Every wrestler has a signature. For Andrade El Idolo, one of the most popular stars in AEW today, it’s ripping off his pants mid-match — and the origin story is every bit as chaotic as the gimmick itself.
Speaking to Renee Paquette on her Close Up interview show, Andrade revealed that the first time fans chanted for him to strip, he had no idea what was happening. In the middle of a match where he was working heel and beating down his opponent, the crowd started chanting something he couldn’t make out.
Andrade El Idolo (Credits: AEW)
“What Did They Say?”
Confused, Andrade asked the referee what the crowd was saying. The answer stopped him cold: “Take your pants off.” His first thought was that he’d misheard — in his mind, wrestling crowds chant “This is awesome!” or “Tables!”, not wardrobe demands. He assumed the fans wanted more punches. The chant only got louder, so he went to the other official, Aubrey Edwards, for confirmation. Same answer.
“Okay, you want the pants off,” he recalled thinking. He took off his belt, unzipped, and the crowd erupted. The rest is history: the pants-stripping became a beloved ritual that turned the onetime heel into a fan favorite.
Why He Always Wears Trunks
Andrade also explained a detail only the most observant fans would know — he always wears trunks under the pants, not as showmanship prep but as insurance. Pants can rip in the ring, so the trunks are a safety measure that happened to make the gimmick safe to repeat. The one exception proved the rule: one time he only had boxers underneath, and when the chant started, he committed anyway.
These days, Andrade is riding high as the AEW National Champion, having successfully defended the title against Tommaso Ciampa at AEW WrestleDream. From a heel confused by a bizarre chant to one of AEW’s biggest fan favorites — all because he asked the ref one simple question.
Source: Fightful — read the full story there.
