The WWE Series: 10) Alberto Del Rio

[Adam Rush]

Hello, guys, here's the 10th installment of the WWE Series! Feel free to request, and this one's for you, Christian101. I'm trying to organize this and make these more entertaining, give me feedback please

What kind of investment has Alberto Del Rio been to the WWE: Positive, Neutral, or Negative?

Just the Facts:
1) ADR is 35 years old.
2) He's only been in the WWE since 2010 (not counting FCW).
3) He is the first wrestler in history to win a Royal Rumble and a Money in the Bank match in the same year.

Analysis: ADR was supposed to be the next JBL, or something. He was supposed to be a top heel. He's been pushed to the moon and even to Mars! He's a two-time WWE Champion. But does he get over? No. And the WWE doesn't even see it. Ricardo Rodriguez gets more heat than ADR. ADR's now the number 1 contender for the World Heavyweight Title, and I don't understand it.

Decision: I think that Alberto Del Rio, while a very versatile wrestler, has been a neutral investment for the WWE. That being said, I don't think he's a bad superstar, just not a main-eventer.

What's your opinion?

And...

 

[LegendKiller716]

No matter if people think he's a main eventer or not, he is. Any time you can bring in a main event guy, it's a success.

Del Rio has a believable look, he's great in the ring, and has passable mic skills. Also he has the Mexico appeal.

The reason Del Rio isn't over with the fans is lazy booking. Del Rio has been in WWE for 2 years now and he hasn't had one tweak to his gimmick at all. Del Rio has all this money, but he only uses it to buy nice cars. Why doesn't he use it to help him win Dibase style? I think Del Rio should start paying people to interfere, or even form a stable that he has on his bank roll.

Another heel tactic he can use is having Ricardo become his personal ring announcer and referee. Heels with personal refs always get good heat. Del Rio needs to become sleazier to get over, start sneaking out wins, start using his riches to win matches. The reason he isn't over is because other than disagreeing with the fans, he doesn't do anything bad.

One final note, I think Eve would make a good valet for him.

 

[Foshinzo]

Alberto, at best, should not have risen above the top of the mid-card.

That's just my opinion, but after his WWE Championship feud with Punk and Cena, the man proved to me that he just isn't top class talent.
His promos are all the same. As an actor, because yes, acting is a big part of wrestling on television, he only has one face. He simply can't do anything more than his one gimmick, and that gimmick is over-played and has been done better by the likes of Ted DiBiase and JBL.

I don't quite understand what they see in Alberto. His wrestling is good, but his move-set is limited and he's not really a star in the ring. I mean, Hulk Hogan was an awful wrestler, a power lifter pretending to be a wrestler, and yet he was still a star. That's what ADR lacks. He has no star power. Sure, they give him pretty much everything that he needs: a branding and large entrance, mic time for him and his assistant/manager character, and high profile feuds with the biggest names in the company, and yet I still cannot stand to see him on my screen.

He's had his moments, though. Feuding with Mysterio wasn't all bad, and his part in Christian's first title win was good. Once he reached the pinnacle of the WWE, that's when I thought he had gone too far. He has been an Intercontinental Champion, maybe title chaser for a PPV or two at best. I am anticipating his exit from WWE.

 

[ThePhenomLives]

I am actually starting to enjoy Del Rio. He puts on great matches (loved Sheamus vs Del Rio at MITB) but I agree that he's limited on the mic. He always says the same thing and it gets boring after a while. His in-ring abilities should make him a top star in the future, Del Rio only needs some sort of character change, small or big, just to keep things fresh.

 

[Kelso1ftw]

This was a tough one for me because Del Rio has actually gone somewhere since entering the WWE like winning MITB and becoming WWE Champion and constantly being in the Championship picture, but his character and how he comes off to me is just bland and nothing special.. I feel like the crowd doesn't really care all that much about him and I personally find him a knock off of JBL and his character has barely changed over the past year or so and he is by far one of my least favorite upper card heels right now. And overall he has shown that he really won't be here long which shows he doesn't care as much as other superstars. So overall I would vote him neutral until he does something where he stands out as a superstar.

 

[Ethelion]

Obviously, the WWE doesn't see him as a negative investment to them since they've been constantly pushing him, even though he's barely over. In fact, the're pushing him way too fast. Despite his accomplishments, I believe that the WWE should come to realize that Alberto Del Rio is a neutral investment to them so far.

His two WWE Championship Reigns are forgettable. In fact, I don't even understand why he was given the WWEC in the first place. The World Heavyweight Championship would have sufficed, but they went overboard with his push just because they wanted to add more Mexican Demographic. He should have been pushed gradually to give time for the fans to at least get used to him like Dolph Ziggler, even though I'm not a fan of Ziggler's.

Although I agree with you that he doesn't deserve to be Number One Conterder for the WHC again, I believe that the WWE's milking him for all he's worth with the rumors that he doesn't have much time left in the company.

As for my next request, someone mentioned in a previous installment of yours to make one for Mark Henry. Although I second this as he should be the most interesting WWE Superstar to talk about since Kofi Kingston, I feel bad that the person who first requested for him wouldn't be credited for this...

 

[HBsam31]

Del Rio did come in strong and won the Rumble and MITB, but his title reigns are forgettable. I actually enjoy Del Rio, and he puts on decent matches. He seems to repeat himself a lot on the mic though. I voted neutral until he does something that really makes him stand out. He just never seemed to be able to get as over as WWE thought he would.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I gave him positive for one main reason: Alberto Del Rio is the only GOOD Main Event Heel! (And I'm not really even a fan of his.)

