WWE News: Alberto Del Rio Getting Re-Packaged With Another Ring Announcer?
Alberto Del Rio made his surprise return to WWE back in October of 2015 when he defeated John Cena at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. Del Rio happens to be the last superstar to answer Cena’s United States Championship open challenge, as Cena would take a hiatus from WWE to film his reality-competition series, American Grit, and also because of a severe shoulder injury. Del Rio’s return and his championship victory during his first night back were supposed to catapult him back into the spotlight, but something didn’t quite click.
WWE officials initially paired Del Rio with a former adversary in Zeb Colter. It was immediately clear that the alignment and subsequent angle uniting Mexico and America into the phantom “MexAmerica” was a flop. Fans were confused, and Del Rio looked lost during his brief alliance with Colter. The union was abruptly pulled, lasting a little over a month. Alberto Del Rio had enhanced his status while working in Lucha Underground and AAA, but his triumphant return to the big leagues was failing miserably due to poor booking.
Now it appears the WWE is going to take a page out of its own book by revisiting an angle that worked much better than anything he’s done in the six months since he’s been back. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via Daily Wrestling News), WWE is interested in bringing in Lucha Underground announcer Melissa Santos to be Del Rio’s personal ring announcer. This would all be contingent on Santos being able to get out of her current deal with Lucha Underground, but the idea would be that she would reprise the role that Ricardo Rodriguez used to occupy in Del Rio’s first run with the WWE.
Rodriguez debuted with the WWE in 2010 as Alberto Del Rio’s ring announcer on an episode of SmackDown. This was during Del Rio’s most memorable run, where he would arrive at each arena in a different fancy car each week. Rodriguez would not only introduce Del Rio but occasionally aid him in winning some of his matches using classic heel tactics. Rodriguez would last until 2013 when he and Del Rio split. Ricardo would align with Rob Van Dam, but that too was short-lived, as once the Van Dam/Del Rio feud ended, Rodriguez was no longer needed.
Santos’ contract status is not known at this time, but she was present backstage at WrestleMania 32, so perhaps there were some initial discussions in Dallas. She could certainly provide the jolt that Del Rio needs to amp his career back up. However, the one drawback if WWE decides to keep Del Rio heel would be the mixed reaction Santos might draw due to her good looks. It might remind fans of the initial Rusev/Lana union when fans got Lana over more than the Bulgarian Brute and eventually forced a split.
Rusev has since re-joined Lana and entered into a feud with Kalisto over the United States Championship. Del Rio and Kalisto played hot potato with the title for several months, another indication that WWE officials were lost on what to do with Mexico’s greatest export. Del Rio and Rusev, along with Sheamus and King Barrett, toiled in the League of Nations together, but that faction had a short shelf-life too.
Their feud with The Wyatt Family ended prematurely when Bray Wyatt went down with an injury, so the League dissolved as a result. It was expected that Alberto and Sheamus would clash in a singles match to officially close the door on the group, but neither superstar appeared on RAW or SmackDown this week to further any type of feud. WWE might decide to ditch the program altogether, which would allow them to keep Del Rio off television until Santos is signed and the two can re-emerge together in an attempt to revive Del Rio once again.
[Image via WWE]
