**Merged** Alberto Del Rio

[Bernkastel]

Watching Del Rio's debut match tonnight, I was shocked to see that not only did WWE creative put him in a match against Mysterio in his debut, but he actually picked up a clean win as well.

That's mind boggling...

I was fully expecting to see him squash some jobber in a five minute match. They might actually push this guy into the the main event faster than they pushed Swagger, Sheamus, or Brock Lesnar.

My first impression? This guy as all the makings of a classic heel. His personality, his style, and his audaciousness (the Royce was a great touch) will get him recognition very quickly.

The match he worked was perfect; he worked the arm the entire match, used moves that delt damage to Mysterio's arm, and then he finished with an armbar.

Picture perfect...

His mic skills will probably be meh, but so are Rey Mysterio's, and he's one of the top faces in the company.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I thought Alberto looked good in his Debut and put a Good Match with Rey Mysterio. The JBL-esque Entrance with the Rolls Royce was interesting and that will get him Hated right away.

 

[The Holy One]

Del Rio made me a fan him tonight. I was part of the many that questioned him and thought he wasn't going to be much of anything in his debut. However, the way he came out and interrupted Rey reminded me of Carlito's debut against John Cena. I think Del Rio is way better than Carlito and will actually have a future if he keeps this up. He has a good in-ring style and if he can put a little bit more work on his promo then Del Rio will have all the tools to suceed.

 

[The Ram]

When I saw Alberto Del Rio come out with the Royce the first thing that popped into my mind is mexican John Bradshaw Layfield. Then I saw him in the mind was Mexican JBL with better in ring skills. His mic skills are good for this being the first time he has been on wwe television in front of a crowd. Right now from what I can see he's gonna start off like wade barret and that is starting off strong. I'm actually surprised I had no interest in him during his vignette but now I must say I am impressed.

 

[SpoodBeest]

He impressed me and originally going into his debut I wasn't thinking he would be anything special. Tonight however he did shock the ever loving shit out of me. They had him interrupt Rey Mysterio at the start of the show which led to a match between the two later on. This match ended up being the fucking main event of the show, so the guy's debut match is in the main event of SmackDown. And guess what, he beat Mysterio 100% clean as he made him submit to a decent looking armbar. The limo had me thinking of JBL which I guess can be a good or bad thing, but the true icing on the cake was his own personal ring announcer. He has all the makings to be a good heel character and the WWE seems very intrigued to push him, especially giving him a clean win over one of their biggest stars in his first televised match. I'm very impressed with this guy and I can't wait to see what they do with him next week. And this is coming from a guy who thought he was just going to squash some jobber in the middle of tonight's show, silly me.

 

[Ferbian]

Thank fucking god this guy didn't debut against a jobber. This is how you debut a guy, this is how you make an impact. And I actually thought, while the vignittes had me slightly killed off with this guy, the match in itself as well as great debut made it MORE than worth the wait.

Great finisher, I loved it and actually scrolled my uploaded stream back to watch it once again, that's how impressed I was. Lovely convert of what seems like one of those arm twists into what looks like an armbar.

I had to admit I thought it was hopeless for this guy, I really thought Rey Mysterio were a definite winner, and a quick one at that. But they got time to perform, and Alberto coming out as winner was nothing more than brilliant.

Definitely looking forward to more from this guy, perhaps a feud with Rey Mysterio? Who knows, could be very very interesting.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Now, I would normally think we'll see Del Rio go after a midcarder, possibly Christian or Matt Hardy but with the amount of time they've spent hyping his debut, he may end up actually going after someone higher up the card, possibly even Rey Mysterio. To me, it makes sense for Del Rio to go after someone who he has a similar ethnic background but in reality is the opposite and Mysterio seems like the perfect example. That's my prediction for this week, Del Rio vs. Mysterio.

I called it.

Del Rio's debut was very impressive. He came to the ring with literally no fan fare, in the middle of a Rey Mysterio Promo that very few cared about, and he made himself known. Sure his mic skills aren't all that good BUT what he did have was timing and precision; he knew what to say and when to say it, and sometimes that's all you need. This guy then got shown up by Rey at the end of the segment but WWE has decided to book him as a strong heel that backs up what he says in the ring. An interesting idea for a cocky, rich heel.

