The Biography

Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza, better known by his ring name Andrade El Idolo, is a Mexican professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). In 2026, he joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)’s United Empire stable at Wrestle Kingdom 20 and later that year won the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. He was ranked No. 13 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2018 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Andrade made his professional wrestling debut in 2003, a month before his 14th birthday, initially working under the ring name Brillante Jr. In 2007, he began wrestling for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as La Sombra, where he found major success by winning the 2007 Torneo Gran Alternativa and the 2011 Universal Championship, and at one point simultaneously holding the Mexican National Trios Championship, the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship, and the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. During his time as La Sombra, Andrade was a founding member of Los Ingobernables, won the masks of El Felino, Olímpico, and Volador Jr. in Lucha de Apuestas matches, later lost his own mask to Atlantis, and also competed internationally in NJPW from 2010 to 2015, where he became a one-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion. He is also known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he made his NXT debut in 2016 as Andrade “Cien” Almas, won the NXT Championship in 2017, and, after joining the main roster in 2018, captured the WWE United States Championship in 2019 before being granted his release in 2021. He went on to compete in AEW from 2021 to 2023, returned to WWE in 2024, where he won the WWE Speed Championship, and departed in 2025 before rejoining AEW in 2026.