Just a day after Sammy Guevara and Andrade trended on social media for their public disagreements, there was another backstage fight in All Elite Wrestling. There are conflicting reports, with TMZ’s claim that Sammy threw the first punch and then Andrade responded with a punch, and also the claim from The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer that it was actually Andrade that threw punches that Sammy didn’t respond to.
It’s another messy story for All Elite Wrestling and provides some level of credibility to the speculation that the organization, the first true alternative to WWE since World Championship Wrestling folded in 2001, is mismanaged behind the scenes. As I wrote in an article yesterday, if this was a shoot, and clearly it was, there’s no payoff or business to be done from it. Despite the different versions of who started the fight, one thing is for sure, Andrade was sent home, and Sammy worked the main event of Dynamite, which might be an indication that Andrade did start the confrontation.
Obviously, what to do with Andrade is only one issue from this story. Without being repetitive of what I discussed in the previous article, Andrade is a secondary player among the All Elite landscape. If his skills justify a better spot is a different discussion for a different time. The point being, he’s not in the position to be a draw in the company so there are two ways to handle the situation. Either Tony Khan cuts him from the roster with the notion that if someone doesn’t want to be there then tell them to hit the bricks, or you enforce the rules of the contract a talent signed because they were paid based on that same agreement. It’s very similar to the Malakai Black rumors, which he disputed on Instagram last week. A promoter must decide if it’s worth the hassle to keep someone on the roster if they don’t want to be there. In some ways, if a talent isn’t thrilled with what they are doing, you might not get the best performance from them.
As far as what to do with Andrade, my two cents on the matter would be to give him his walking papers. Again, he wasn’t a featured guy on the shows and in the grand scheme of things, there won’t be a void if he’s not a part of the broadcasts. The argument could be made that he wasn’t fully utilized, but his actual status is the determining factor. The problem is, there was a precedent set in All Elite when certain guys were able to get what they wanted by refusing to do business or making it clear that they don’t want to remain under contract. According to Meltzer, Sammy and Andrade were spoken to the night before the Dynamite taping, and both assured management there wouldn’t be a physical altercation. The fact that there was means that at least Andrade ignored his boss. Meltzer also speculated that the former NXT champion wants to get fired to be able to return to WWE since Triple H took over the company. While anything is possible, that appears to be the case, considering he doesn’t have much of a future in AEW.
As mentioned, the problem is, if Khan releases him, it sends the message that a wrestler doesn’t have to do business to get what they want, and ultimately, the willingness to do business is how everyone makes money in the industry. Some will still claim that the MJF debacle from earlier this year was an elaborate work, but I doubt that because he was gone for three months without any mention so there wasn’t any guarantee that any of the heat from the contract dispute would be maintained when he resurfaced at All Out. Plus, CM Punk was injured the week after Friedman left without any timetable for a return so if nothing else, the product could’ve used MJF on the show when the world champion was on the shelf, as well as the fact that there wasn’t any guarantee that Punk would be back in time for MJF’s return to translate into a potential title feud.
If the MJF contract dispute was a shoot, it let the rest of the roster know that if they cause enough of a hassle that they can get what they want from Tony Khan. The fact that CM Punk buried the company while Tony Khan was literally right next to him at the infamous media scrum sends a message of its own. As I said yesterday, you have to commend Tony Khan for being willing to fund a wrestling project that sparked the industry, considering that he’s already a member of a billionaire family. He didn’t need to invest in sports entertainment to attempt to get some level of financial security. He could’ve bought an island and drank ice tea on a lounge chair. That being said, there’s a fine line between passion for the business and being a money mark. Unfortunately, if Tony Khan allows himself to be the latter, the sharks of the carny industry exploit him to the fullest possible.
It’s truly wonderful when a performer gets a chance to live their dream and land a national contract. Those are great moments, but at the end of the day, pro wrestling, especially at the national level, is still a business. Tony Khan can hug everyone on the roster or he can be their boss, it’s tough to attempt to do both. His comparisons of himself to Jim Crockett, or his fake outrage at a WWE show booked the same weekend of an AEW pay-per-view was nothing more than Tony marking out for himself at the press conference.
The bottom line is, success in the pro wrestling business is measured by profit and revenue. AEW can’t draw the money in the ring if the roster would rather fight backstage, and it’s the promoter’s job to put the product in the ring that will draw for the company.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Twitter @jimlamotta