So we fast-forward to his match and the entrance was a complete contrast to his earlier entrance. It was the entrance of a real cocky heel. It reminded me a little of JBL's entrance with the Rolls Royce but the addition of his own ring announcer was nice and added to the arrogance of his character. In the ring, this guy was tremendous. He wrestled pretty much flawlessly and executed all the spots he needed to. His finisher looks good and looks like it could cause severe pain to an opponent. Props to Mysterio for selling well and putting the guy over clean.

Overall a very good debut for Del Rio who impressed me on his debut.

 

[KKarvox]

Alberto Del Rio should be giving lessons to Ted Dibiase jr. on playing a heel. He has everything imo, the look, decent mic skills, a great entrance, albeit borrowed along with the rich honest man gimmick from JBL, decent ring work, and one heck of a finisher. His gimmick is obviously a take-off of JBL's, and further back Ted Dibiase Sr., but he has one edge: Ted and Bradshaw were self made millionaires, making them a bit more likable. Del Rio is a spoiled kid who was handed everything, which should garner him much more heat. Everyone hates the guy who gets everything without working for it. He isn't quite as good on the mic as JBL or Ted, but he's good enough. I was quite pleasantly surprised last night, as i had completely lost interest as the vignettes had gone on for WAY too long.

 

[TRoN]

I'm not a fan of his promo's but his in ring work was good and im looking foward to seeing more of him. A clean win over Rey and a submission no less was a perfect way to make an impact. I think Rey will use this kayfab injury to take some time off and get the vacation he was looking for and come back and have a intense feud with Del Rio. Anyone else think his ring announcer looked like a chubby mexican Cody Rhodes?

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

I must say I absolutely loved Mr. Del Rio. When little Rey-Rey started on with his stereotypical Spanish promo I was thinking here we go again, but BAW GAWD, we where saved by another Spanish Promo. Know I know that doesn't make much sense, but Del Rio is lightyears ahead of Mysterio when it comes to promo cutting ability. He saved the opening segment, and really made Smackdown feel like a classic wrestling show.

His entrance was amazing, I haven't seen the golden shower since Orton used to use it, the Rolls Royce was a nice touch, and his Walker Texas Ranger Armbar had me marking out like a twelve year old boy. His smile was fucking brilliant, and the match was decent overall. I was very impressed by Del Rio and was shocked when he went over cleanly, it was probably the most fun I had watching an episode of Smackdown since the fucking Rock was on.

 

[The Encore]

Just watched the Promo and Match, His in ring skills are pretty solid. Can't wait to see his next match to see what other moves he will do. His finisher was just amazing in my opinion, finally another submission finisher that actually looks like it would hurt someone. His promo skills are decent, it was his first time on smackdown and he did way better than I expected. As well as after his match with Rey... HE GOT MAJOR HEAT. I see them fueding and having a match at the PPV after NOC with Del Rio winning via some dirty way which will gain him more heat, and possibly after this fued with rey they could have him fued against someone for the IC belt or who knows.

Allin all I give his character as of his Debut a nice 7.5/10 with Microphone improvement we can have our NEXT spanish world champion within the next year.
But until then I would like for him to possibly have a IC title run for around 4-5 months establishing him as a big threat with holding wins over Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, Christian? and Matt Hardy?

 

[CraigThe13th]

This guy has got it. I thought for a guy making his debut he spoke and carried himself like a world champ. I think he is certainly someone who in time may make it to the top of the card.

That armbreaker was smooth as anything But it was the faces he pulled that makes me think the might be something special. He seems to have that charisma. Only knock on him is his size will be interesting to see him fight some of the larger members of the smackdown roster.

Time will tell with this bloke. He looks good though.

 

[The People's Peep]

All of the vignettes he did were very good. But after a few of them, I was getting impatient. I just wanted to see this guy in the ring already. But all of the weeks of build were worth it.

He came out and was already getting heat. And a good amount too. He got even more heat when he had his personal ring announcer and his Rolls Royce. Right now, its looking like his gimmick will be getting him tons of heat. He worked a pretty good match. We didnt get to see too much, but that armbar finisher of his was pretty sweet. I am very anxious to see his next match and how he is going to be used. Guessing from all of the build and reports I have read, there are some big expectations for Alberto.

 

[Nada]

One of the best debuts of a wrestler the last 10 years.

His promo was 100% natural and geniune, he didnt get any heat at the start but once he said one sentence the crowd was booing him out of the building. His match was solid, and you can easily imagine them going 20 min on a PPV and get match of the night

All the work and TV time they gave to Swagger, McIntyre, Sheamus, The Miz and Alberto del Rio still got a bigger reaction out of the crowd in 1 single night than all of them combined.

