Summary

Karl Anderson says a 2024 WWE Speed match with Andrade left him with backstage heat after he believed he was giving the company exactly what it wanted.

Speaking on Talk'n Shop, Anderson said he was told the match needed to be the fastest one ever. He said Nick Aldis relayed that message, though Anderson noted he could not confirm whether that instruction came directly from above. Once the match started, Anderson told Andrade to hit his finish and end it quickly, and the bout was over in 46 seconds.

Anderson also claimed Andrade was not interested in doing the match in the first place. Andrade has since moved on to AEW, where he is also tied into the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship picture after Shota Umino called for a match with him.

Quotes

The story came up while Anderson and Doc Gallows were discussing the WWE Speed bout:

**Anderson:** "Yeah, I got heat in WWE too because they told me they wanted to do Andrade (El Idolo) versus me and Andrade didn't wanna do the match at all, and then me versus Andrade because he had to work on SmackDown, we had to do a Speed match and they said, Nick Aldis, true or not, I don't know, but he goes, 'They said they want this to be the fastest match ever.' I said, 'Great.' I could tell Andrade did not wanna do it. I said, 'Hit me and finish me,' and one, two, three and I swear, I just felt like they were looking at me -"

**Gallows:** "Then they acted like you were a dick for it."

**Anderson:** "I thought I was helping the situation."

What the WWE Speed story says about Karl Anderson and Andrade

Anderson's version of the match makes the 46-second finish sound less like a creative choice between two wrestlers and more like a segment built around a strict production goal. If that account is accurate, the story also underlines how little room there was for Anderson and Andrade to turn the match into anything more substantial once the priority became setting a speed record.

It also adds a little more context to an awkward chapter for both men in WWE. Anderson is now working independent dates and appearing in Pro Wrestling NOAH, while Andrade's current focus sits elsewhere, which makes the match feel even more like a brief stop rather than a meaningful piece of either man's run.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.