Andrade

Manny Andrade

On November 19, 2015, Andrade signed a developmental contract with WWE. He later reported to the WWE Performance Center to begin his WWE career. He made his WWE in-ring debut at an NXT house show in Tampa, Florida on January 8, 2016, wrestling under the name **Manny Andrade** and defeating Riddick Moss. He made his NXT TakeOver debut at NXT TakeOver: Dallas on April 1, where he defeated Christopher Girard during a dark match.

The following month, Andrade was given the new ring name **Andrade "Cien" Almas**. At NXT TakeOver: The End on June 8, Almas defeated Tye Dillinger. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II on August 20, Almas was defeated by the debuting Bobby Roode. On October 5 episode of *NXT*, after losing to The Revival in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Almas took out his frustrations by attacking his tag team partner Cedric Alexander thus turning heel as a result. By defeating No Way Jose on December 14 episode of *NXT*, Almas qualified for a fatal four-way match to determine a new number one contender to the NXT Championship but was eliminated by Roderick Strong. At NXT TakeOver: San Antonio on January 28, 2017, Almas was defeated by Roderick Strong.

On July 19 episode of NXT, Almas appeared with an unidentified woman and attacked Cezar Bononi before threatening No Way Jose, though Almas ran away when Jose ran back into the ring. After being absent from in-ring competition, Almas returned being accompanied by the woman who turned out to be his new manager Zelina Vega, defeating Jose on the August 9 episode of NXT and requesting a match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III against Johnny Gargano on August 19, which Almas won. Almas returned on the October 11 episode of NXT, where he once again defeated Gargano. On the November 1 episode of NXT, Almas signed a contract where he requested a match against Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship, before attacking him later that night. On November 18 at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Almas defeated McIntyre to become the new NXT Champion.

On January 27, 2018, at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Almas successfully defended the title against Johnny Gargano. On January 28, at the Royal Rumble, Almas made his first main roster appearance entering as a surprise entrant at number 7 during the Royal Rumble match, in which he eliminated Kofi Kingston before being eliminated by Randy Orton. On February 3 during an NXT house show, Almas teamed with Zelina Vega in her first match as part of the company, in which they were defeated by Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. On February 21 episode of NXT, Almas retained the title against Gargano after interference from Tommaso Ciampa. At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on April 7, Almas lost the NXT Championship to Aleister Black, ending his reign at 140 days.

On April 18 episode of NXT, Almas accompanied Zelina Vega during her first televised match against Candice LeRae, in which she was defeated and this turned out to be Almas's and Vega's last appearances in NXT.

On April 17, 2018, Almas, alongside Zelina Vega, was drafted to *SmackDown* as part of the Superstar Shake–up. A month later, in his in–ring debut, Almas defeated a local wrestler on the 15 May episode of *SmackDown Live*. Shortly after his debut, towards the end of May, Almas was placed in his first feud with his former ally Sin Cara who tried to convince him to "reconnect" again only for Almas to attack him. Almas defeated Cara on July 10 episode of *SmackDown* and again five days later in a rematch at the Extreme Rules pay–per–view to end their feud. On July 17 episode of *SmackDown*, Almas suffered his first loss as part of main roster by then–WWE Champion AJ Styles in a non–title match. Throughout August, Almas and Vega started a feud with Rusev and Lana whom they would defeat in various singles matches. This led to a mixed tag team match between the two teams at SummerSlam on August 19, where Almas and Vega were victorious. Two days later on *SmackDown*, Rusev and Lana defeated Almas and Vega in a rematch, ending their feud in the process. Throughout the rest of the year, Almas continued to perform in various singles and tag team matches, most of which he would go on to lose.

