Apparently, Andrade 'Cien' Almas told close friends Rush and Dragon Lee not to sign with WWE despite interest in the pair from the company.

For the first time in almost two decades, WWE has genuine competition. Not when it comes to TV or number of fans, but when it comes to making signings. For a long time, WWE has been able to offer better contracts to whoever it likes. However, companies such as New Japan, Ring Of Honor, and All Elite Wrestling are now all very tempting to free agents.

There was a time not too long ago when WWE didn't particularly care what was going on in the independent scene. That has changed drastically since Triple H launched and built NXT. Since then, the company has been signing all of the biggest and best stars the wrestling world has to offer. In 2019, the tide seems to be changing.

RUMOR: VINCE MCMAHON HAS BEEN VERY IMPRESSED WITH ANDRADE 'CIEN' ALMAS

There are certain stars that WWE has tried and failed to sign. Most notably, The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes. However, even promotions without owners who are three times richer than Vince McMahon have been winning bidding wars. ROH has managed to recruit such stars as Bandido, Rush, and Dragon Lee, all of whom were rumored to be on WWE's radar.

via wwe.com

When it comes to Rush and Lee, it may have been a WWE employee who scuppered the promotion's plans to land them. According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Andrade 'Cien' Almas, who now just goes by Andrade, told the two to not sign with WWE. WON reported that the SmackDown Live Superstar is close friends with the pair and "pretty much warned" the two of them against signing WWE contracts.

While Andrade hasn't had the worst WWE run of all its new signings in recent years, he hasn't had the best either. The Mexican wrestler's stay in NXT was a short one, but he did win the NXT Title in that time. On the main roster, he has shown some promise and apparently, the boss is a fan of him. Plus, if he continues to have matches like the one he and Rey Mysterio had this week, Mr. McMahon will have no choice but to shine a spotlight on him.

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