Personally I think the guy is awesome. Didn't care about him when he was signed. His heel turn post-dancing gimmick I thought he was just gonna tread water until he was eventually released. After pairing him with Vega, something just changed. Dunno if I just didn't care to notice or what, but it finally clicked with me. He just received a 5* from Meltzer and while he can't fight Gargano forever I think he'll continue to have great matches. That said do you guys see him as the latino draw they've been seeking since Eddy/Rey or were those guys simply a unique case and it can't be recreated?

I felt the same way. Didn't really care about him that much before Vega but she and him as a unit has really done wonders for the guy. Here is what I like about the man as NXT champion...he's beatable. Every title match he's in I could actually see him losing it. That is what made the Gargano match so damn special among other reasons. You had a beatable champ defending the belt against a guy who the fans were dying to see get the belt and the beatable champ comes out on top. Gargano really didn't lose any stock in the loss and Almas gained a whole hell of a lot. This is 3 back to back take over events that Almas has had the match of the night.

As for if he can draw a latin demographic...I wouldn't go that far yet. Once an NXT wrestler gets called up to the main roster, all bets are off on how they will be booked. Even if he were booked great, I don't know if he can really make a noticeable impact in bringing in a latin fan base.

I'm surprised nobody liked the guy when he debuted. He was a breath of fresh air. He always had that Ingobernable swag. But he was never booked as anything more than a Tyler Breeze perpetual choker. I honestly think his booking is the main reason people didn't care for him, because his in ring work hasn't really changed that much since Zega arrived on the scene. He's got more of that "ruthless aggression" edge, but he had some of that to begin with. It's true that his best matches have been after Vega joined, but that's mainly because he's been given longer and more prominent matches since then. But Vega does add a lot to his matches. She's a great manager, she screams and fires him up, and her physical interference spots are one of the most exciting of the match.

Great point about him being beatable. For a long time we've had these god-tier NXT champions who only ever lose when the next god-tier babyface debuts. This makes predicting the title matches pretty easy. Nobody saw Almas beating Drew McIntyre, and as vendrell points out, his title defenses are not a foregone conclusion. He's sort of a chickenshit heel, but the way his matches are worked gives credence to the fact that he is certainly on the same level as the top faces, and could conceivably beat them on his own.

That's the second time I've seen someone label Almas as "beatable", so it must be fitting. Although I don't think anyone thought for a second he was not going over Gargano at Takeover with the impending Ciampia interference. I'm glad he didn't play a role in the decision.

I think the latino demo. thing is more wishful thinking than anything. The NXT call-ups don't have the best track record on the main roster, so there's a good chance he fails when he eventually reaches Raw or SD!. That and if he's on the roster maybe Vince won't feel the need to bring Del Rio back ever again.

I'm so glad to see basically universal praise of how much of an impact Zelina's had on his career trajectory. A few of us in the WoW forum recognised from her first moments in TNA that she had a lot of star potential and after a few years of frustration that it might never happen for her, it's so awesome that it now is.

I'm particularly pleased with how their relationship is being explained/booked. She's been presented as a true Heyman style manager which is very rare in recent-day WWE, and comes off so much better than if they'd gone with the typical love interest angle.

I didn't see Almas when he was floundering, but he comes off as a complete star now, and there's not much than can be said about his match with Gargano last weekend that hasn't already been eulogised. The Del Rio comparison is a little bit lazy - but he projects to really be an infinitely better version.

Feb 4, 2018 22:46:03 GMT @ness said:

That's the second time I've seen someone label Almas as "beatable", so it must be fitting. Although I don't think anyone thought for a second he was not going over Gargano at Takeover with the impending Ciampia interference. I'm glad he didn't play a role in the decision.

I think the latino demo. thing is more wishful thinking than anything. The NXT call-ups don't have the best track record on the main roster, so there's a good chance he fails when he eventually reaches Raw or SD!. That and if he's on the roster maybe Vince won't feel the need to bring Del Rio back ever again.

I thought Gargano might of actually had a shot to win it.  All the pieces seemed to be in place for it.  Even his wife was in the front row and got involved.  I thought for sure once she ran off Vega that Gargano was taking it.  I knew Ciampa would be involved in some way but I figured he could ruin Gargano's moment and beat the shit out of him after winning the belt and the two would eventually have a title match on the mania take over weekend.  In any event, it seems like it's likely to be Black at this point to beat Almas.  It's pretty much shit or get off the pot time for Black.  He can't really go from beating Adam Cole to going back to feuding with Kassius Ohno or somebody like that.

If WWE had any sense, we'd get Los Ingobernables de Estados Unidos with Cien at the helm.

If they went full on Tranquilo with him from the start, I truly believe he would be at the top by now anyway, if not earlier.


Either way, him and Vega are a complete package and it's been a great run so far.

Think I'm in the same boat as everyone else, I didn't care for the guy when he came in. He was decent and putting on some decent matches. I saw him work in Melbourne, and even though it was a throwaway mid-card match, he was good, real good. And started watching him closer.

Then, for whatever reason, Vega has given him some life. He's a star. She's a star. It's a great pairing. He's becoming a great worker, and believe it or not, his matches with Johnny isn't all Johnny Wrestling.

Ideally before all is said and done in NXT, he forms a little stable and they feud with a repackaged Undisputed Era.

How the hell does a person pronounce the name Cien? I am not joking. This has me befuddled.

Feb 8, 2018 0:29:03 GMT Ace Levy said:

How the hell does a person pronounce the name Cien? I am not joking. This has me befuddled.

:lol:

See-en

I love Cien and Zelina so much as a unit. I was really looking forward to Almas when he debuted because I've heard of him as La Sombra and he had pretty good reviews during house shows when his WWE ring name was still Manny Andrade. When he debuted, I was kinda doubtful about the look but saw that the wrestling ability was there. He just didn't seem to get the crowd's attention immediately and he sorta became a gatekeeper person, like how Kassius Ohno is now.

So I'm very happy that they translated the gatekeeper role into an angle where he got lazy and met Zelina (who I've loved from her day as Rosita in TNA). And they work really well together. You can see that Zelina is being an active manager and not just a valet accompanying Cien to the ring. She shouts instructions to him. She gives him a game plan. And it is definitely a successful pairing. The last female I remember to have that much success managing was Melina during the MNM days when you can see she was clearly calling the shots for the team.