What's the story?

Former NXT Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas has been promoted to the SmackDown Live roster this week as part of the Superstar Shakeup.

In case you didn't know...

It was only ten days ago that Almas lost his NXT Championship to Aleister Black as part of NXT Takeover: New Orleans and it seems that the former Champion may not be returning to the NXT brand for his rematch.

Almas has definitely created waves in NXT over the past few months and even had a five-star match against Johnny Gargano back at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia back in January. Since Zelina Vega took over as his business associate, it seems that Almas has been in unstoppable form.

The heart of the matter

It was announced on SmackDown Live as part of the Superstar Shakeup that Andrade "Cien" Almas has been promoted to the main roster alongside his business associate Zelina Vega. It seems that whilst Monday Night Raw secured the signing of Drew McIntyre last night, SmackDown was able to bring Almas to Tuesday nights.

#ElIdolo @AndradeCienWWE and his business manager @Zelina_VegaWWE are heading to #SDLive! #SuperstarShakeup pic.twitter.com/CVsYBwi5lL
— WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2018

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The duo wasn't part of SmackDown Live programming this week but could make their debut on the main roster as soon as next week.

What's next?

It is unknown whether or not Almas has completely cut ties with NXT now that he has been called up to the main roster, but he will definitely be appearing on the show alongside his business associate in the coming weeks.

Author's take

SmackDown Live pulled off an incredible signing with the former NXT Champion, someone who has been seen as one of the stand out stars in NXT over the past few months. Almas will definitely be able to test his mettle against some of the best wrestlers in the world on the blue brand and some of the potential matchups on the SmackDown brand that are now feasible are actually mouthwatering.