Alberto Del Rio Officially Joining Impact Wrestling

[It's Damn Real!]

As noted, former WWE World Champion Alberto Del Rio is at the Impact Wrestling tapings tonight in Orlando.

According to PWInsider.com, Del Rio has indeed signed a full-time deal with TNA and will be getting a massive push when he makes his debut tonight.

Del Rio and TNA came to terms within the past couple days, and although Del Rio was brought backstage secretly, Anthem’s Ed Nordholm Tweeted a photo of him with Jeff Jarrett in the ring.

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/811...t-injured-wwe-star-at-impact-tapings-spoilers

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Jarrett and the @IMPACTWrestling Twitter accounts both officially confirmed this on Twitter:

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I've been quite vocal about not being an ADR fan at all, but with this signed and sealed, the best I can hope for is he isn't made World Champion the night he debuts. The last thing TNA needs during this reset is to repeat the same mistake they made with RVD.

 

[Navi]

Good luck to TNA and I hope they can keep him in check. Somehow I didn't think he would even look at them but yea guess I was wrong. Del Rio is trouble with a capital T outside the ring and let's face it TNA has had it's share of bad press. TNA with the loss of the Hardy's have to do something though, time will tell if they made a good choice.

 

[Starkist]

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/811...t-injured-wwe-star-at-impact-tapings-spoilers

--

Jarrett and the @IMPACTWrestling Twitter accounts both officially confirmed this on Twitter:

--

I've been quite vocal about not being an ADR fan at all, but with this signed and sealed, the best I can hope for is he isn't made World Champion the night he debuts. The last thing TNA needs during this reset is to repeat the same mistake they made with RVD.

Are you possibly psychic? If this happens I would like to buy you a beer.

I do not mind ADR, but, I really did not like him in WWE. In LU, he was more intriguing since he looked fresh and well rested. He is solid in the ring and I feel he is underrated to be honest. If they let ADR be himself, he will do well in TNA. Personally, I would not mind him becoming champion with a chasing Lashley. Have Lashley, learn a submission style move and vow to make ADR tap out.

I would have hoped it was CM Punk. I honestly think he would bring consistent viewership to Impact Wrestling.

 

[MWRedskins]

in the ring and if he's used right, then Alberto is a great addition to Impact Wrestling because he can really go in the ring and put on a great match, however, outside the ring, he's a risk. hopefully he matures and quits acting like he's as young as his current girlfriend is. if a company is going to sign you and trust you to be their star, then act right and make the company that he treating you like gold proud.

 

[stingray11214]

Very surprised that El Patron signed with TNA. Thought he was going to be running his restaurant and his MMA promotion. Guess I was wrong. Oh, well. He needs to realize that he has to put his ego in check. TNA also has to let him do some of his lucha stuff. This partnership, while as volatile as a bottle of liquid nitroglycerin, could be a jackpot for Anthem AND El Patron. VKM always wanted that Latino star to replace, or at least compliment, Rey Misterio. If Anthem does things tactically and thoughtfully, Impact will benefit dramatically.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Not to spoils stuff for everybody but knowing how jarrett thinks, I wouldn't be surprise if del rio gets a title match on his debut and beats lashley for the championship and they put the whole company on the shoulders of del rio because that's always been how jarrett as booked tna in the past. Have a former wwe guy come in and push the hell out of him so that that guy becomes the face of the company.

Sometime that type of booking works, sometimes it doesn't and personally, I don't see this working long term because, del rio isn't the big star that jarrett might think he is.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Alberto puts me to sleep, so this doesn't really give me a reason to watch. Then again, TNA may give him something better, so we'll see. The guy is great in the ring, which could help TNA. With all of the talent they have lost, this could give them a top heel. Hopefully he isn't half as boring as he was in WWE.

 

[stingray11214]

Alberto puts me to sleep, so this doesn't really give me a reason to watch. Then again, TNA may give him something better, so we'll see. The guy is great in the ring, which could help TNA. With all of the talent they have lost, this could give them a top heel. Hopefully he isn't half as boring as he was in WWE.

Dutch Mantell remembers the nonsense at WWE. So does Pritchard. I doubt VERY seriously that those two will do anything that will NOT make El Patron look good in the ring. Basically, it comes down to how good Alberto really is.

 

[Dave]

TNA got rid of Drew Galloway and The Broken Hardys and ended up with Albert Del Rio as a result? If that isn't the worst piece of business in wrestling today, then I don't know what is. Del Rio is boring, there's no doubt about it. I don't think that I have been at all impressed with him in all the times I have seen him with the WWE or elsewhere. And the fact that TNA are gonna give him a massive push when he makes his debut is an insult to everyone on the roster already. I know that TNA has been struggling lately but Alberto Del Rio is not the answer.

He also seems like a right cunt, too. Him and his crazy fiancee are bad news as far as I'm concerned. Bad decision by TNA, especially given that they've let Galloway and The Hardys slip through their fingers.

 

[#tamale]

Dutch Mantell remembers the nonsense at WWE. So does Pritchard. I doubt VERY seriously that those two will do anything that will NOT make El Patron look good in the ring. Basically, it comes down to how good Alberto really is.

