New NXT Champion Crowned
El Idolo has won it.
Andrade Cien Almas defeated Drew McIntyre to win the NXT championship this evening in Houston, Texas, defeating Drew McIntyre. He had a near fall towards the end of the after after manager Zelina Vega planted McIntyre with a hurricanrana to the floor and Almas hit a hammerlock DDT. McIntyre kicked out and went to the top rope, but Almas crotched him and hit a DDT to win the championship for the first time.McIntyre had held the title since August 19, when he defeated Bobby Roode at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III.
Cien had been suffering from a losing streak until Zelina Vega came onto the scene. With her guidance, Almas had been racking up wins, defeating Roderick Strong to eventually gain a championship match at NXT: WarGames.
Cien and Zelina celebrated after the match, with him walking to the podium and holding the title high.
Almas was best known as La Sombra in CMLL, winning a number of titles and masks before unmasking himself prior to signing with WWE in November of 2015. He had struggled for a while in developmental, first debuting as a babyface but later turning heel. He had developed a gimmick of partying too much before going to compete, which led to the arrival of Vega.
You can see the Fightful coverage of NXT Takeover WarGames at this link, Sean Ross Sapp's match ratings here, and the post-show podcast at this link.
