions. Jon Moxley and the late Brodie Lee are examples of such. Even Shawn Spears has seen some success, especially recently. With Andrade’s signing, his fans might be looking at a similar resurgence that Moxley saw both before his AEW title reign, and since then.

AEW’s roster will look like a shiny new toy, with so many different options to pair against Andrade. Names such as PAC, Jungle Boy, Scorpio Sky, Rey Fenix, and others stand out as potential opponents. Many people will jump at the idea of Andrade facing off against Kenny Omega. While this is a good idea, that match should not happen until after they battle for the Triple AAA Mega title at Triplemania in August. Doing the match or even any type of interaction between the two beforehand would potentially denigrate the value of that first-ever meeting that is planned for later this year.

Andrade’s talent was highly overlooked while he was a part of the WWE. He is not the only individual to be in that situation, as it is a growing trend within that entire promotion. AEW has the opportunity to be a major platform to display his abilities to North American fans, as many others around the world are already aware. Since his release from the WWE earlier this year, speculation continued to rise around where he would show up on a full-time basis.

But this is not the end of that conversation. Where else might we see Andrade? Imagine Andrade returning to New Japan to take part in the upcoming G1 Climax, looking to improve upon his eighth-place finish back in 2011. Or he can continue taking part in AAA as well, as there is plenty of matches that can be booked in that promotion as well. Either way, opportunities abound for a wrestler that should have seen many more while performing in the WWE.

Andrade’s entry into All Elite Wrestling was not surprising but was still monumental. He is another performer that has what it takes to be a star in the industry and now’s the time to see if he and AEW can elevate him to a position where many thought he would achieve long before.