Im not flaming those guys, but its amazing to see a wrestler do so well, without any cheap tactics to get heat.

I know Dos Caras Jr well, and knew he would do well. I am really happy for him, that was the best debut since i can remember and he backed it up.

They allowed him to beat Rey clean, so that must mean that they think the same of him as i do, i already cant wait til next Smackdown to see what he does next, just brilliant

The man dosent even need to learn anything new, he is the complete package, he is the superstar WWE has been waiting for years. His gimmick is essentially Latin Ted DiBiase, but he does it better than anyone ive ever seen and has his own unique style.

 

[Ultra Awesome]

I am very pleased with Alberto Del Rio. I always believed that ever since Eddie Guerrero died and MexiCOOLS left (anyone remember them?), there was a lack in the Latino/Hispanic ethnicity in the WWE. Not that I am racist, I am just saying that Mexican wrestlers have a different style of wrestling than the one used here in the US. The Mexican style of wrestling is more of a grappling and submission based but with a unique feel. Something I feel the WWE lacks of (especially in submission manuvears). The closest thing I've seen to this is Rey Mysterio (of course), Chris Jericho, and the Undertaker. Oh and Chavo Guerrero also, but I don't like him, he's a disgrace to everything the Guerrero family stands for.

Alberto Del Rio has it all. His mic skills are good. I absolutely love his in-ring ability. And best of all, the crowd boo's him like crazy. It was a shock to me that they boo'd him as hard as they did. Especially considering this was his first night. Maybe it was because he was going against Rey Mysterio (a very fan favorite) but I have the feeling that Alberto Del Rio (Dos Cara Jr) will make it very far.

 

[Lionheart_Y2J_fan.]

Last night on smackdown i was pretty impressed with this guy. He had a pretty sweet entrance and is a pretty good heel. He and rey had a good in-ring segment at the start of last night's show. But what i want to know is, if this guy is a future world champion. Honestly though i just think he's gonna be competing for something like the U.S or IC title soon enough. But hat's just my opinion, what's yours?

 

[The Doctor]

I'm going to join everyone else and say that I too was very impressed with Alberto Del Rio. He seemed a little shaky on the mic at first, but as the promo went on he got more and more confident, especially when Rey made him angry nearer the end. He has natural heel charisma, and really makes you believe he is the millionaire of royal blood. The smile, and especially the wink that he does are great little touches that make his cocky persona that much more believable.

I loved his entrance. The Rolls-Royce, the pyro shower, the personal ring announcer, everything was just so overdone and yet so perfect. He seemed like a hispanic JBL or Ted DiBiase, and since I've been always been a fan of those types of gimmicks, that made me like him even more.

He even impressed in the ring. His armbar submission is simple but effective, his selling was just fine, and he could really move. I loved it. And the number one thing that impressed me was his look. He is a lot bigger than he seemed in the promo packages, and really has the build to be a World Heavyweight Champion and he carries himself as such.

Very, very impressive debut, and I only see bright things in this man's future. I'm glad they didn't bring up his connection to Mil Mascaras and Dos Caras and make that his gimmick, because this one fits him to a T.

 

[ctln4rko]

i dont like him. he debuted last night, and i could not understand what he was saying. it may be early to judge, but he did not make a good first impression on me

 

[Dum Dum Dudley]

Overall, i thought it was a good, solid debut for a good, solid wrestlers. I look at Del Rio and i think he is breath of fresh air when it comes to midcard heels on Smackdown. He looks a little bigger than say Ziggler or Rhodes and a submission finisher? Nice touch. I think that is why he had to go over Mysterio clean on Friday night. Yes, ideally, the established face would go over the new heel clean and Mysterio certainly has past experience of beating bigger guys.
At the time, i had a few problems with the entrance; it just seemed so patchwork at times like a SvR create-an-entrance. JBL's limo and Orton's pyro rain didn't sit well with me at first, but over time once he has established himself i am sure i will not be so critical. Besides, it did make creative sense as the JBL limo signifies his wealth so hopefully the entrance won't seem so patchwork.
What's next for Alberto Del Rio? Well, i would imagine the feud with Mysterio would continue but with no title involved, i can imagine he won't make his PPV debut till around Hell in a Cell (but obviously not in a HiaC match). My only question is this; with ADR being thrown into the deep end so soon, what's next; a run in the midcard (perhaps over the IC title) or does he go straight into the main-event after Kane/Taker is finished?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Del Rio is already doing enough right as far as I'm concerned, because when I watched his match against Mysterio on Youtube, it was probably the first time in a long time that I watched a match with 100% interest. I had only seen one of the vignettes. The only reason why I took an interest was because of his MMA background.

