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Post by SirLucas on May 18, 2018 7:51:19 GMT -5
Forget about his lineage and pre WWE background, when he first came to NXT, he was booked as a lower card comedy act in the same way as guys like Adam Rose and No Way Jose. That hat and suspenders look he first debuted with didn't help matters either.
When Bobby Roode came over from TNA, Roode was being promoted as the next top guy in the WWE. While Almas had an impressive outing with Roode at one of the Takeovers. In Roode's debut match, I got the impression that Almas was going to be pigeonholed in that jobber to the stars role.
But now it appears that Almas' main roster run may surpass Roode's.
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Post by Final Countdown Jones on May 18, 2018 7:53:00 GMT -5
I mean if you remove knowing what he can do then yeah I guess it's a bit more of a surprise, but Almas is a guy who has the world in the palm of his hand, and is young enough to make the most of it. WWE has messed up can't-miss guys before, but Almas is really something special and I think if it comes down to things not working out I doubt we'll see it be on his head at all.
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Post by SirLucas on May 18, 2018 7:57:59 GMT -5
Exactly, and if you look how he was booked when he first arrived, there was that "WWE is going to mess things up with this guy" aura.
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Post by abjordans on May 18, 2018 8:04:14 GMT -5
I honestly am not. I say this a lot, and I promise it isn’t a humble brag when I do, just trying to give some insight... But, I saw one of his very early NXT house show matches. Right after he signed, before he got on tv, I have been lucky to see a lot of guys in that spot. So, I was told he is a big time prospect. To say his performance was awful is an understatement. He went for a springboard and literally fell on his face. I still left thinking “that Dude is a star”, you can always see when someone has “it” in my opinion.
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Allie Kitsune
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Post by Allie Kitsune on May 18, 2018 9:30:03 GMT -5
He's come a long way from El Cokehead del Knifefight saying in interviews that Almas told him he wanted to leave.
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Post by TWERKIN' MAGGLE on May 18, 2018 9:32:18 GMT -5
He went from the Tye "Lose to Debuting Talent" Dillinger to NXT Champion and it was perfect.
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Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on May 18, 2018 9:46:31 GMT -5
Exactly, and if you look how he was booked when he first arrived, there was that "WWE is going to mess things up with this guy" aura. Part of that is on Almas tho. It was Hunter’s call for him to lose the mask, but the suspenders and hat were all Almas idea. From what I can tell, Triple H will give you a general idea of what he figures your character should be and let’s you find you own nuances and flesh out the idea but in this case it didn’t really pan out. |
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on May 18, 2018 9:50:53 GMT -5
He really feels like a total package right now. He's a heel that can piss me off and get heat from me, while I'm still wowed by the intensity of his wrestling.
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domrep
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Post by domrep on May 18, 2018 9:54:59 GMT -5
Exactly, and if you look how he was booked when he first arrived, there was that "WWE is going to mess things up with this guy" aura. I still feel this way even though his character has done a 180. |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2018 18:20:44 GMT -5
Nope because NXT makes sense. I can believe anyone is dope there.
If Almas becomes a multitime main roster world champion? I'd be surprised simply because I'm expecting them to f*** up.
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Post by ben:friendship frog on May 18, 2018 18:46:32 GMT -5
Not really. You could always tell he was a good wrestler and was a star, it's just whether they could find the right character and use him correctly. It took a little while but all is well now.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on May 18, 2018 18:55:12 GMT -5
Babyface Almas was incredibly lame and I was not once pleased to see him after his debut. When he did his 'relax in the ropes' spot my first thought was 'how is this guy not a heel?' It wasn't even heel heat, I just wanted to skip his matches.
Then his heel turn was great. It took him a long time to get the heel character to gain traction but it was already a giant leap forward. Then he started the party boy gimmick, then they brought in Vega and he was one of the best in the world overnight (apparently not for the first time based on what I hear about his indie work).
I'm sure Smackdown will ruin it all but he's one of the hottest properties they have right now.
...Bloody gorgeous too.
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Post by Super Duper Dragunov on May 18, 2018 22:50:07 GMT -5
Side Note: I'm really happy that Zelina Vega is his business manager and not a love interest, or anything like that. It's not sexual at all, and they play it perfectly as such. Very much like a Heyman/Lesnar thing, and I appreciate that they're at least keeping it that way. It's refreshing to see a woman in a managerial role and not be overly-sexualized, if that makes sense. I mean she's still sexy, but her brains, kayfabe business acumen, and cunning are what define her character. It'd be lazy and easy to say "oh they're both Latin, so they should be a couple" (/Road Dogg probably  ) But it's platonic. I dig it. |
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on May 18, 2018 23:11:02 GMT -5
The real surprise initially was with how much he was floundering, both in his face run and in his heel run before Vega came in. Dude came in with a lot of sizzle from his La Sombra run and there was obviously a lot of potential there, but it just wasn't clicking and he fell off so quickly. Within two months he went from being the guy debuting on Takeover with a win over a midcard guy to being that guy for Bobby Roode at the next Takeover.
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Post by mybraveface on May 18, 2018 23:11:13 GMT -5
I thought he was underrated and being underused at NXT since I saw he had some potential after his first few matches there. Cut to a year or so later, they change his character, give him Zelina, he becomes the NXT champion, and has a match of the year with Johnny Gargano at Takeover: Philadelphia. It's nice to be proven right sometimes. Ha.
And I'd give it time before they make Andrade and Zelina a couple. It's the WWE main roster after all.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2018 23:21:11 GMT -5
I didn’t watch him in Mexico so when he was hyped up so big online when signing with NXT I was prepared to be awed by his greatest and what I got was a boring dude that didn’t seem like he was trying very hard so I wasn’t shocked that he didn’t get a huge push out of the gate.They gave him Zelina who is awesome and should’ve been signed years ago they gave him a huge push and having him working Gargano and Black and suddenly the dude is great looks motivated looks like a star and carries himself as a star.I’ll be interested when he starts working less awesome people if he reverts back to his less than stellar version hopefully not.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on May 18, 2018 23:31:19 GMT -5
Not surprised, exactly. Like, it was clear that he had a lot of potential, and he did some greet heel work in Mexico with Naito, so I knew that'd be where he'd shine, but I was a little concerned he'd be overlooked. I think they just needed to find the right notes with him, and giving him the NXT title was honestly one of THE best booking decisions ever done with that belt. It had been overdue for a dark horse champion.
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Post by 01010010 01101001 01100011 on May 18, 2018 23:46:42 GMT -5
When was he booked as a lower card comedy act? Other than the attire he's been presented as a serious competitor.
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Post by Bungle on May 19, 2018 1:18:21 GMT -5
He was already one of the top talents before WWE.
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