Major Santos Escobar Update, Andrade-WWE, Riddle Heel Turn, Laredo Kid, NXT/TNA, MLW News

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In the paid portion of this post, we have a big Santos Escobar update, TNA/NXT Showdown news, Laredo Kid, Andrade-WWE, Riddle heel turn and MLW details, as we've made efforts to consolidate our posts to give you more in a single update. The SRS Q&A podcast also released yesterday.

Santos Escobar

We finally have news on the future of Santos Escobar.

Escobar has made a number of ominous posts of late, and has effectively vanished from WWE television. His last WWE match in general was a WWE Supershow house show in Mexico, and he’s been used sparingly in the ring all year.

WWE sources confirmed to Fightful Select this morning that Santos Escobar’s contract is up “very soon,” and it hasn’t looked like he’ll be staying with the company as of now. It was implied the two sides had discussed an extension, but we’ve not confirmed as much. 

Outside of WWE, Escobar performed as King Cuerno in Lucha Underground. He also wrestled extensively as El Hijo del Fantasma across CMLL, AAA, and TNA/IMPACT Wrestling. He’s expected to be in demand if he ends up leaving WWE.

In an update, WWE sources say that Santos' deal will be up at midnight. The company has made attempts to re-sign him, but he passed on the offers.

Sources that we spoke to indicated it was more creative dissatisfaction than it was about money, and that he was offered a raise. We were told to not be surprised to see him at NYCC this week.

MLW news

• Apple TV executives were at the show in Los Angeles
  
• Alex Hammerstone vs Matt Riddle got the Best Bout Bonus.
  
• Riddle's heel turn was something that MLW had been planning since late in the Summer. They felt like they needed more top heels on the roster, and the fans were already turning on Riddle. MLW sources indicated they didn't want to swim upstream and fight that.
  

TNA/NXT News

• As of last week, NXT vs. TNA Men's elimination match was slated to main event the Showdown broadcast. We aren't sure if that's still the case, but that was the plan.
  
• Sources we spoke to weren't sure if Laredo Kid actually had a deal with TNA, as many there thought he was just on loan from AAA. He had not been around backstage in quite some time. Regardless, TNA sources tell us the door is not closed for a return.
  

Andrade

• I want to further elaborate on the Andrade/WWE departure situation. Fightful and Jon Alba had reported details of this departure within a day of it happening. However, because it was reiterated without credit elsewhere after his AEW debut, this gave the appearance that WWE was intentionally releasing this information following him signing with AEW. Outside of the actual departure, no other details were officially confirmed by WWE, and the company was very quiet on the matter. When following up with a WWE source, they didn't indicate that it was a "wellness strike" situation (which additional sources have), but said that they wouldn't have needed "a third strike" as an excuse to release anyone they wanted to release, without going into further detail on the situation. They have not revealed wellness violations in recent years.