We have seen what Alberto El Patron can be. He's not a proven commodity.

TNA got rid of Drew Galloway and The Broken Hardys and ended up with Albert Del Rio as a result? If that isn't the worst piece of business in wrestling today, then I don't know what is.

Just to add to this, Impact Wrrestling couldn't wait to sign someone else? They didn't need to sign Alberto.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Prepare to get not excited. Fans of the Hardys were going to have a tough time sticking with Impact, and this is a poor replacement.

The silliness of the Hardys is a valid criticism, and El Patron is is the opposite of silliness. He's a talented wrestler, but outside of Mexico he has the charisma of a broom.

That's not a race thing so much as it is a cultural thing. He gets over being a national hero, here he's just a bland guy. Looks like he basically does the Mexican aristocrat gimmick he got in WWE, but if he brings it to Impact it remains to be seen.

Hopefully they expand his character. If they're going to go full WWE with Alberto, they might as well bring in Ricardo Rodriguez. That guy brings all the charisma to the act.

IT shouldn't be the slightest surprise that Impact signed El Patron and vice versa. He's one of the biggest names in the indies (all criticism anyone has aside, this is an indisputable fact) and Mexico is a quick flight from Orlando. Working a one or two nights to create a few weeks of TV works in El Patron's favour.

Impact isn't going to find a golden goose with El Patron. WWE's cast offs will have increasingly diminishing returns as time goes on. He's not a bad get so long as they use him right.

That's the big thing, using him right. Pushing him straight to the world title scene would be a bad call. He's president of an MMA company, has his own MMA experience, so he seems a good candidate for the Grand Championship. That would be the best use, let him enter the world title scene (if they have to go there) later, much later.

Good signing, but he's not Kurt Angle. He's not even Christian. Most of his WWE world title wins came during a time when the World Heavyweight title was a midcard title and he mostly functioned as a transitional champion when he held the WWE title.

He'll be great if they use him right, otherwise they'll risk overexposing him like WWE did. They need to take a risk and develop a fresh character, otherwise here comes another WWE guy being pushed over Impact originals.

 

[ABMorales787]

I've seen far dumber moves by TNA. They filtered out many notable talents, for better or for worse. They needed an anchor and Alberto was the biggest free agent available. Not to mention, with TNA bringing many Latinamerican stars in, it only makes sense to make your centerpiece the top Latinamerican star available to best capitalize on that market. It's something a lot of people are overlooking about this signing. Alberto is in fact a big draw, not just for Mexico but for Latinamerica in general and also grabs some "perros gringos" eyes too.

They lost Galloway, The Hardys and Maria/Bennett. Alberto was in fact the best they could bring in as far as one name is concerned.

 

[ShinChan]

I have always loved him in the ring. As much as uninteresting he had looked in WWE due to his stale booking, He has the skills.

The same person was damn entertaining in Lucha Underground and same person was jobbing to Kalisto and who not in WWE. See the difference?

Hotshoting him straight to main event picture was again a wrong decision and I still stand against it. Build him up. Don't "Roman Reigns" him.

Also, I will like to see a face Alberto Del Rio here as he has been more of a heel in his stint in WWE. He's so much better as a face.

 

[Navi]

I have always loved him in the ring. As much as uninteresting he had looked in WWE due to his stale booking, He has the skills.

The same person was damn entertaining in Lucha Underground and same person was jobbing to Kalisto and who not in WWE. See the difference?

Hotshoting him straight to main event picture was again a wrong decision and I still stand against it. Build him up. Don't "Roman Reigns" him.

Also, I will like to see a face Alberto Del Rio here as he has been more of a heel in his stint in WWE. He's so much better as a face.

He has skills, but oh my God watching paint dry is more exciting than listening to him talk. If he just comes out, gets in the ring, does what he does best and leaves, then okay. But when he tries to cut a promo he comes off looking like a plank most of the time. And this coming from someone who doesn't really mind him all that much.

But I said on another thread, TNA has signed a powderkeg here. He just might become more trouble than he's worth. With the mass exodus that just occurred last thing they need is a lot of bad press because he clocked someone at a Dunkin Donuts.

 

[ShinChan]

He has skills, but oh my God watching paint dry is more exciting than listening to him talk. If he just comes out, gets in the ring, does what he does best and leaves, then okay. But when he tries to cut a promo he comes off looking like a plank most of the time. And this coming from someone who doesn't really mind him all that much.

But I said on another thread, TNA has signed a powderkeg here. He just might become more trouble than he's worth. With the mass exodus that just occurred last thing they need is a lot of bad press because he clocked someone at a Dunkin Donuts.

He ain't good at mic. But also what matters is his alignment. He worked damn good as a face in Lucha Underground. You should seriously check his work in Lucha Underground.

He won't work as a heel when he's jobbing to Kalisto of all people. In his second stint in WWE, he was given a lame MexAmerica angle and then stopped. We should better forget what League Of Nations was.

I surely would've preferred Adam Cole over him as he's a complete package.