Examining possible reasons and effects of Alberto Del Rio's release from WWE

WWE brought an end to their five year association with Alberto Del Rio after the Mexican reportedly slapped a back stage worker.The story of the unprofessional conduct and an altercation with an employee is the official story that the company has planted in the internet while there are many rumors making the rounds.Cloudy air surrounding the situation is yet to be clear and Del Rio all of a sudden is one of the most talked about stars in professional wrestling which shows how quickly the fortune of a superstar could change with one incident.There are many possible theories about the departure and the effect of the situation apart from the official story that WWE gave so here is a look at some of the possibilities from the lot.

#5 Reason: His fat paycheck

Financial troubles that WWE is going through after the launch of Network are not a secret among the fans and media.

Vince McMahon has been taking radical measure to keep the ship afloat and fired almost 10 percentage of his employees.

Talented names like Evan Bourne and Drew McIntyre were superstars who suffered due to the same and one can only assume that the company was waiting for an opportunity to cut the budget further.

Del Rio despite being in the mid card earned checks similar to the main eventers and when the company had an opportunity to end the contract without their pay outs, they might’ve just pounced on the situation by letting the Mexican go.

#4 Effect: Lack of a go to consistent performer

Despite not having a good push from the WWE and no reaction whatsoever from the fans, Del Rio was one of the best in ring performers that the company had at its disposal.

They used him often to put over young talent as he had the ability to make his opponents look good no matter what the circumstances were.

The latest evidence for the same was there to be seen when he stepped in the ring with Roman Reigns and made the youngster deliver one of his best singles performances.

The same happened when Del Rio faced Dean Ambrose and all of a sudden, WWE is left without their most consistent superstar in the roster.

#3 Reason: Lack of creative direction

Del Rio spent five years in the company and had four title reigns which kept him in the main event scene for most of the time. However, once the company decided to unify the title, Del Rio was dropped down the ladder.

He was stuck in the midcard section and had no good angle to back him up during the time. It was completely random booking that he got during this period despite him excelling between the ropes.

As WWE was preparing for the second biggest pay-per-view of the year, Del Rio was nowhere near being booked for the same which underlines how the company treated the Mexico’s greatest export.

Releasing Del Rio did no bad for the company on creative terms and it also helped them reduce the wage budget which makes sense.

#2 Effect: WWE losing grounds on Mexico

Expanding to international markets through superstars has been a method used by almost all the wrestling promotions. WWE recently signed Kenta to tap into the Japanese market and its the same reason why they are keeping The Great Khali in their pay roll.

Del Rio was instrumental in WWE tapping the Mexican market just like Khali did for India and Kenta will do for Japan.

After Rey Mysterio fell of relevance, Del Rio was the sole representative that the WWE could show their Mexican fans and now that he is gone too, WWE might lose its ground in the Mexican market.

And to make matter worse, Del Rio ending up in TNA would open the border for Dixie Carters promotion which will be a boost for that sinking ship.

#1 Reason: A work

Alberto Del Rio is one of the talented names in wrestling as mentioned earlier. And he is someone who couldn’t be kept out of relevance for a long time as WWE was in desperate need of finding an angle to put him back into relevance.

So a kayfabe firing incident makes all the sense in such a situation. Del Rio getting fired for unprofessional conduct makes a good angle that the company could use after the SummerSlam. He will be thrusted back into the main event scene if all goes well and this ends up being a work.

WWE using his gimmick names instead of the original name and having a twitter outburst on the matter are strong indications which support this conclusion.

Well if this turns out to be a work, then it would be the biggest swerve that the WWE had pulled off against the fans in recent history.