Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas Is an NXT Call-Up Worth Getting Excited For

Even though the Superstar Shake-Up is nearly a month old, there’s still one star that has yet to show up at his new show. In fact, when Andrade “Cien” Almas is unveiled next Tuesday it will be his WWE debut.

Accompanied by the devious Zelina Vega, the 28-year old Durango, Mexico native will officially begin his WWE career on the May 15 episode of SmackDown. Even more, it will be in London—a city that is bound to give him a memorable ovation.

Almas is in the middle of the biggest hot streak of his career. After turning heel and aligning with Vega, he quickly became NXT Champion when he beat Drew McIntyre last November. At January’s NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Almas retained his NXT Championship in a 5-star match against everyman superhero, Johnny Gargano. The next night, Almas got a taste of WWE’s big stage when he entered the Royal Rumble at #7.

At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Almas lost his title to Aleister Black, but a few days later was announced as part of SmackDown’s loot during the Superstar Shake-Up.

Almas and Zelina will be a welcome addition to Tuesdays as their chemistry is reminiscent of a classic heel couple. Considering SmackDown (and WWE as a whole) is hurting for villains, Almas and Vega have a shot of rising quickly—potentially as Jeff Hardy’s next challenger.

Outside of Paul Heyman, managers do not exist in WWE. There’s been little clarification as to why such a fundamental element of the sport is absent in today’s WWE, but Vega should be a great reminder as to how well a manager can impact his or her “client.” Even more, I’ve never seen Heyman hit a hurricanrana.

Earlier this year, rumors of Alberto Del Rio making yet another return to WWE began to circulate. Those have since subsided, which is great for all parties, but particularly Almas. Outside of Los Matadores, WWE has a pretty decent track record of success when comes to Latino stars. For whatever reason, WWE seems to only make room for one Latin character at a time while that’s an entirely different conversation, Almas is walking into a potentially fruitful situation.