Andrade Almas: The Hispanic Face WWE has been waiting for

[Wildcat66]

Recently, I have heard and seen a lot of praise for NXT champion Andrade 'Cien' Almas for his in ring work and his entertaining character. Having seen him before on the special USA Network edition of NXT, I could understand this sentiment but I never noticed how good he was. Even as he had his main event match against Johnny Gargano that really got people talking and gave high praise towards. Don't get me wrong, he seemed like he knew what he was doing, but I didn't know how capable he was...

Then I saw him in this year's Royal Rumble and the way he wrestled and worked in the ring and I have to say: Yes, the hype is real. Andradre Almas is a strong in ring competitor and even seems to have the character to work too. A part of me feels that once he debuts full time, he's going to be huge. We've always heard about WWE wanting a new latino face that fans would pay to see. Rey served as this for a time but left after growing stale, Sin Cara fell flat on it's face, Del Rio is likely never coming back unless he gets in the Hall of Fame and Kalisto is looking more and more of a bust each day. With this in mind? Why not Andrade Almas? He's comfortable in the ring, entertaining to watch and listen to and with Zelina Vega by his side, there's no telling what he could do.

I honestly think he has the potential of becoming the latino Shawn Michaels, a show-stopping, walking, talking, living, breathing MOTN candidate that fans of all kinds can celebrate for his many accomplishments and feats. He may have the power to cause controversy with the antics he gets himself into, who knows? One day, he too could hold onto the world title and have a strong reign on top. Whether it happens or not, I don't know for sure.

It may seem like it's a bit of hyperbole giving Almas all this praise and hype for a RR match appearance that (let's face it) is a one-off at best. But I hope that the day he comes up, he's given the welcome mat to success and does well for himself. If he makes it big, that's great: If he's a world champion? Even better. But after the Royal Rumble, I hope to one day see Andrade Almas again on WWE. Be it on RAW or SmackDown and wish him well wherever his career takes him.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Doesn't really speak English, unfortunately.

Gonna make your big aspirations tough.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

They'll take away his woman and two of his names. He'll be a husk of a man within 6 months of his main roster debut.

 

[Wildcat66]

Doesn't really speak English, unfortunately.

Gonna make your big aspirations tough.

That is a bit of an issue, but nothing you can't fix.

You could either let him feel free to take some English classes, or you could let Andrade say his promo in Spanish and let Zelina be his translator. He probably is like that in NXT.

 

[ISkye]

Give him a mouthpiece and literally make him learn English as part of the main roster contract. He will be busy, but WWE money and a for sure spot on TV is much better than returning to where he is from whether family, tradition, etc. play a role in it or not. Not to even mention WWE medical and opportunities after in-ring work. Don't pull the trigger and in two years after slow building and just showcasing great in-ring matches remove his mouthpiece after keeping him heel or whatever on the main roster and turn him face.

Different paths for different guys. He has great psychology and if he could limit his move set and even slow it down a little bit he could be a suave dastardly villain or whatever. The same would go for him being a face, but flip his move set into something more flashy and that can be used on any opponent. As long as the storyline is okay at best and he can deliver his basic promos with some conviction people will get into him. Kind of like the 0/10 argument people use with Asuka and Nakamura about their limited English. People are going to gravitate towards magnetic personalities when the time is right and if they feel them no matter who they are and what they say. Just like Japanese fans and people like Juice Robinson. Just like the entire world and a majority of the WWE entirely English based product.

 

[Sean Valjean]

As NorCal stated, Andrade's English is limited at best, hence why Zelina Vega does his talking for him. In fact, I'd say Vega accounts for more than half of Andrade's appeal and recent success. Without her, he's a good hand and not much else.

I may be assuming, but it seems like you've only seen Almas' recent work. While he's talented, he was also a MAJOR bust for a LONG time until just a few months ago when they paired him with Vega. She does ALL of his talking and plays the evil manger role to a tee. Andrade brings the wrestling ability but she brings just about everything else.

But even with Vega, Almas doesn't strike me as the second coming of Eddie Guerrero. That's largely because his charisma has never been shown to be anywhere near the level of Eddie or HBK for that matter. Almas had one incredible match with Gargano and a strong Rumble showing but he's still very much a work-in-progress. Maybe he could reach those lofty heights, but I don't see it right now. At the moment, he's closer to a more entertaining Del Rio which isn't THAT amazing.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

Recently, I have heard and seen a lot of praise for NXT champion Andrade 'Cien' Almas for his in ring work and his entertaining character. Having seen him before on the special USA Network edition of NXT, I could understand this sentiment but I never noticed how good he was. Even as he had his main event match against Johnny Gargano that really got people talking and gave high praise towards. Don't get me wrong, he seemed like he knew what he was doing, but I didn't know how capable he was...

