Andrade El Idolo Set To Return to New Japan Pro Wrestling

The status of Andrade El Idolo since his departure from WWE in September has been the subject of much speculation. Andrade’s first appearance was with AEW, but then WWE enforced a no-compete clause that prevented further AEW appearances. Recently, Andrade has appeared for WWC in Puerto Rico. Now, Andrade will be returning to one of his old wrestling homes.

New Japan’s Road to Tokyo Dome show today was their final event heading into Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4. It was on that show that we found out that Andrade El Idolo would be making his return to NJPW. As La Sombra, Andrade appeared on multiple Fantastica Mania tours during the early 2010s. He won the IWGP Intercontinental Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura in 2013, holding the title for two months before losing it back to Nakamura.

The new business backer for United Empire is none other than @andradeelidolo!

And he’ll be on the UE side at Wrestle Kingdom!!#njpw #njwk20 pic.twitter.com/PfJbo7bEQ2

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) December 22, 2025

Andrade announced that he’s the “business backer” for United Empire, and will be competing alongside them in a ten-man tag team match at Wrestle Kingdom 20. David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, Hiromu Takahashi, and Shingo Takagi will provide the competition for Andrade, Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman, Henare & one more mystery partner. Wrestle Kingdom 20 will air on NJPW World on January 4.