Alberto Del Rio/El Patron is coming... to ROH!

[The Dragon Saga]

From the Observer, I meant to put "Report" into the title:

Alberto Rodriguez became the first man in history to win the world heavyweight title in WWE, CMLL and AAA, and did so under three different names (Alberto Del Rio, Dos Caras Jr. and Alberto El Patron).

As AAA champion, he is going to be the most international champion in the history of the promotion. He is starting with ROH for several shows in January. ROH was supposed to announce it on the PPV, but a video he was supposed to cut to air that night never arrived. His management team reached out to ROH because he likes their style. This probably means that his negotiations with TNA didn't pan out. Another sign that ROH and TNA are very much battling each other. He's expected to stick around until the 13th Anniversary Show on PPV and depending on how well he draws ROH will continue using him. He’s also supposed to start with Lucha Underground, although at press time had not signed a contract with the promotion. Bellator also approached him on 12/8, after they lost out on getting C.M. Punk.

Last year ROH started 2014 by bringing in AJ Styles.

This year they're starting by bringing in Alberto Del Rio.

 

[ABMorales787]

Wow. The guy is gonna be all over the place this year.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

I always loved his style. It's stiff yet smooth as silk. He'll fit into ROH like a glove. His character however is what makes me worried. If ROH bring him in to play that rich dude the WWE portrayed him as I'll immediately hate his character. They should bring him in as a face and let him be what he was like at House of Hardcore.

He could make his debut at the Nashville TV taping on January 3rd. ROH is without Styles, reDRagon and The Bucks who'll be at Wrestle Kingdom. ROH is over in Nashville anyway but It'd be a good place to debut in-front of a good crowd.

 

[Stormtrooper]

So I never had a reason to watch ROH really as I don't really like their product.

Now I still don't have a reason to watch ROH as I found Del Rio boring and redundant and wasn't a big fan of his ring-work.

 

[justinsayne]

I have zero interest in Del Rio in ROH or anywhere for that matter. I find his character & in-ring work to be boring as shit.

 

[ABMorales787]

WWE pushed him too far too fast.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Agreed on that. And his character. But he'll bring two things - one, they can stick his name on a poster and he'll draw people to the shows. A lot of people go to ROH shows with the expectation of, "I'll see some great wrestling, it's worth the shot", seeing familiar faces is a plus, whether that be Del Rio, Sydal, Styles, Daniels and Kazarian, Lethal, whoever. ADR's also got a ton of momentum going for himself and hes caught on to new audiences sans WWE.

I think the best example I could use is AJ Styles. AJ Styles in 2014 > AJ Styles at any other time period. In performance, star power, charisma, even his mic work is better now then its ever been before. ADR can hopefully do the same. I'm a fan of his ring work anyway and think he'll fit into ROH like Mike Tyson in his prime into a prison, but yeah, if he brings his character, which I don't think he will because the idea that he's a Mexican aristocrat would be insulting fans intelligence anyway, I'm turned off.

 

[ABMorales787]

He's been a great face in AAA and he's always been solid with his promo's so he'll do just fine in ROH. I gotta assume him vs AJ Styles will be what they're aiming for with their 13th Anniversary PPV.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

He's been a great face in AAA and he's always been solid with his promo's so he'll do just fine in ROH. I gotta assume him vs AJ Styles will be what they're aiming for with their 13th Anniversary PPV.

I think It'll either be that or AJ Styles vs. Jay Briscoe. But it all depends what happens at the first TV taping of 2015. I can only assume ADR will be added to the taping in the next week or two.

 

[ABMorales787]

He needs a new last name already. "El Patron" Alberto just sounds awful. Add Rodriguez and be done with it. I wonder if Ricardo would tag along too.

 

[Starkist]

How big of a cult following does he have in America?

His character is boring, his style was decent as well.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I'll catch this.

Trouble with ADR, pushed too fast without any credible grounds. Always thrown into a title chase without much rhyme or reason; you need a build. If he was such a wealthy aristrocata, you could have had a storyline where he bought WWE shares so much so, that he gained enough power to turn the show into a more hispanic and Mexico-friendly RAW, while making Americans be his assistants or some shit. He had NO proper personal feuds and you need that for a wrestler to connect with the audience. If you don't let him emotionally invest in a storyline, how will the crowd emotionally invest in his gimmick?

