Manuel Alejandro Saez Palominos, better known simply as Alejandro Saez, is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

currently competing for various professional wrestling promotions on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

. He is known by the ring name ''Xtra Large'' (meaning "extra large" as it implies) on the independent scene. In 2016, Saez was a participant in the

WWE Cruiserweight Classic The Cruiserweight Classic, formerly the Global Cruiserweight Series, was a professional wrestling tournament and WWE Network event produced by WWE. All participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less to determine the inaugural WWE Cruiser ...

, where he was eliminated in the first round. In addition to WWE, Saez has also toured with

Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left th ...

, where he competed in the 2016

Global League The Global League is an annual professional wrestling round-robin tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah, established in 2010. In 2019, the Global League was rebranded as the N-1 Victory. The Global League adopts a points system, with two points f ...

Early life

Saez was born and raised in Chile, of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. He lives in the town of

Pudahuel Pudahuel (, Mapudungun "place of pools/water" or "place where seagulls gather") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. Santiago's international airport Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez is located there ...

, Santiago de Chile. Manuel speaks

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

and knows some

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

. Saez grew up as a fan of professional wrestling citing

Shane McMahon Shane Brandon McMahon (; born January 15, 1970) is an American businessman and professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he was a wrestler, producer and minority owner. He is the founder and executive chairman of Ide ...

as one of his favourite wrestlers.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2002–present)

Manuel began his wrestling career in early 2002 on the independent circuit. In 2006, Saez began wrestling for Revolucion Lucha Libre under the ring name as Xtra Large. He would compete on the lower card in singles competition, but eventually formed a tag team with Bunny. On April 30, 2006, XL and Bunny defeated Coyote 2.0 and Pensacola to win the RLL Tag Team Championships. In XNL, Saez defeated

Giger Giger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Giger (born 1946), Swiss cross-country skier * Fabrice Giger (born 1965), Swiss publisher and film producer * H. R. Giger (1940–2014), Swiss painter, sculptor, and set desig ...

to win the XNL World championship after feuding with Giger on previous shows. In 2013 he represented Chilean promotion ''Xplosion Nacional de Lucha'' in the first ever ''Torneo Latino Americano de Lucha Libre'', in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He was defeated in the first round by

Takeshi Morishima (born October 15, 1978) is a Japanese former professional wrestler. Morishima is best known for his work with Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has also performed for Ring of Honor (ROH) in the Un ...

. In 2015, Saez, along with Ariki Toa, Lenko Sins, Solar Sanchez, Domina and Sergio Catalan, formed a stable named L.A.D. within the Xtreme Latin American Wrestling promotion in Chile. The stable has disbanded as of 2016. On March 5, 2017 at a CNL Chile (Campeonato Nacional de Lucha Libre) event, Saez defeated Engranaje Jack for his first and only CNL Metropolitan Championship in the promotion.

Pro Wrestling Noah (2014, 2016-2017)

Saez made his Japanese debut on January 15, 2014, as XL, where he was defeated by

Akitoshi Saito is a Japanese professional wrestler who is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Early life Before pro wrestling, Akitoshi Saito was trained in karate by Masashi Aoyagi. Saito seconded Aoyag ...

. He would also briefly tag with

Bobby Fish Robert Anthony Fish (born October 27, 1976) is an American professional wrestler currently appearing on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenure with WWE, where he performed on the NXT brand and was a member of The Undisputed ...

. Saez returned to the promotion as part of the 2016

, finishing the tournament with a total of six points scored after competing against

Masa Kitamiya is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Kitamiya's ring name is a tribute to former professional wrestler Masa Saito. Kitamiya also wears a similar ring attire to Saito as tribute. Early life Kitamiya was an amateur ...

Muhammad Yone , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a multi-time GHC Tag Team Champion, a one time GHC Openweight Hardcore Champion and winner of the Global Tag League in 2 ...

, Davey Boy Smith Jr.,

Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ...

Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler ...

Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion where he is the former GHC Heavyweight Champion in a record breaking fifth reign. He made his debut for the promotion in July 2004 and remained with it unti ...

and

Kaito Kiyomiya is a Japanese professional wrestler who works for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is the current GHC Heavyweight Champion in his second reign. Early life Kiyomiya grew up a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, citing Mitsuharu Misawa as his big ...

