Both Andrade El Idolo and Sammy Guevara assured AEW’s higher-ups that there would be no fighting, prior to the fight before this week’s Dynamite.
Before the show, Andrade and Guevara had an altercation backstage, resulting in El Idolo being sent home.
Andrade’s career vs. mask match with Preston ’10’ Vance of the Dark Order, initially scheduled for Rampage, has been canceled.
Breaking Promise
The fight backstage was the culmination of recent comments by both men, with Andrade claiming in an interview that Guevara complained about being hit too hard.
In response, Guevara claimed that Andrade was being dishonest, and said that El Idolo should go back to WWE, something the former Superstar has teased.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that AEW spoke to both men prior to the show.
“Tuesday night, they were talked to. Both of them. And they were told ‘no fighting.’ Andrade was told ‘if this is your idea [to try and get fired from AEW] you’re not going to get fired if you fight. But you will be sent home. Andrade said ‘don’t worry, there’s not going to be a fight. There’s going to be no fighting.’ This was Tuesday night.
“Sammy was the same thing. ‘Nothing is going to happen.’ They had security there. Everybody was warned ahead of time.”
Conflicting Reports
While most reports have stated that Andrade started the fight, some have suggested that he was goaded into an altercation by Guevara.
On his show, Meltzer gave his most accurate interpretation of events from a source he “totally trusts” within the company.
“Everybody was waiting. Andrade was waiting in the hallway. He got two punches in before things were broken up. Sammy didn’t fight back. Obviously if you watch the show [last night’s AEW Dynamite] the punches didn’t leave a mark. So they weren’t solid punches but he did throw two punches and then it was broken up right away and then Andrade was sent home.”
Bryan Alverez also refuted initial reports that the two had traded blows, clarifying that Guevara did not fight back.
“The story that was not on TMZ but I heard from multiple people was that in fact Sammy did not throw any punches. One person did say that Andrade spun him around and Sammy shoved him and then Andrade punched him. The other stories were that Andrade just punched him. And that Sammy did not fight back.”
What’s next?
Both Meltzer and Alverez agreed that if Guevara had fought as some believed, he would also have been sent home as per AEW’s warning.
Instead, Guevara headlined AEW Dynamite’s three-year anniversary, as he and Chris Jericho defeated ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia and Bryan Danielson.
AEW President Tony Khan has not commented publicly on the fight at this time.
