Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio is currently suspended for 30 days for violating the WWE Wellness Policy. However, it looks like he may be gone for longer. According to a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingINC), it looks like he will be gone for longer than his violation. Del Rio has been pulled from all upcoming events, including the ones scheduled after his suspension.
In an update to the reports of him getting pulled, WrestlingINC now confirms that Del Rio is officially done with WWE, and apparently told his lawyers that he was opting out of his contract two months ago.
When he first was presented to the WWE Universe, Alberto Del Rio was groomed to be one of the biggest heels on the SmackDown roster. Feuds with Christian and Rey Mysterio further boosted his status on the roster, and he won the only 40-man Royal Rumble match in 2011.
However, in what could be argued as a pivotal point in his career WWE opted to have Del Rio lose his match for the World Heavyweight Championship against Edge at WrestleMania XVII, and then once again against Christian the next month at Extreme Rules for the vacant championship despite defeating him on an episode of SmackDown to become the number one contender.
While Del Rio did manage to win the Money in the Bank match and cash his briefcase in to win his first of many world championships, he never really seemed to rebound from not winning the title at WrestleMania. Multiple title reigns that did not increase his stock, combined with a failed babyface turn saw Mexico’s Greatest Export caught in the midcard scene with no true direction before his release in 2014 due to what was deemed as “unprofessional conduct.”
Del Rio was away from WWE for a little over a year before, again, immediately making waves by entering as a mystery opponent in John Cena’s U.S. Open Challenge at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, cleanly defeating Cena in a relatively short amount of time to win the United States Championship. This meteoric return did not last long, as WWE split him from another manager, Zeb Colter, and he was left trying to maintain a strong character on his own.
Instead, he became a member of the League of Nations stable, who were not able to maintain steam as a legitimate heel stable. As a result of this inconsistency, reports surfaced that Del Rio was once again very unhappy with his current status in the WWE, and could be heading out to pursue other endeavors. Now, he is leaving the company once again, and stemming from his previous runs, we may not ever see him wrestle for the company in the future.
