In 2010, Alberto del Rio debuted on Smackdown as a Mexican aristocrat. When he arrived, I noticed shades of the JBL character about him, but I was fine with it because gimmicks get reworked sometimes. Right from the very start, it seemed like del Rio was destined to be a major star in the WWE. He was booked to go over Rey Mysterio and was involved in the upper mid-card right from day one. He won the largest Royal Rumble ever in 2011, when he beat 39 other men to earn a main-event match at Wrestlemania.
Despite an impressive start to his WWE career, it’s never really happened for del Rio. That’s a pretty general statement, so let me explain what I mean. When del Rio won the Rumble last year, it seemed for all the world that he’d win the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 27. Other factors meant that because of Edge’s injury and impending retirement, the Rated R Superstar went over del Rio in the opening match.
Then, when Edge retired, it seemed like del Rio would win the World Championship against Christian at Extreme Rules, but WWE decided to put Christian over instead. Del Rio was drafted to Raw and floundered around for a bit before winning the Money in the Bank match last July, before cashing his briefcase in at Summerslam to finally become a champion in WWE.
He’d win and lose the title again over the next couple of months and his title reigns weren’t really a massive success. Eventually, del Rio lost the title to CM Punk at Survivor Series. Alberto then got an injury and he’s only recently come back. Even then, his comeback was interrupted when he got a concussion before No Way Out so from a promising start, del Rio’s pretty much failed to live up expectations.
Let’s look at things objectively. Del Rio’s ring announcer is more over with the crowd than he is. A manager/valet/announcer is supposed to compliment their talent, not overshadow them. I don’t think that Ricardo Rodriguez is anything special, but he’s connecting with the live audience more than del Rio, which should be a concern for WWE management.
Just look at a live crowd on PPV or on Raw when del Rio’s talking. It’s as if they couldn’t give a Donald Duck about what he’s saying. (think about it! Rhyming slang! It’s a PG blog!) Then, when you watch him on Smackdown when he’s talking, the camera shots of the crowd don’t show them reacting to del Rio, but there’s still crowd noise being piped in. That’s a sure-fire sign that something is wrong.
I’m not saying that del Rio can’t go in the ring, because he can, but his overall character isn’t good enough to be a main-eventer. The JBL character worked because Bradshaw was the kind of heel that could talk on the mic and incite the crowd enough to make them want to pay to see him get his ass kicked. That’s the heel’s job. Del Rio doesn’t do that. He just bores me to tears.
WWE have invested heavily into del Rio over the last two years and to be honest, I don’t think he’s worth it. His character is bland, he can barely cut a decent promo and he’s just not connecting with a live WWE crowd. That’s why he was shipped back to Smackdown earlier this year, so they can create heat for him. I’ve been wrong before, and I probably will be again, but to me, del Rio is bland, boring and brutal to listen to. His gimmick is mid-card at best and I think it’s time WWE realised that and stopped forcing us to accept mediocre as main-event.
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