Andrade is one of the most popular and richest Professional Wrestler who was born on November 3, 1989 in Gómez Palacio, Gómez Palacio, Mexico. Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza was born on November 3, 1989 in Gómez Palacio, Durango, Mexico, the son of Jose Andrade Salas, who is better known as the wrestler Brillante. He became part of the third-generation of the Andrade family to compete in lucha libre. His grandfather, José Andrade, wrestled under the ring name “El Moro”, his father works as Brillante, his uncles wrestle or wrestled under the names Diamante/Moro III (Sergio Andrade), Zafiro/Pentagoncito (real name unrevealed), Kevin (Juan Andrade), Espanto Jr./Pentagón (Jesús Andrade), Espiritu Magico (Juan Andrade) and one of his cousins works as the current Espanto Jr. (real name unrevealed) Due to the secretive nature of lucha libre, where the real names of masked wrestlers are often not revealed, it is possible that some more of Andrade’s siblings or cousins are also professional wrestlers.
From 2007 through 2014, he portrayed the masked character “La Sombra” as a face, a young, high-flying wrestler who used a lot of high-flying lucha libre moves, especially dives off the top rope and occasionally out of the ring to the floor. At the time, he often used a split-legged corkscrew senton dive off the top rope to finish his matches.
In 2007 he signed with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (“World Wrestling Council”; CMLL), and began training under CMLL head trainer El Satánico. He made his CMLL in-ring debut on February 27, working as “Brillante” just like his father had. In June CMLL changed his name, rechristening him La Sombra (“The Shadow”). CMLL previously had other people work under the name “La Sombra” in the 1980s and 1990s; CMLL did not promote the most recent La Sombra as having any relation to the previous incarnations at all, although it was later subtly acknowledged relationship was acknowledged when La Sombra began wrestling in a black and silver version of his father’s mask.
A third-generation wrestler, Andrade made his professional wrestling debut a month before his 14th birthday and worked under the name Brillante Jr. (in reference to his father Brillante). He is perhaps best known for his near eight year tenure working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) under the ring name La Sombra (Spanish for “The Shadow”). In CMLL, he won the 2007 Torneo Gran Alternativa tournament, the 2011 Universal Championship and at one point he was a triple champion; holding the Mexican National Trios Championship, NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship and CMLL World Tag Team Championship at the same time. He also made appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion. While working as La Sombra, Andrade was one of the founding members of the Los Ingobernables (“The Ungovernables”) wrestling group, and won the masks of El Felino, Olímpico and Volador Jr. by defeating them in Lucha de Apuestas matches before losing his own mask to Atlantis.
With his father, uncles and grandfather being involved in running a local lucha libre promotion and school in Durango Andrade began training for a professional career from an early age, initially by playing around with his father and uncles, but later began to train seriously for a career in the wrestling ring. He made his professional wrestling debut on October 3, 2003, a month before his 14th birthday, but only after his father signed a waiver for the local boxing and wrestling commission to issue him a license. He began working under the ring name Brillante Jr. in honor of his father.
