Pros & Cons: Del Rio Released
Yesterday, WWE announced Alberto Del Rio had been released from his contract “due to unprofessional conduct and an altercation with an employee”.
The motive behind the release seems to be a physical altercation with a staff member, although not many details are yet available. Assuming the next few hours/days confirm that Del Rio really did slap/hit a WWE.com guy after a smart-ass remark, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Del Rio’s release:
Pro #1: Company Image & Perception
If you strike an employee, you need to be dealt with. Regardless of the WWE.com employee’s eventual provoking remark, one cannot put their hands on a colleague for that reason. In the streets or among friends, a tussle after some words may go by as business as usual or something to be forgotten about quickly, but in the corporate world… What would it say about WWE if it allowed for such an action to slide by unpunished?
While tasteless smartasses (if that was indeed what fueled the altercation) often deserve a slap or two, no company – especially a publicly-owned company – will condone physical retaliations as an appropriate way to resolve such an issue.
If WWE wants to look serious and professional, Del Rio needed to go.
WWE Corporate Image and Perception: protected.
Pro #2: Financials
Although disclosed pay isn’t exactly a luxury wrestling sites have, Del Rio was always said to be one of the wealthiest and highest earners currently active.
In a time when WWE is cutting costs, releasing someone on a substantial salary improves WWE’s financials. With any luck, it may make WWE withhold on additional cuts – a possible, yet speculative, silver lining.
Pro #3: A Spot Opens Up On The Card
While he was not as high up as he once was, he was still featured frequently on weekly TV, which means one or more talents will have to pick up his slack, giving more guys and gals extra screen and ring time – which often make the difference in their ability to break away and get the company higher-ups’ attention.
For many, ADR’s dismissal will be, an opportunity.
On the flip side though…
Con #1: Name Recognition and Popularity
Del Rio was a big player in Mexico, given his history with AAA and CMLL, and also garnered interest in the rest of the Latino markets. With Rey on the shelf and Sin Cara… Sin Cara’d… for the time being, WWE may have to do without a big Latino name for its October shows in Mexico, for which Del Rio was already announced.
Already, this is creeping into my mind:
Con #2: The Mechanic
When it came to putting together and executing matches, Del Rio delivered a world-class combination of technique, agility and legitimacy. Whether on Superstars or as the final match on a PPV card, he more than held his own as a mechanic.
And yes, I know quite a few others can make a similar claim. Which brings me to…
Con #3: Return On Investment
For all his mechanical skill, Del Rio’s standing and perception as a major player was never solidified, despite WWE’s herculean efforts to build him up as a main event guy. Let’s go over those efforts:
– ADR won the 2011 Royal Rumble, which featured an unusual 40 instead of 30-men lineup
– That year, he also captured the Raw Money In The Bank briefcase
– Which he went on to cash in that summer, on WWE’s hottest property at the time, “Pipe Bomb” CM Punk
– At the end of 2012, he was turned babyface and given a World Heavyweight Title run by defeating Big Show when he was being adequately booked
– In June 2013, he re-captured that very same title from Dolph Ziggler, as part of less-successful Hart-Austin-esque match with an intended double turn.
A sixth effort worth mentioning is that he was constantly booked against the company’s top guys: Cena, Sheamus, Mysterio, among others.
There are two common threads to this “effort list”:
A. Del Rio arguably had the most opportunities to make it big as a top star
B. Every time, interest in his character fizzled.
Granted, the responsibility doesn’t fall solely on Del Rio’s shoulders. In fact, we should probably warm up before we start throwing it around.
WWE creative booked him as one-dimensional as a rich foreign aristocrat can get (exception to Ricardo Rodriguez). And, at the height of his push, he was defeated by then-World Heavyweight Champion Edge in their Wrestlemania 27 match.
This happened despite his momentum-building 40-man Royal Rumble win, dramatically cooling his heat and credibility before he could (eventually) solidify his position: think Triple H jobbing to Austin at Summerslam 1999 or Edge failing to cash in on Cena in 2005.
They’d be done without ever having a legitimate chance of making it, merely because of how the writing progressed.
But, to stay on point, the bottom line here is WWE invested a lot of time, money and effort into ADR, including their 2 biggest championship platforms of the year in 2011 (Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank) and still, ADR never became the big-timer that the office was hoping for.
One can speculate that WWE not only realised this, but frustratingly told this story out loud when they booked him to be Batista’s punching bag upon The Animal’s return. With those segments, Del Rio’s stay at the top seemed all but over.
Given the return on all that was invested in ADR (throw in the occasional creative misstep), should the office keep trying? It seems clear Del Rio’s dess-tee-nee isn’t to be at Wrestlemania Heel Headliner level. Should the office keep him in the upper midcard, despite investing on him like a main event player? Should the office cut its losses, and no longer invest in ADR altogether?
For better or worse, Alberto seems to have made that decision very easy on the aforementioned office.
For my money, in the big picture, Del Rio’s absence from WWE TV will not be hugely noticeable, as the WWE has a very steady supply of great technicians with the same (if not more) level of connection with the crowd.
Especially given the reason for his dismissal, my feeling is ADR’s WWE run was not what Vince & Co. had envisioned. But you already know that.
What are your thoughts? Can you think of any more pros and cons? Let me know in the comments.
