10 Hottest Free Agents LEFT In Wrestling Today

4. Andrade

Tessa Blanchard
WWE

WWE has become infamous over the past decade or more for having some truly outstanding talent under contract, yet criminally underutilising them.

While Ricochet, Mustafa Ali and Aleister Black are all prime examples of this across the past six months or more, one particular can't-miss talent who WWE totally bungled during this same period is Andrade.

It was admittedly a slightly mixed start to his WWE tenure during the early NXT days of Andrade 'Cien' Almas, yet when the former La Sombra found his groove, he became a pivotal piece of the NXT puzzle. Putting on great match after great match, some would even say that Andrade vs. Johnny Gargano at January 2018's TakeOver: Philadelphia is the best bout to ever take place under the NXT banner.

The combination of Andrade and Zelina Vega consistently delivered gold during their run together, yet somehow both of these talents now find themselves on the free agency list.

Vega seems happy right now to focus on her streaming ventures, although Andrade has already teased an imminent return to the squared circle - with the former NXT Champion seemingly set to revert to his La Sombra moniker or possibly go by the name 'El Idolo' Andrade.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.