TNA executives reportedly tried to contact Alberto Del Rio immediately after reports surfaced that he was released from WWE. The word within the company is that if he does sign with TNA, he will immediately become their new World Champion.
Del Rio likely has a 90-day no compete clause in his WWE contract, ruling out the possibility of a move to TNA in the near future.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
– Former WWE Spanish announcer Hugo Savinovich noted in a recent interview that Rey Mysterio will be heading to AAA once he resolves his current contract dispute with WWE. He also confirmed the rumors that Alberto Del Rio will be appearing at AAA’s “TripleMania” event on Sunday.
– IGN is scheduled to stream the WWE 2K15 roster reveal live from Los Angeles this Saturday.
– Dorian Roldan of the Mexican-based AAA promotion has given a “100% guarantee” that recently released WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio will be appearing at the upcoming TripleMania event.
– There is said to be a feeling within WWE that if the new Nation Of Domination-type faction isn’t included on tonight’s SmackDown television taping in any manner, that the company has probably dropped the idea altogether.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
AAA announcer Arturo Rivera tweeted on Monday that former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio will be appearing at the promotion’s Triplemania XXII event this Sunday.
When asked if he’ll be appearing as Alberto Del Rio or his former in-ring persona, Dos Caras Jr., Rivera replied, “Alberto Del Rio.”
Triplemania XXII will be airingon iPPV opposite Summerslam.
This conflicts with reports that Alberto Del Rio having a 90-day no compete clause, but we’ll be covering this story here as it develops.
The following are highlights of a new Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On a promotion having too many titles: “Yes they can have too many titles. A primary men’s title, tag titles and a women’s title for sure and then perhaps one other inmost cases. For a large company like WWE I like the IC and US Titles but only IF they meant more. A TV Title is in the discussion.”
On Alberto Del Rio’s WWE release: “I do not know the details of what happened with ADR and the WWE employee. I refrain from addressing the matter considering that I don’t know the details. I’d suggest however that WWE isn’t less tolerable to racial issues or poor behavior than when I was there. For all I know it might be a storyline being constructed.”
On who is responsible for wrestler’s ring gear in WWE: “Once it’s approved by upper management it’s up to the talents and the seamstresses that work for the company.”
On Eve Torres: “Eve Torres Gracie is a wonderful woman who’s obviously beautiful and who loves MMA. She was a credit to the WWE while she was there and I wish her nothing but the best. Excellent athlete.”
Check out more of JR’s Q&A at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The employee that Alberto Del Rio allegedly slapped, leading to his WWE release, is rumored to be Cody Barbierri. On Linkedin and Twitter, Barbierri is listed as WWE’s manager of social media live events.
According to one source, Barbierri was reportedly asked to wipe his plate clean after having a meal in catering. He then allegedly joked that it was Del Rio’s job to clean the plates, which many would consider to be a racist remark.
As the story goes, Del Rio was informed of Barbierri’s comment and approached him. Upon refusal to apologize for making the remark, even grinning in Del Rio’s face, it was said that this is when Del Rio slapped Barbierri.
As noted on Friday, the official WWE Twitter account noted the following about Del Rio’s release, a tweet that Triple H re-tweeted as well:
“”@VivaDelRio is responsible for his own actions. If you’re angry at anyone, be angry at Alberto. There’s no excuse for a pro athlete not to conduct themselves in a professional manner.”
Following his release from WWE on Thursday, Alberto Del Rio was called on Twitter for failing to “conduct himself in a professional manner.”
The official WWE Twitter account posted the following tweets on Friday:
(1/2) @VivaDelRio is responsible for his own actions. If you’re angry at anyone, be angry at Alberto.
— WWE (@WWE) August 8, 2014
(2/2) There’s no excuse for a pro athlete not to conduct themselves in a professional manner.
— WWE (@WWE) August 8, 2014
New details are coming in regarding the backstage incident that led to Alberto Del Rio being released from WWE.
WWE noted that Del Rio was abruptly let go “due to unprofessional conduct and an altercation with an employee.” Shortly afterwards, reports came out that Del Rio slapped a member of WWE’s social media team.
According to f4wonline.com, the story going around this morning is that the whole thing started when somebody in catering (a staff member) asked WWE’s Social Media Manager to clean off his plate. The social media manager allegedly responded, “That’s Del Rio’s job.”
Word got back to Del Rio, who confronted the WWE employee. The Social Media Manager refused to apologize and smirked at Del Rio, which led to him getting slapped across the face like a filthy perro.
Update: WWE To Alberto Del Rio: “If You’re Angry At Anyone, Be Angry At Alberto”
It’s believed that Del Rio has a 90-day no-compete clause that would prevent him from working for TNA or Mexico’s AAA promotion.
