10 Wrestlers Who Can Succeed Finn Balor As NXT's Icon

10. Andrade "Cien" Almas

The former La Sombra is a long-term project. Recently arrived from Mexico’s CMLL, Almas made his official NXT debut at June’s TakeOver: The End event, defeating cult favourite Tye Dillinger in the opening match. He faced Dillinger again the following week, and while the matches were entertaining enough, it was an unideal start for the talented luchador.

Though he plays a heel role, Dillinger is one of the most popular men in NXT. His “Perfect 10” gimmick is hugely over with the Full Sail crowd, which makes it difficult for any babyface to draw cheers against him, let alone a debutant like Almas. WWE would’ve been bettered served introducing him against a more devious heel to maximise his reactions, but it’s still early days, and “Cien” has plenty of time to get over yet.

Almas has a number of things working in his favour. In the ring, he’s capable of pulling-off a highly impressive array of high-flying moves, and most importantly, he does it cleanly and safely. Almas is smoother than silk: he’s the type of worker who makes everything look easy, and even when pulling-off the most dangerous of stunts, you know he’s in complete control, and knows exactly what he’s doing.

His lack of English works against him, but Almas is a fantastic wrestler with a superstar look, and he demonstrates great charisma in his ring work. Let’s not forget that Balor himself has never been the most natural microphone worker either, so while there’s work to be done with Almas, the Full Sail crowd will grow to love him for his ring-work alone.