Then I saw him in this year's Royal Rumble and the way he wrestled and worked in the ring and I have to say: Yes, the hype is real. Andradre Almas is a strong in ring competitor and even seems to have the character to work too. A part of me feels that once he debuts full time, he's going to be huge. We've always heard about WWE wanting a new latino face that fans would pay to see. Rey served as this for a time but left after growing stale, Sin Cara fell flat on it's face, Del Rio is likely never coming back unless he gets in the Hall of Fame and Kalisto is looking more and more of a bust each day. With this in mind? Why not Andrade Almas? He's comfortable in the ring, entertaining to watch and listen to and with Zelina Vega by his side, there's no telling what he could do.

I honestly think he has the potential of becoming the latino Shawn Michaels, a show-stopping, walking, talking, living, breathing MOTN candidate that fans of all kinds can celebrate for his many accomplishments and feats. He may have the power to cause controversy with the antics he gets himself into, who knows? One day, he too could hold onto the world title and have a strong reign on top. Whether it happens or not, I don't know for sure.

It may seem like it's a bit of hyperbole giving Almas all this praise and hype for a RR match appearance that (let's face it) is a one-off at best. But I hope that the day he comes up, he's given the welcome mat to success and does well for himself. If he makes it big, that's great: If he's a world champion? Even better. But after the Royal Rumble, I hope to one day see Andrade Almas again on WWE. Be it on RAW or SmackDown and wish him well wherever his career takes him.

Reading this post and your comment of 'One-off Royal Rumble appearance' makes me assume you don't watch much NXT.

He used to be drifting through NXT, was a decent performer but nothing really special or stood out. Since he got Vega as manager he has moved to a different level. Matches have got so much better and his match with DM for the title was very good. He has gone up again since being champion and his matches with Gargano, especially on Saturday which is a certain contender for MOTY, show how good he is.

If you think he was good in the rumble, go back and watch the last 3 months of NXT and you'll be convinced how good he can be.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As far as Almas' English limitations, they're not really much of an issue when it comes to appealing to the Hispanic audience. Hell, even if he spoke perfect English, probably half of his promos would be cut in Spanish anyway, just as it's been with guys like Mysterio, Guerrero, Del Rio and pretty much every other significant Hispanic wrestler. With a mouthpiece like Vega, who happens to be smoking hot, doing most of his talking for him, I don't think it really matters all that much because, like Paul Heyman with Brock Lesnar, Vega is incredibly good at hyping Almas in a genuinely passionate, enthusiastic fashion. In fact, it might even be superior to Lesnar considering that Almas has a completely different background. When you couple that along with his in-ring ability, as well as the fact that both he and Vega have a charismatic presence, then you have a strong possibility for success.

But yeah, if you're talking about WWE possibly finding that guy they've been looking for to really be a top guy among Hispanic fans, I don't think Hispanic fans give a damn how limited his English skills are.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

That is a bit of an issue, but nothing you can't fix.

You could either let him feel free to take some English classes, or you could let Andrade say his promo in Spanish and let Zelina be his translator. He probably is like that in NXT.

Feel free to name a major long term backbone level superstar for the WWE who didn't speak English fluently.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The problem with Andrade is that without zelina Vega, he's pretty much a generic guy. He took him turning heel and getting a manager for him to get notice by the NXT fans and I feel the only reason he got the title right now is because they had to call a audible in his match with mcintyre and he got the title because mcintyre got injured.

Plus to be the Hispanic face of the company, you need to be a face and he's just doesn't have it as a face. So I feel like he's just going to be another Hispanic wrestler on the roster, nothing special and will be forgotten about after few months on the main roster.

 

[Tastycles]

Feel free to name a major long term backbone level superstar for the WWE who didn't speak English fluently.

Ultimate Warrior.

Eh. Almas is pretty good and I’ve always been on board, but there’s no denying that his mass appeal comes from Vega. I’d love him to be pushed, but the reality is WWE have less need for Latino big names - they used to need them because smack down was on network television, and Latino is a much more important demographic on network television as they make up a bigger cut of non cable households. I suspect that Almas will be the first person to stay on NXT forever. He’s too big for 205 Live.