Today WWE released an exclusive video where Zelina Vega, the manager for Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas, approached WWE Champion AJ Styles, interrupting his interview to lay down a challenge between himself and her client, Andrade Almas. The result was what seemed like a challenge accepted for tonight’s episode of Smackdown Live. And while many fans are salivating at the idea of “El Idolo” facing “The Phenomenal One” for the first time in singles competition, the two actually have some history.
Back in 2014, AJ Styles was the leader of Bullet Club while working for NJPW. At the time, his regular tag partner for NJPW tag matches was “The Tokyo Pimp” Yujiro Takahashi. As is still the case today, NJPW had an alliance with Mexico’s oldest promotion, CMLL, and often had CMLL wrestlers perform at some of the bigger events. One of CMLL’s brightest young stars was the masked luchador La Sombra, who had been performing with NJPW since 2010. In 2013, he even had a run as the IWGP Intercontinental Champion. In the spring of 2014, however, La Sombra formed a new stable in CMLL, alongside Rush and La Máscara, called Los Ingobernables (“The Ungovernables”).
In the fall of 2014, New Japan held their annual World Tag League, their tag team equivalent of the G1 Climax, and one of Bullet Club’s entrants in the tournament was the tandem of Styles and Yujiro. La Sombra would also take part that November through December, but instead of bringing over one of his Ingobernables teammates, he instead worked with a NJPW star who was still having troubles staying in the main event – a man he knew from past excursions in CMLL, Tetsuya Naito. As luck would have it, both teams were in the same block. And on November 22, 2014, the pairing of La Sombra and Naito faced – and defeated – Bullet Club’s Styles and Yujiro on opening night.
Several months later, Naito would be brought in as a full member of Los Ingobernables, and would ultimately form a NJPW chapter of the stable, Los Ingobernables de Japon. Not only would the faction push Naito to superstardom, it gave him the confidence to become the international megastar he is today. He even learned a few tricks from La Sombra.
La Sombra left both CMLL and NJPW in late 2015, heading to NXT where he dropped the mask and became Andrade Almas as well as NXT Champion. This past May, he finally got the call up to the main roster, where he debuted on Smackdown Live. And now, four years after their one and only encounter, Almas and AJ Styles are reunited in the ring. Only this time, it’s one on one, and a potential glimpse into what would be a “phenomenal” feud. And Zelina Vega is right about one thing – if the powers that be get fully behind the man once known as La Sombra, Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas is the future of the WWE.
https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1019338706304602112
