WWE Superstar Shakeup 2018: Ranking The NXT Call-Ups By Fit

2. Andrade “Cien” Almas

Though his reign as NXT Champion wasn’t extensive, it was certainly memorable and will stand as one of my favorite championship runs in the brand’s history. Andrade “Cien” Almas put on countless breath-taking performances against Drew McIntyre, Johnny Gargano, Roderick Strong, and Aleister Black.

His match against Gargano earned five stars from the Wrestling Observer News’s Dave Meltzer, and his bouts against Black and McIntyre at TakeOver: New Orleans and WarGames, respectively, were also around the five-star range when factoring in the careful story-telling woven into both matches.

Almas is a master of his craft, and it’s awesome to see that he’ll be joining SmackDown Live with Zelina Vega by his side. Vega is responsible for Almas’s resurgence in kayfabe, as he was a regular disappointment who under-achieved and partied behind the scenes.

Beyond kayfabe, Vega has added that something “extra” to Almas’s character that he was lacking, and Almas has responded to the improved booking and renewed interest in his work from the fans by producing some of NXT’s best matches ever. Almas is just as responsible as Gargano for kicking NXT into the “next gear” it has hit since the fall of 2017.

There may be some worries that the language barrier and the lack of a spotlight on Almas could hurt him on the main roster, but I don’t see that being an issue. Almas’s English is good enough to where he can cut a convincing heel promo to generate heat, and he has such a great presence. It’s clear that Almas knows how to carry himself as a champion, and the audience can easily follow along with his emotions and in-ring story-telling by reading his body language, which is mindfully displayed by “El Idolo”.

The WWE has enough faith in Almas to have given him a significant amount of survival time during the 2018 Royal Rumble, and with Vega still by his side, Almas could be a show-stealing upper mid-carder on SmackDown Live in 2018.