Not including Punk, Kane, Jericho & Bryan who are all "tweeners" & not including the Big Slow because he is just a veteran face they turned because they are out of heels, not to mention he is one of the worst & most boring things going in WWE currently.

Ziggler, Miz, & Rhodes are all on their way to the main event but not quite (Obviously Miz has started over and Rhodes has fallen farther off of the map.).

Sandow & Cesaro are great but still too "new".

Which leaves Tensai, Otunga, Swagger, McIntyre, Hawkins, Slater, etc. And we all know they are not good main event heels! Atleast none of them currently.

So sure Del Rio was rushed into a Rumble win and a bad WWE Title run, he has already had a very roller coaster career, & probably won't stay too long in WWE, but as the only real & good "Bad Guy" in WWE right now, he is a commodity WWE can't afford to lose.

It's pretty ironic how a couple years ago there was this HUGE gap in between Main Event Faces and Mid/Low-Card Faces. Now with Punk & Jericho & all those guys coming up or returning as tweeners, it has left a BIG void of solid heels.

I think Ziggler & Sandow should win the should win the World Heavyweight & I.C. Titles repectivley (maybe the "joke" U.S. title for Sandow if they are set on pushing Miz again).

 

[sanefan_har]

The major problem with Alberto Del Rio was his set of initial promos about how it was his "destiny" to win the world championship. And after he won it, he had nothing left to talk about. As such his character was responsible for the lack of heat he thereafter got as a heel . He has the look and skills, and can benefit from forming a stable with hunico and camacho. Right now however he's nowhere close to tyson kidd when it comes to getting over (i would've said punk or cena, but that's one heck of a gap).
Neutral for me.

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

The problem with Alberto Del Rio is that his character is just too damn bland. He has all the potential in the world to be a main event heel and even hold the world title again.
I don't think its his fault, I believe that he could be greater, I think that WWE has this view that heels can't carry the company as champion. They seem to think that only baby faces can do that, which is ridiculous.

WWE knows that if they invested more stock and time into del rio, he could be so much more than he currently is. He has been in the WWE for almost 2 years and is 35. So time is ticking, If WWE don't start using him correctly then he is gonna move on.

 

[Vincent Michaels]

Del Rio's always been a mixed bag for me. First it was the ok vignettes that got a bit boring after a while, nearly to the point where I just wanted him to debut so he could be squashed and silenced. Then he had his debut matches/feuds against Mysterio/Christian, and like many others, I fell in love with him. He had agression, he had a flashy entrance, he could bring the pain in the ring. They followed through with a good build up, and he won The Rumble. Still good...then he lost at Mania, which I totally understand considering Edge's condition at the time and wanting to have him retire as Champ, but it just derailed Del Rio to the point where I didn't think he'd recover. Then he had a decent feud with Christian, gets drafted to Raw(a huge mistake), had a shitty feud with Show, then he won MITB, and then instead of giving him another good build up before cashing in, he won it at Summerslam. He had good matches with Cena and Punk, then got injured, and ever since he got back he's been in the same old same old(but remember, now he's intense!). His flashly entrance got old, his promos didn't change a bit, and while he has good matches, that's all he has.

Obviously WWE sees something in him that, but he needs more variety in what his gimmick's supposed to be, otherwise he'll just be an upper midcarder rather than the main eventer they want him to be. He has Ricardo, nice cars, and his Destiny, but that's it, so ultimately I ended up voting neutral.

 

[xavyer]

I think he's a positive investemt, the guy is good in the ring, not exactly the best on the mic, he's just had bad luck with booking, look at it this way, Triple H, Austin, the Rock, even Cena or CM Punk, there was a time when these guys were not as big as now, sometimes it takes a little longer for a character to grow, but i have a feeling that sooner or later Alberto del Rio will find that "it" that he needs.......

 

[MINISTRYrising]

i like del rio i just think he was pushed to fast in the beggining. he sort of just jumped straight in to the main event picture. after the feud with ray i think wwe should off placed him in the mid card scene for a while and had him challenge for the ic or us title then after a lenghtie run push him up to main eventer. but like i said i do like ADR he is a good wrestler and i think he will get even better just needs more time and to work on his mic skills

 

[Reflection]

Del Rio isn't too bad a performer, but making him win in 1 minute matches only contaminates his character in my opinion, instead of putting him over.. if you don't give him enough time to showcase his talent (both verbally and wrestling-wise), how are the viewers gonna know what he is capable of? They need to do something quick before he becomes the rich man's version of Jack Swagger.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Alberto Del Rio has been a positive investment, so far.

Del Rio has done well up until this point, for the most part. Royal Rumble winner in 2011, 2 time WWE Champion, and a victorious cash-in of Money In the Bank. That list alone can make one argue that Del Rio is a positive investment.... but is he? He hasn't been booked too well since losing his last WWE Championship, and even when he held the belt he started to lose momentum due to the booking. Punk's promo about Alberto being boring didn't help either.

Although Alberto has achieved more in career so far than most can only dream of, if he continues to be booked poorly then they risk him ending up in a similar position to Swagger. WWE need to push him back into the world title scene as a top heel, on a more permanent basis. Have him possibly feud with Punk and prove that he isn't boring. They need to hurry and start fixing this problem soon though, or else all of the time they invested into his push last year will have been for nothing. He's a positive investment NOW, but that can change with the way things have been going for him, and faster than you may think.