Backstage News & Notes from AEW WrestleDream: Andrade Update, Changed Plans, More

AEW WrestleDream is set for tonight, headlined by AEW World Champion Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe. With the show just hours away, Fightful Select has several news and notes from backstage.

* Plans were in place for Andrade at AEW WrestleDream, but they obviously had to be changed in light of him reportedly having a WWE non-compete clause that could be for up to a year. According to Fightful’s sources, many within AEW as well as among agents are putting blame on AEW’s legal department for not verifying if Andrade had a WWE non-compete clause ahead of time.

* There were reportedly plans for Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi that had to be changed.

* At one point, a Golden Lovers vs. Don Callis Family match of some sort was planned.

* Wardlow’s injury also impacted WrestleDream plans, though Fightful isn’t sure if this would have been the show where they went ahead with Hangman Page vs. Wardlow.

* AEW Tailgate is now part of AEW’s deal with Warner Bros. Discovery and counts towards AEW’s committed hours in the deal.

* Tony Khan always saw Toni Storm vs. Kris Statlander as a big potential match, so he intentionally kept them apart for quite some time.

* Family members of Lou Thesz are scheduled to be on tonight’s show.

* Tony Khan was reportedly happy to see viewership for AEW Dynamite and its AEW Collision third hour rebound under the new Nielsen system.

* Tony Khan is set to miss tomorrow’s Jacksonville Jaguars game in London because he won’t be able to make it there on time after tonight’s AEW WrestleDream post-show.

* Syuri is apparently off this weekend, though it leaves the door open for her to be Mercedes Mone’s challenger. AEW is hoping to work with Syuri more.

Tonight’s card also features AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander vs. Toni Storm, AEW Tag Team Champions Brodido vs. Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita, AEW TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe, Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley in an I Quit Match, Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in a $500,000 match, The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Demand in a Tornado Trios Match, and Jamie Hayter vs. Thekla.