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WWE: Alberto Del Rio Clearly Isn’t Worth The High Price

By Kevin Parvizi

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Alberto Del Rio’s contract with Impact Wrestling will end soon, and although he and Impact are busy negotiating a deal, there are now rumblings that he and WWE could be working on a deal, too. Here’s why Del Rio isn’t worth the high price tag.

According to PW Insider.com’s Mike Johnson, Alberto Del Rio had a meeting with Vince McMahon last week, and Johnson adds that he’s heard “rumblings” that Vince is “very much” in favor of bringing back Del Rio. In the past, Del Rio has stated that he has a “fantastic” relationship with the WWE boss, which isn’t a surprise considering his achievements in WWE (four-time Heavyweight Champion, former Money in the Bank winner, former Royal Rumble winner, two title matches at WrestleMania).

Currently, Del Rio is signed to Impact Wrestling as “Alberto El Patron”, but his contract ends in April. At this point, most people expect the two to hammer out a deal, and PW Insider has reported that negotiations between Del Rio and Impact have been “positive”. Impact sees re-signing both Del Rio and Eli Drake, who are two of the company’s biggest stars, as a “big priority”.

I can see why Impact would want to re-sign Del Rio, because he is one of their most recognizable names. Again, the man won a Royal Rumble in WWE and was a multiple-time world champion. Del Rio isn’t exactly popular among wrestling fans for a variety of reasons, but he was successful in WWE and, in theory, is a piece Impact can build their product around. You know, when they aren’t booking him in terrible angles at Bound For Glory.

But my question is, how successful has Del Rio been since leaving WWE? He’s put on some solid matches with the likes of Moose and Rey Mysterio, and he’s very clearly a legitimate fighter with solid in-ring skills. Del Rio knows how to work a crowd, and the idea that he “sucks” is an exaggeration. Despite this, how often did he receive positive media coverage, put on great matches, or elevate the status of the promotion he was working with?

The same can be said for his work in WWE. Even though he was a four-time world champion in WWE, did any of his reigns feel memorable? He was a part of some big moments with Dolph Ziggler, Edge, Vickie Guerrero, Santino Marella, and others, but was Del Rio ever really a main eventer despite being in the main event? Sure, he was quite good at wrestling and passable on the mic, but did his work truly stand out?

Whether it’s unfair or not, Del Rio comes with baggage. He has a right to be upset with WWE after being allegedly subjected to racism backstage, but is everyone backstage truly willing to move past the comments he’s made? He made some pretty outrageous rants directed at Triple H, and even though he said he’s since apologized to “The Game”, he also blamed Paige for those rants.

Yeah, you read that right. He said,

"“I personally apologized to Triple H for the issues we had when I was in a bad relationship with my ex-partner. She and her entire family made me believe that they affected our relationship. She made me believe that the videos [Paige and Maddox] and all that was happening outside to her was perpetrated by Triple H and the company. At the time I believed her, because she was my partner. I defended her by heart and sword, then things were different. Later I realized how wrong I was to place my trust in that person. I deeply regret my words and apologized to Triple H, his wife and WWE. They understood me.”"

If you recall, Paige and Del Rio were in a public dispute in which Paige was recorded telling Del Rio to “Stay out of my life”.

The title of this piece states that Del Rio isn’t worth the “price”, and this “price” is two-fold. Firstly, there’s the financial price. Del Rio is negotiating with Impact, and it stands to reason that they will do whatever they can to keep him. Although Impact downplayed the effect of losing wrestlers like Ethan Carter III and Bobby Lashley, I highly doubt they would feel the same way if they lose both Drake and Del Rio, especially since they featured the latter man so prominently at their biggest show of 2017 (though the less we say about that, the better).

So WWE isn’t going to get Del Rio for cheap, because they have competition from Impact, who need him more than WWE does. Which brings me to my next point. WWE doesn’t need Del Rio. They already have so much talent on all of their brands, and there are serious concerns about featuring all of this talent, especially if they decide to have dual-branded pay per views.

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As a 40-year-old four-time world champ, Del Rio isn’t necessarily a wrestler who is clamored for as a potential WWE main eventer. Fans do respect his accomplishments as a wrestler and an athlete, but he’s an upper mid-carder at best, and this was his role in WWE before he left the company in 2016.

The upper mid-card scene, however, is extremely crowded. Kevin Owens, Bobby Roode, Baron Corbin, Finn Balor, The Miz, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Jinder Mahal, and Randy Orton are just some of the big names who have fought for (or held) either the United States Championship or Intercontinental Championship since the last Superstar Shakeup. Throw in names like Elias, Dolph Ziggler, and Tye Dillinger, and it’s clear that the mid-card titles have no shortage of suitors. And don’t forget about all the talent in NXT just waiting for a call-up.

So how exactly would Del Rio fit in, especially if WWE gives him a high price tag? They did recently re-sign Dolph Ziggler to a big deal, but Ziggler is more popular among fans, a better wrestler, is an excellent “jobber to the stars”, and, well, comes with less baggage.

And yes, there’s a “price” that comes with Del Rio’s baggage. Those rants on social media at Triple H last year were not a sign that Del Rio is in a good place, and his relationship with Paige seemed to be problematic. I have no idea who is to blame either way, but Paige is 25 and Del Rio is 40. That’s something to keep in mind.

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Del Rio is, contrary to popular opinion, a talented wrestler who can be a valuable member of a wrestling promotion. That wrestling promotion, however, isn’t WWE, and there are risks outside of the ring that must be accounted for. It’s nice to see that Vince is willing to bring Del Rio back after his company allegedly discriminated against him backstage, but WWE should allocate their resources elsewhere.

As for Impact, as long as they understand what Del Rio is and isn’t and they book him prudently, I believe it is in their best interests to re-sign him despite his relative lack of success over the past year.

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