"Cien" Almas, No More! Is History on Andrade's Side?
This past Tuesday Andrade (freshly removed from the “‘Cien’ Almas” part of his name) put on a 5-star wrestling clinic against living legend Rey Mysterio. The two men displayed Breaking Bad level chemistry and Red Bull energy, easily exceeding the expectations you’d typically have for a non-pay-per-view and non-main event contest.
The physical highlights included a Crucifix bomb (which is dangerously close to being a piledriver), a top-rope Hurricanrana from Rey that sent Andrade’s body tumbling to the mat outside, and ultimately climaxed with a top rope Hammerlock DDT from Andrade that earned him the victory over his 44(!) year old opponent.
Putting the Andrade Puzzle Together
For the past 8 weeks or so, Andrade has been building momentum like a Snowpiercer train. Based on his recent feuds and television matches, someone in management has finally figured out that putting Andrade in the ring equates to significant dollar sign opportunities.
Andrade built up to this fantastic match by rubbing elbows with ringmasters like AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan. So what’s next for the newly minted bastard?
After giving Andrade an impressive showing against the best wrestlers on the planet, WWE’s next step in the Andrade reboot is his name change. In the annals of WWE history, a shortening of your name usually means you’re doing something right.
This piece is here to explore the aftermath of a name shortening and what the possibilities could be for El Idolo.
This piece won’t focus on “character changes” though, we’re more interested in divorce style name changes, or something akin to the “Beyonce” treatment. Outside of this sentence, we won’t be going into Dr. Isaac Yankem trading in his stethoscope for Kane’s fire and brimstone.
Let us begin fellow Tranquilo-ites!
Daddy Issues
Rocky Maivia
The dropping of your last name is a common theme throughout these mentions. Promoters attach last names to wrestlers in the same lineage to make it known that they have a connection to a successful relative in the business. That way, even if we don’t know who this new offspring is, we have some idea of who you are based on your daddy’s (or grandaddy’s in the Rock’s case) accolades. For the man Dwayne Johnson, his Rocky Maivia moniker is a nod to Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia.
The Rocky Maivia name came to a screeching halt after it became abundantly clear that the crowd had turned on the goody-two-shoes character that had been created. To rebrand the personality and distance him from a nepotistic crutch, “The Rock” was born.
With the new name came a series of unique characteristics for the character. Where Rocky was wholesome, fair, and friendly, The Rock was opportunistic, sarcastic, and cocky. The Rock was able to win over the fans by winning every possible battle on the microphone. Hopefully, with the rebranding we’ll get some opportunities to see Andrade prove himself on the mic. He hasn’t given us a ton of personality yet because he’s been allowed to lean on Zelina Vega to be his mouthpiece.
The Rock isn’t a perfect comparison for Andrade because Rock changed his name out of necessity. Other characters that changed their name out of need include:
Charlotte (who dropped the ‘Flair’ from her name to prove that her strong female character didn’t need a Nature Boy crutch anymore)
Rey Mysterio (like Indiana Jones, don’t call him Junior!)
Tamina (who dropped her father’s last name Snuka after news started circulating about her father committing murder).
Times Are A-Changin'
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Paul Levesque said goodbye to his birth name and grabbed attention as the flashy Hunter, bowing with his arms outstretched as if seeking a fresh dance partner. The reduction of his name from Hunter Hearst Helmsley to Triple H coincided with the development of Degeneration-X, a move that signaled a character change and a lessening of the syllables needed to address the man. He briefly marched down the ramp on TV with the “HHH” graphic, a confusing text that inspired many a fan to wonder if his name was “H-H-H.” His much-needed adoption of the “Triple” to his name hearkens to the Tom Hanks movie “That Thing You Do” when the one-hit-wonder band at the forefront of the story changed their name from “The One-ders” to “The Wonders.” No longer would the band be announced as the phonetically mispronounced “...Oh-Needers!”
One thing that prevents the comparison from connecting as firmly as it could is the way Triple H’s name is treated more like a full name. In the ring, the announcers will commonly refer to him as “The Game” or “The Cerebral Assassin,” or even “The CFO”! Because El Idolo, the sometimes nickname of Andrade has yet to take off, I’m not going to say that this is Andrade’s closest connection.
Honorable Mentions: Paul Wight becoming Big Show and Ron Killings becoming R-Truth.
TOO MANY SYLLABLES (clap clap clapclapclap)
It’s much easier to market “Rusev Day” or chant something short like “Rusev” rather than saying something convoluted like “ALEXANDER RUSEV clap clap clapclapclap.” Respect to the stadium that figured out a clap cadence for names like “Undertaker,” “AJ Styles,” and “Daniel Bryan.” Maybe six syllables are the limit?
Time will tell if audiences can learn how to chant “AN-DRA-DE” which doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like repeating the two-syllabled “Almas” but is a name given to the kayfabe man behind the wrassler. Based on his natural look and arrogant match recipe, I wouldn’t slot Andrade into this tier.
Honorable Mentions:
Adrian Neville
Bill Goldberg
Big E Langston
Elias Samson
Foreign Objectification
Alexander Rusev & Antonio Cesaro
In my book, Andrade is most likely to fall under this tier of wrestlers. The men mentioned here began their careers as one-dimensional characters that were outspoken about their nationalism. Their promos, ring gear, and commentary focus constantly alluded to their homelands.
Once the characters stopped focusing on their heritage, their names did as well. The Bulgarian Brute evolved into an adept comedian, showing a talent for irony, sarcasm, and slapstick.! Cesaro also became more interesting after dropping the “Antonio” part of his name by wearing a cool kilt, insulting people in 5 different languages, and proving that he is “The Bar” for swagger after teaming with Sheamus.
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