From Lucha libre to sports entertainment , passing through puroresu . This was the ascending path of Andrade “Cien” Almas, or simply Andrade, who began to play cards at Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and went through New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) before becoming famous in WWE between 2015 and 2021.
Born on November 3, 1989, in the Mexican city of Gómez Palacio, Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza, his real name, is part of a family with three generations of luchadores, having debuted in the ring on October 3, 2003, when he was just 13 years old (!).
After stints with CMLL (2007 to 2015) and NJPW (2010 to 2015), he signed a developmental deal with WWE in November 2015, having made his NXT debut at a house show in January 2016. From then until he departed from the promoter in March 2021, he won the NXT Championship and the WWE United States Championship, both for once.
It is therefore worth recalling Andrade’s 10 best WWE matches, in chronological order.
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III (August 19, 2017)
Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
A fight that didn’t have a great story in its origins. Andrade had been out of competition for some time and returned with his new manager, Zelina Vega, having defeated No Way Jose on the August 9 episode of NXT before facing Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III.
NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2017
NXT Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, Drew McIntyre beat Bobby Roode to win the NXT Championship. However, Roode was promoted to the main roster, more precisely to SmackDown. And on the October 4 episode of NXT, McIntyre retained the title against Roderick Strong. Two weeks later, Andrade “Cien” Almas’ manager Zelina Vega interrupted an interview with McIntyre, accusing him of avoiding Andrade and expressing Andrade’s interest in challenging the Scotsman to a title match . On the October 25 episode, Andrade beat Roderick Strong and Zelina Vega said that McIntyre and Strong were weak compared to Andrade and challenged the champion to meet the Mexican in the ring the following week.
After the show, General Manager William Regal officiated the match between McIntyre and Andrade for NXT TakeOver: WarGames . A week later, at the signing of the combat contract, Andrade attacked McIntyre. On the November 14 episode, McIntyre stated that Andrade was taking orders from Zelina Vega and asked if Zelina would let the Mexican off-leash. In retaliation, Andrade and Zelina appeared, attacked the Scotsman and lifted the belt.
NXT Takeover: Philadelphia (January 27, 2018)
NXT Championship : Andrade “Cien” Almas (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
On the December 6, 2017, episode of NXT, General Manager William Regal announced four matches whose winners would face off in a fatal four-way match to determine the main contender for the NXT Championship from Andrade “Cien” Almas at TakeOver: Philadelphia: Kassius Ohno vs. Johnny Gargano (the latter replacing The Velveteen Dream), Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole, Killian Dain vs. Trent Seven and Roderick Strong vs. Lars Sullivan.
The winners of that series of matches, Gargano, Black, Dain and Sullivan, faced off on the December 27 episode, with Johnny Gargano taking the win after Aleister Black was distracted by The Undisputed Era.
NXT (February 21, 2018)
NXT Championship : Andrade “Cien” Almas (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
(if Gargano lost, he would have to leave NXT )
At NXT Takeover: Philadelphia, Andrade retained the title against Gargano after landing an Elevated Hammerlock DDT . On the February 7 episode of NXT, Johnny Gargano demanded another title shot. Zelina Vega accepted but said that Gargano would have to leave NXT in case of defeat, something Gargano agreed with.
NXT TakeOver: New Orleans (April 7, 2018)
NXT Championship: Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Aleister Black
On the February 28, 2018 episode of NXT, Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega bragged about their victory over Johnny Gargano but were interrupted by Aleister Black and Killian Dain, prompting the three men to engage in a brawl. The following week, Black beat Dain to become the main contender for the NXT Championship and face Andrade at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.
SmackDown! (January 15, 2019)
Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio
On the January 8, 2019 episode of SmackDown, Andrade and Samoa Joe beat Rey Mysterio and Mustafa Ali after a Hammerlock DDT from Andrade on Mysterio. The following week, Andrade was asked about making the winning settlement in Mysterio and said that Mysterio was his idol. However, the woman who accompanied him, Zelina Vega, said that it was time to look to the future and that the future was for Andrade to beat Mysterio again that night, as Andrade and Mysterio would face each other again, this time in a one-on-one match.
SmackDown! (January 22, 2019)
2 out of 3 falls match: Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio
On the January 15 episode of SmackDown, Andrade beat Rey Mysterio after a Hammerlock DDT. A best-of-three match between the two was scheduled for the following week.
SmackDown! (March 3, 2019)
WWE United States Championship:
R-Truth (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade
Champion of the United States since January 29, 2019, when he surprisingly beat Shinsuke Nakamura, R-Truth was launched several challenges open to anyone who wanted to face him for the title, like his “childhood hero” John Cena did. On the February 26 episode of SmackDown, for example, he retained a title in a triple threat match that also involved Rey Mysterio and Andrade. A week later, R-Truth launched a new challenge and received a response from Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio and Andrade.
Monday Night Raw (November 18, 2019)
Andrade vs. Seth Rollins
On November 8, it was announced on the WWE website that Seth Rollins was selected to captain Team Raw in the 5-on-5-on-5 Men’s Survivor Series Triple Threat elimination match against Team SmackDown and Team NXT at Survivor Series. Three days later, on an episode of Raw, Kevin Owens, Ricochet, Randy Orton, and Drew McIntyre were revealed as the remaining members of Team Raw. However, the following week Seth Rollins decided to put his place in Survivor Series up against Andrade.
Elimination Chamber 2020
WWE United States Championship: Andrade (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo
On the December 9, 2019, episode of Monday Night Raw, Humberto Carrillo inflicted Andrade’s first loss since arriving on Raw, via a victory roll. Six days later, on the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pre-show, Carrillo again beat Andrade in the wake of a Moonsault. The following night, Andrade and Humberto Carrillo were supposed to face each other as part of a gauntlet match to determine the new main contender for Rey Mysterio’s WWE United States Championship, but Andrade attacked Humberto from behind and delivered a Hammerlock DDT to the cement. However, Andrade won the title by beating Mysterio at a house show at Madison Square Garden on December 26th. After Andrade retained the title from Mysterio in a ladder match on the January 20 episode of Raw, the Mexican attempted to Hammerlock DDT on Mysterio on cement, but Humberto appeared to help Mysterio and fight Andrade.
This led to a match between Andrade and Humberto with the title on the line at the 2020 Royal Rumble pre-show Kickoff, with Andrade achieving victory after a roll-up. The following night, on Monday Night Raw, a rematch took place which Humberto won by disqualification, due to interference from Zelina Vega. After the match, Humberto applied a Hammerlock DDT to Andrade on the cement, as Andrade had done to him a month earlier.
However, Andrade was suspended for 30 days for violating WWE’s welfare policy but did not have to relinquish the title. During Andrade’s absence, Zelina Vega took her new client, Angel Garza, cousin of Humberto Carrillo in real life, to the main roster. On the March 2 episode of Raw, Humberto Carrillo and Rey Mysterio defeated Andrade and Garza, with Humberto netting Andrade, earning him another title shot, this time at Elimination Chamber.