On January 15, 2019, Almas's ring name was shortened to **Andrade** and he was announced as an entrant for the 2019 Royal Rumble where he was one of the final four before being eliminated by Braun Strowman. A match between Andrade and Rey Mysterio was scheduled for the Fastlane pay-per-view kickoff show but it was cancelled in favor of both men competing in a Fatal 4 Way match for Samoa Joe's WWE United States Championship where Joe retained in a match also involving R-Truth. At WrestleMania 35, Andrade competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal but failed to win after he accidentally eliminated himself when he eliminated Apollo Crews.

During the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up, both Andrade and Vega were drafted to *Raw* and later that night, he defeated Intercontinental Champion Finn Bálor in a non-title match. However, on April 22, Andrade and Vega's profiles were moved back to the *SmackDown* brand. The following week on 23 April, Bálor was victorious in a rematch against the SmackDown returning Andrade. At Super Showdown, Balor defeated Andrade with his demon persona.

As part of the 2019 WWE Draft, Andrade was drafted to *Raw* alongside Vega. On December 26, during a house show at Madison Square Garden, Andrade defeated Rey Mysterio to win the United States Championship for the first time. Andrade successfully retained the title against Rey Mysterio on the January 6, 2020 and January 20 episodes of *Raw*, and against Humberto Carrillo at Royal Rumble. On January 27, Andrade was suspended for 30 days, for violating WWE's Wellness Policy. To write him off television, they did an angle on *Raw*, where Humberto Carrillo took him outside of the ring and hit the Hammerlock DDT onto the exposed concrete floor.

With Andrade absent over the next month, Zelina Vega brought up her new associate, Angel Garza, who is Carrillo's cousin, and the two then feuded. Andrade returned at Super ShowDown, competing in the gauntlet match for the Tuwaiq Trophy, but lost to R-Truth. At Elimination Chamber, Andrade retained his title against Carrillo. Andrade was scheduled to team with Garza to face The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) for the Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 36, but was removed from that match due to an injury and was replaced by Austin Theory, another associate of Vega. On the April 13 episode of *Raw*, Andrade, Garza and Theory attacked Akira Tozawa and all three posed together, confirming their status as a faction. On the April 27 episode of *Raw*, Andrade defeated Apollo Crews via forfeit during a United States Championship match, when the latter injured his left knee. On the May 18 episode of Raw, Andrade was attacked by Crews, and a rematch for the title was announced for the following week. On the May 25 episode of *Raw*, Andrade lost the rematch with Crews, ending his 151 day reign as United States champion. On the June 8 episode of *Raw*, Andrade competed in a triple threat match against Angel Garza and Kevin Owens for an opportunity at the United States Championship at Backlash, where he was victorious after pinning Garza. During the match, Andrade and Garza accidentally knocked out Vega after getting in to an argument. At Backlash, Andrade lost to Crews on the pre-show. The following night on *Raw*, Garza lost to Owens after Andrade's interference on Garza's behalf backfired.

On the June 22 episode of *Raw*, Garza and Andrade attacked the Street Profits after their match with The Viking Raiders, making their intentions known for the Raw Tag Team Titles. Over the next few weeks, Andrade and Garza would feud with The Viking Raiders, defeating them in a tag team elimination match, but struggled to get on the same page as a tag team. Andrade and Garza would start to coexist as a tag team as they defeated The Viking Raiders and Cedric Alexander and Ricochet to earn a Raw Tag Team Title shot against Street Profits at SummerSlam, which they would lose. On the September 14 episode of *Raw*, Vega ended her association with Andrade and Garza, having had enough of them constantly arguing and fighting with each other. The following week on *Raw*, Andrade and Garza (without Vega) defeated Seth Rollins and Murphy and Dominik Mysterio and Humberto Carrillo to once again become number one contenders for the Raw Tag Team Titles against the Street Profits at Clash of Champions. At the event, they were unsuccessful once again. On the October 12 episode of *Raw*, Garza defeated Andrade in a singles match before allowing him and Vega to be attacked by The Fiend and Alexa Bliss, thus officially splitting up the team. He then disappeared from WWE programming.

On March 21, 2021, Andrade was granted his release by the WWE after not appearing on television since October 2020.