UPDATED: More Details On Bandido Exiting CMLL, Bandido Explains His Departure

UPDATED: In an interview with Lucha Libre Online (h/t Fightful), Bandido discussed his exit from CMLL. Here is what he had to say:

“I believe that it is like any other business. All the companies have their policies, their way to work, and we discussed a contract. We never reached terms, we never got to complete something and. An opportunity comes to my life to do something great with my life, whether that is as Bandido or in my personal life, like with Bandido Gym, so we had to make a lot of noise. It is a dream that is being realized. As I told you, and you have seen it true to science, Hugo, it is a big project, so we had to make a lot of noise. We made a wrestling card in which people like Psycho Clown and others from AAA and of course Bandido. With me not having an established contract, it was easy because it is my dream and what better way to inaugurate the gym on the right foot. They did not accept that I was wrestling in that, and I, honestly, just wanted to participate in the event in Bandido gym. We did not reach a deal, and it’s respectable. At the end of the day, they are the ones that make the rules in the company and I am not going to be the one to change the game with them,” he said.

“It was a disappointment and there was a lot of sadness. As a wrestler getting into the Arena Mexico, we get up there and we give it all inside the ring. A week before, there was the match against Volador for the Title, and it was a dream for me. I got congratulated, from the Chief of the Programming Department when we were done with the match because that match was incredible. The week after they told that there was no way to work, to continue going forward, and to continue collaborating together unless I miss my own show, at my own gym, and they told me to send someone else in my place. Honestly, it brought me a lot of sadness to see that, in reality, the wrestlers here are just workers of a company and as much as you give it you all, you are not valuable to the company. It was very clear to me and I repeat, if CMLL helped achieve the dream inside the child inside me, and I still imagined myself wrestling there, but the fact that I was there, with no contract, and without having anything locked in, I thought it was time for me to take the next step and see for my future.”

ORIGINAL: As reported earlier this week, CMLL and Bandido announced that they have parted ways and the masked wrestler will no longer be part of the promotion. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has more details on what led to Bandido exiting CMLL. According to the report, he expected going into his match with Volador on March 26 that it would be his last. The reason he was still with the company was that he promised that match for a long time and wanted to deliver. Had it happened in September, he likely would have left then.

Bandido is opening his own gym with a show on April 17, and booked AAA talent like Psycho Clown and El Texano Jr. CMLL told him to cancel the AAA talent and use their talent instead, but he said that since he was an independent wrestler and not under contract, he had no reason to do that. CMLL then made the decision to stop working with him, even though they didn’t use him often and he wasn’t under contract.

CMLL doesn’t like to have their wrestlers on the same show as AAA wrestlers, and while that has happened in the past, CMLL either didn’t know or it wasn’t a big enough show. Bandido and Psycho Clown working together was “too well known.” Due to their ongoing issues with AAA, they have lost Bandido, RUSH and Dragon Lee.

In an interview with Mas Lucha (via Luchablog), Bandido said that he had been in talks with CMLL for a contract but they never agreed to terms. He noted that one of his goals is to main event Arena Mexico, and since he did that, he’s fine with leaving. He’s also working for ROH.