What’s the story?
Alberto Del Rio made his Impact Wrestling debut after parting ways with the WWE, winning the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Bobby Lashley in his very first TNA matchup.
Debuting on the 2nd of March at one of TNA’s television tapings, Alberto Del Rio was initially introduced as ‘Alberto De Patron’ and later as simply ‘El Patron’.
Furthermore, in a segment involving ADR, Bruce Prichard, Bobby Lashley and Ethan Carter 3, Lashley granted El Patron a shot at his TNA Heavyweight strap, a move that would later prove to be detrimental to ‘The Destroyer’ as he’d lose his strap to the debuting El Patron.
Here’s what ADR posted on his official Instagram page:
In case you didn’t know...
Alberto Del Rio (real name- Jose Alberto Rodriguez) is a man with many aliases.
ADR competed as a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter under the name Dos Caras Jr., performed as a pro-wrestler in the WWE under the ring name Alberto Del Rio and is now being promoted in TNA, by the name El Patron.
He’s a former WWE World champion, former world-champion amateur wrestler and a fairly decent MMA competitor with an MMA record of 9 wins and 5 losses.
The heart of the matter:
Alberto Del Rio aka El Patron made a huge impact in his Impact Wrestling debut, putting the company’s entire roster on notice by beating Lashley, albeit, in controversial fashion.
On Impact’s March 2nd TV taping that’s scheduled to air on the 9th of March, El Patron ascended to the throne of the TNA organisation in style. His TNA debut has been one of the most talked about things in the professional wrestling community this week.
Also read: WWE/Impact Wrestling news: Paige spotted backstage at Impact tapings
Here’s Jeff Jarrett’s tweet acknowledging the debut of the ex-WWE champ’s Impact debut:
ADR threw some shade in his Instagram post at his former employers, stating that his new workplace feels good and that work is supposed to be fun and not make you miserable.
The former WWE Superstar who comes from a rich wrestling family and is considered to be wrestling royalty, showered the TNA management team with words of high praise whilst alluding to the fact that his previous bosses were “too good” to even acknowledge his existence.
What’s next?
After winning TNA’s biggest prize in his very first in-ring appearance as a slick heel, ADR’s promotional debut and his title-winning performance against Lashley will be aired on March 9th.
With El Patron throwing a lot of shade toward his ex-bosses, we can expect TNA to give him a major push in the coming weeks.
Sportskeeda’s take:
After being embroiled in several controversies and backstage disagreements with the WWE head-honchos over a myriad of issues, it’s good to see ADR finally move on to greener pastures - well, at least for now.
It goes without saying that career-wise, TNA is a step-down from the WWE for him, but as long as El Patron is having fun; that’s all the matters.
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