Either way, he grabbed my attention right from the start. He already has a lot going on with him that is done right. He has a non-generic theme. His entrance is very unique, between having his own ring announcer, some awesome looking pyro, and that he comes out in a Rolls-Royce. How he kept beeping the horn when he came out was such a great fiendish touch as well. I can't believe he's worked as a face throughout his career, because he's a damn good natural heel.

I think his debut is one of the best the WWE have done in quite a while. He's automatically a bigger deal because he bypassed NXT and the WWE is already putting him in a program against Rey Mysterio. He and Mysterio have extremely good chemistry together as well. Not only did they have a good match, but it made Del Rio look dominant against a guy who really, for the most part, doesn't get dominated. There's also the added credibility that Mysterio was just champion a couple of months ago.

The armbar is such a great finisher as well. Pro wrestling absolutely needs to incorporate more elements of MMA into the product, and the way Del Rio applied the armbar was really quite awesome.

It was a great match, and I think that he and Mysterio are going to have a great program with each other. I think he has future World Champion written all over him right now.

i dont like him. he debuted last night, and i could not understand what he was saying. it may be early to judge, but he did not make a good first impression on me

Yeah, that's as good a reason as any to not like him.

 

[dionlyone18]

So i saw this guys debut and while he was cutting a promo i was thingking "where is this guys title" like he spoke so well and his ringe presence made me think he should have a IC title or something..ive been watching WWE since i was about 5 or 6 in 1996 and i know a lot of guys fell off the WWE bandwagon but this...dare i say it what the WWE has been missing when it comes to debuts Del RIo came out in the Royce which was awsome and the golden pyro (btw i bought a 40 inch plasma tv for my room a few months back just to watch wwe in HD and that entrane made it worth it) and not only did he wrestle a solid match he won clean..100 percent no grabbing the tihgts..and the dude has heat already...unless he gets injured or does something stupid..i see big things with this guy..and idk but it might be just me but on the mic voice wise he sounded a little like Eddie guerrero kinda creepy but overall i give the dude a 8/10 only becuase his mic skills a re good but not at the top..just yet..i cant wait to see him wrestle next week

 

[andyplatinum]

I was very impressed with his debut on smackdown. My prediction was that he was going to debut against kofi and win the IC title up until a few weeks back when Dolph won it. I thinkhe could do well fueding with Mysterio. He assaulted Rey after the match so I can easily see a rivalry growing. Does this mean they'll finally leave Swagger in the mid-card and let people like ADR get main event light? One can only hope...

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I like him not sure about his Vehicle entrance though since it seems to scream JBL and it takes too much TV Time. But yeah, like everyone else, I am happy to see more technical swavy superstars in the WWE. With him and Daniel Bryan the future looks bright for technical wrestlers to once again be the focal point of the WWE.

Now on to the match on Smackdown! I don't know about you but I felt Rey should have won that match. I know they needed Alberto Del Rio to look good on his debut but his victory kind of hinder's any potential build up to the rivalry. Alberto beats Rey and that's it.

I would actually prefer Rey winning the match via a roll up due to Alberto's inexperience and arrogance. Leading to Alberto's mean streak coming out and beating Rey after the match then having their rematch at a PPV in a Submission Match or something giving Alberto the victory. Of course that's just me and I guess I could be wrong.

 

[Thom]

Wow, he's got me impressed straight away. I've watched both the promo and the match twice now, and didn't get bored either time, which is quite an achievement when it was within a day of each other. The entrance was awesome, he was good on the mic, and, even though it has been said repeatedly, that armbar was a great choice for him. I'm looking forward to seeing him back next week. I can see him getting a push to the World Title of Sheamus-esque proportions.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Don't get the hype. Doesn't seem like a big deal. Would have been much more interested if he'd come in wearing a mask, been a face and done a lot more flips. As it is, his introduction into the WWE - and his character - is so eerily reminiscent of Carlito it's not even funny. I'll be very, very surprised if he has a long term future in the WWE as a main eventer.