Anyway, this is cool news.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I am really excited about this news as I've always been a fan of Alberto's in-ring work. He's a very smooth wrestler and a great storyteller and I also think that he will fit to a glove in Ring of Honor. He should debut come January 3rd, he would give some depth to the announced roster and would probably create some buzz for himself for 2015. I could definitely see him in the "spot" AJ Styles is now in the end of this year, as in, being the best in the world as far as the owning it's craft.

His win at AAA's Guerra de Titanes was the start of his explosion in the indy scene and other non-WWE markets. As far as his character goes, I do think he should just get rid of the whole "aristocrat" bullshit, and just be a bad ass wrestler from Mexico, good guy or bad guy, he should just stick to his character in-ring. He can be a old school heel or babyface and he'll be over.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Happy for this. Might be a reason to regularily tune into ROH, especially if he brings in Ricardo.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Hes been signed to four shows, the Nashville, TN TV tapings, the double shot weekend a week later and the 13th Anniversary Show PPV which will also feature AJ Styles and The Young Bucks, so all the big names will be there.

Meltzer spoke about why he joined ROH on Wrestling Observer Radio and said ROH literally stole him from TNA. He'd been negotiating with TNA up until two weeks ago, ROH contacted ADR's management team and ADR got back to them and told them he was in. They ironed out money and dates up until last week, which is why the advert promoting him never made Final Battle because it was shot last second.

Dave also said that this is a prime example of how SBG are giving ROH more money to work with. ADR's not cheap.

 

[ABMorales787]

That's El Zorro's theme song.

Hes been signed to four shows, the Nashville, TN TV tapings, the double shot weekend a week later and the 13th Anniversary Show PPV which will also feature AJ Styles and The Young Bucks, so all the big names will be there.

Meltzer spoke about why he joined ROH on Wrestling Observer Radio and said ROH literally stole him from TNA. He'd been negotiating with TNA up until two weeks ago, ROH contacted ADR's management team and ADR got back to them and told them he was in. They ironed out money and dates up until last week, which is why the advert promoting him never made Final Battle because it was shot last second.

Dave also said that this is a prime example of how SBG are giving ROH more money to work with. ADR's not cheap.

That's cool. But I gotta wonder if it will be a year round thing with giving out funds for ROH. Because it seems they'll start their year with big news like AJ Styles and the NJPW cross-over last year but then make due in a sense that they showed all their stuff at the start so for the rest of the year until SBG does their evaluation they just have to make due.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

That's seemingly how the process goes. I'm personally okay with that. They should plan things out for the year, they should know right now what the main event for Final Battle 2015 should be and work towards it. The booking of Final Battle was very good, every match had a goal and they succeeded in every goal. They should have some thoughts of what the goals for Final Battle 2015 should be.

For example, first goal - never run Terminal 5 ever again!

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

Fuck Terminal 5 and until I'm proven wrong Fuck ADR.

 

[ABMorales787]

It was an interesting venue. It's the crowd that was shit.

Fuck Terminal 5 and until I'm proven wrong Fuck ADR.

He'll prove you wrong.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

It was an interesting venue. It's the crowd that was shit.

He'll prove you wrong.

He better, I just started liking ROH, he better not ruin it for me.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

It was an interesting venue. It's the crowd that was shit.

He'll prove you wrong.

There was 1,200 people in it. People thought they'd get like 1,600, and even that is too small for ROH in NYC. They can draw a lot more. They had the show sold-out before it started, people were being turned away at the door, they should have ran a venue large enough to accommodate walk-ups.

The rumor is they're going to try some small arena that's inside Madison Square Garden. I forget the name of it but for concerts it holds 5,000 people so for wrestling it should hold like 3,000 or so which would be perfect.

Oh, and ROH's designing department hits the nail on the head again. I think it's suggesting Styles vs. Briscoe.

 

[justinsayne]

ADR's not cheap.

ADR may not be cheap but I'm pretty sure that lackluster video announcing his signing was.

 

[ABMorales787]

 

[ABMorales787]

He's scheduled for January 6th in WWL for their holiday special event. He's in a 3 Way with Shane The Glamour Boy and Ricky Banderas for their World title. Imagine Del Rio with 3 World titles by March.