. On November 3, 2016, Saez defeated

Davey Boy Smith David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...

, and on January 7, 2017, Saez defeated

Hi69 is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by his ring name Hi69 (pronounced as Hiroki). He is currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Since debuting in 2000, Tanabe has frequently worked for Kaientai Dojo, Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Apache ...

WWE Cruiserweight Classic (2016)

In June 2016,

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

announced Saez as one of the 32 participants in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic tournament. In the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: * World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

of the tournament, Saez was eliminated by

Gran Metalik Máscara Dorada (born August 24, 1988) is the ring name of a Mexican '' luchador'' '' enmascarado'' (masked professional wrestler) currently working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He is best known for his time in WWE where he perform ...

. Saez was the first and only

an wrestler to compete in WWE. Saez was the heaviest wrestler in the tournament, at 205 pounds, which is the weight limit of a

cruiserweight Cruiserweight is a term associated with: *Cruiserweight (boxing), a weight class in boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight * Cruiserweight (MMA), a weight class in mixed martial arts with an upper weight limit at . *Cruiserweight (profess ...

. For Saez to make the tournament, he fasted and trained to shred 25 pounds, as before this he was 230 pounds. Alejandro stated that this took him 2 weeks to accomplish. In 2018, Saez announced that had been selected among the 45 selected from all Latin America to participate in the first Tryout of Latin Americans of the WWE, which were done from 2 to 4 December in Santiago.

5 Luchas Clandestino (2017–present)

In 2017, Saez returned to Santiago de Chile to wrestle in the independent scene of the country. He started to run his own promotion and wrestling training center called "5 Luchas Clandestino". Currently he is the leader of a new wrestling faction called "Carnaval de Sangre", with "Sexualizer", "Kristy", "Carnicero Humano" and "Azagoth Firelord". Some of the other wrestlers are

Katrina Cortez Katrina or Katrine may refer to: People * Katrina (given name) * Katrine (given name) Meteorology * List of storms named Katrina, a list of tropical cyclones designated as Katrina ** Hurricane Katrina, an exceptionally powerful Atlantic hurrica ...

WWE NXT ''WWE NXT'', also known as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring performers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show current ...

Zatara Giovanni "John" Zatara is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He debuted as a superhero, starring in his own stories in ''Action Comics'' during the Golden Age of Comics. He first appeared in the firs ...

, who participated in the

Mae Young Classic (2018) The 2018 Mae Young Classic was a multi-night special event and tournament promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, WWE. It was the second Mae Young Classic tournament produced and was constituted by a 32-competitor tournament e ...

and

Guanchulo Guanchulo is a Chilean professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer and is best known for his time with DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). He is also a full-time coach in the Chilean independent wrestling scene. Professional wrestling career In ...

who was part of

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bo ...

along with Saez.

Championships and accomplishments

* Campeonato Nacional de Lucha Libre ** CNL Metropolitan Championship (1 time) ** CNL Tag Team Championship (1 time) *

Brazilian Wrestling Federation Brazilian Wrestling Federation (BWF) is a Brazilian professional wrestling association, the largest in the country. The federation holds one internet show, the BWF Telecatch. The company was founded with the mission to revive the popularity of Pro ...

** Torneo Latino americano de Lucha Libre 2014 winner * Leader Wrestling Association ** LWA Maximo Championship (1 time) ** LWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ariki Toa * ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' ** PWI ranked him No. 357 of the top 500 singles

wrestlers Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spo ...

in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

in 2016 * Revolucion Lucha Libre ** RLL Absoluto Championship (1 time) ** RLL Regional Championship (1 time) ** RLL Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bunny *

Xtreme Latin American Wrestling Xtreme Latin American Wrestling (XLAW or X-LAW) is a lucha libre professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico, founded in 2001 by wrestling journalist Ernesto Ocampo. The promotion is credited to be the first Hardcore wrestling company in ...

** X-LAW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * Xplosion Nacional de Lucha Libre ** XNL Lucha Clasificatoria TNT tournament winner ** XNL National Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Fear ** XNL World Championship (4 times)

References

External links

* Alejandro Saez' profile a
Cagematch.netWrestlingdata.com

Alejandro Saez
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saez, Alejandro 1987 births Living people Chilean male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Santiago