Is WWE Throwing Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas to the Wolves?

After an unfortunate booking decision to have him defeat the immensely popular Tye Dillinger twice, is WWE throwing Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas to the wolves by having him go up against Bobby Roode and now Austin Aries?

Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas can’t seem to catch a break down in WWE NXT. After a less than desired debut at Takeover: The End when he defeated the infinitely more over and popular Tye Dillinger, not once, but twice, after a rematch on NXT TV, Almas’ booking woes apparently linger on.

While Almas was able to perform in front of a frenzied capacity crowd at Takeover: Brooklyn II, once again, it came at his expense as he was set to face the much-hyped debuting industry veteran Bobby Roode, who was to unveil his new ‘Glorious’ gimmick. Ironically, Roode explicitly stated in a promo that he cut on Almas that the people were not paying to see ‘Cien’, they were paying to see Roode. As harsh as it came across, it was essentially the truth. Brooklyn wanted to bear witness to the glorious debut of Bobby Roode. It was more of a coming out party for Roode than an actual competitive match for Almas. At the end of it, Almas would suffer his first defeat.

To follow-up his one-off match against Roode, NXT now apparently has Almas booked to wrestle with Austin Aries, who was also successful at Brooklyn when he submitted No Way Jose in a great opening bout to kick off the main card. The groundwork for an Austin Aries-Hideo Itami feud is still being placed undoubtedly for a future Takeover, so Almas will essentially become Aries’ TV program. But what is even more concerning for Almas is the reception Aries got when he performed in front of the New York fans. He received thunderous and sustained ‘Austin Aries’ chants throughout his match with No Way Jose, even though Jose was already over with the crowd.

Aries has truthfully, for the most part, not been received that way down in Full Sail. Apart from his debut to his fantastic match against Shinsuke Nakamura at Takeover: The End, the Orlando crowd has been lukewarm in their reception of Aries. Aries’ in-ring debut at Takeover: Dallas was also overshadowed by Nakamura’s. But as a slight twist on the old saying goes: if you can get over in New York, you can get over anywhere. Austin Aries finally got over big time with the WWE universe at Takeover: Brooklyn, part of which had to do with his definitive heel turn against No Way Jose. This spells bad news for Andrade Almas.

must read: NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II Results: Bobby Roode vs. Andrade Almas Video Highlights

Aries was a venerable world-traveled superstar outside of WWE, a rarity in the wrestling business, alongside the likes of Nakamura, AJ Styles, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe. He has legions of fans who respect and admire the work laid down by the self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Man That Ever Lived’. The WWE universe in particular finally got to see Aries at his most comfortable at Takeover: Brooklyn. And now Andrade Almas, who is still looking to find his feet under him, must go up against Aries, another ‘indie darling’ in the eyes of some.

NXT’s handling of Almas is reminiscent of Brock Lesnar’s initial run with UFC where Dana White had him fight the likes of Frank Mir, Randy Couture, and Shane Carwin from the jump

Is NXT throwing Andrade Almas to the wolves? Why do they insist on having Almas compete and attempt to get over the likes of Tye Dillinger, Bobby Roode, and now, presumably, Austin Aries? Almas to date, has no real character to speak of gimmick-wise; he is merely a solid wrestler who smiles and wears a fedora to the ring. Outside of that, there is nothing for the fans to latch on to, to connect with, to invest emotionally with. In a way, Almas is in a similar situation to Apollo Crews on the main roster; a fine in-ring talent, however, with no real personality that shines through on camera. NXT’s handling of Almas is reminiscent of Brock Lesnar’s initial run with UFC where Dana White had him fight the likes of Frank Mir, Randy Couture, and Shane Carwin from the jump.

He should realistically be feuding against Buddy Murphy, Wesley Blake, Oney Lorcan, or the apparent push of Steve Cutler

Andrade Almas should realistically be feuding against Buddy Murphy, Wesley Blake, Oney Lorcan, or the apparent push of Steve Cutler, to help build his WWE ring acumen and more importantly, to get over with the Full Sail crowd. The common denominator here is character and personality. The difference between Almas and say, No Way Jose, is that Jose has a vibrant babyface gimmick which almost instantaneously got over with the NXT fanbase. It paid dividends for him at Brooklyn, when the notoriously fickle New York crowd popped for Jose when the first few notes of his entrance theme hit. Even though Jose lost, he was generally accepted by the Brooklyn fans in attendance.

Next: WWE NXT Review: Results, Analysis, and Grades for August 31

What do you think? How would you salvage Andrade Almas’ trajectory in NXT? Should he be facing competition the likes of Roode and Aries? Or should NXT have slowly built him up into that position by having him string victories over the NXT mid-carders?