Dave Meltzer noted that TNA is already trying to get in touch with Del Rio, asking around for his phone number.
Apparently, TNA already wants to make Del Rio the next TNA World Champion. “Next TNA champion is not a joke,” Meltzer said. “Dead serious.”
As we noted earlier this evening, Alberto Del Rio has been released from WWE for what the company described as “unprofessional conduct,” as well as an “altercation with an employee.”
According to RF Video’s Rob Feinstein, Del Rio was involved in a backstage incident at a recent WWE television taping. Feinstein claimed that Del Rio “had words” with a WWE employee who works for the company’s social media department and allegedly slapped him.
It should be noted that we have been unable to cofirm this rumor, so it should be taken as exactly that until further notice. We will continue to update you as more information surfaces regarding Del Rio’s WWE release.
Alberto Del Rio has been from WWE. A statement on the company website reads:
“Alberto Del Rio released
WWE announced the release of Alberto Del Rio due to unprofessional conduct and an altercation with an employee.”
No word yet on what the nature of the incident was, but we’ll post an update when we hear something.
After signing with WWE back in 2009 and training at Florida Championship Wrestling, he made his debut in 2010 as the Mexican Aristocrat along with his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez, who was also released in the past week.
Del Rio is a former 2-time WWE Champion and a 2-time World Heavyweight Champion. He also won the 2011 Royal Rumble and won Money in the Bank during the same year.
This is the biggest release from WWE in a long time and the first time a former WWE Champion was outright released during the middle of his contract in several years.
UPDATE: According to reports, Del Rio was released for allegedly slapping a WWE employee. Read the full story by checking out the following SESCOOPS.COM article: Backstage Rumor: Alberto Del Rio Fired For Slapping A WWE Employee?
Last night’s Raw was held in the supposedly great state of Texas. Fans in attendance were treated to the return of Mark Henry, as well as an entertaining contest between Dean Ambrose and Alberto Del Rio.
Although John Cena and Brock Lesnar were both notably absent on Sunday, the WWE did their best to promote the SummerSlam main event. As always, a few questions were answered on Monday, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following Monday’s Raw.
5. Did Fans Witness the Burial of Cesaro?
It is no secret that the WWE has no idea what to do with Cesaro right now. Once one of the most over superstars in the company, Cesaro has been relegated to minor roles since the return of Brock Lesnar. After failing to join the Authority a few weeks back, Cesaro has been in a slump, once again losing to Dolph Ziggler in a short match on Monday.
There are rumors that Cesaro’s push is being limited because the company wants to focus on pushing Roman Reigns. It makes sense to want to promote a young superstar, but others who got over on their own should not be punished as a result. Let us hope that the company soon finds something for Cesaro instead of wasting his talent.
4. Which Stipulation Will Dean Ambrose Choose?
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins competed in a beat the clock challenge last night, with the winner having the ability to choose the stipulation for their match at SummerSlam. Ambrose won after a long battle with Alberto Del Rio, and also assured Seth Rollins would not win his match with Heath Slater.
The Lunatic Fringe now gets to choose the stipulation at tonight’s SmackDown taping (check in tonight for spoilers if you’re too eager to wait until Friday). He will probably choose something typical like a no-holds barred match, but here’s to hoping he chooses a ladder match for the contract. Which stipulation do you think Ambrose will choose?
– Alberto del Rio took over Ricardo Rodriguez’s backstage interview role this past week for segments that air exclusively on RAW and SmackDown in Mexico.
Del Rio stayed in character as a heel, mocking Rodriguez for being “fat” and “useless.” He also called himself the greatest international Superstar to ever come to WWE.
– Batista’s new “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie opened at #1 over the weekend at set a new August box office record in the United States with an estimated $94.0 million opening weekend (domestic). Including the foreign box office proceeds of over $66 million, Guardians of The Galaxy, which opened last week, has already taken in over $160 million.
Meanwhile, The Rock’s “Hercules” movie fell to #4, just passing the $10-million mark with an estimated haul of $10.7 million in its second weekend.
Guardians of the Galaxy is getting rave reviews from critics and moviegoers, with a 93% rating on RottenTomatoes.com.
The WWE contract of Ricardo Rodriguez, who was released by the company this past week, would have renewed the night after SummerSlam later this month had WWE not let him go.
Rodriguez had been frustrated for a while that he wasn’t being used as a wrestler in any legitimate way after they split he and Alberto Del Rio as a unit, although he has been dealing with injuries as of late.
The mindset in WWE was that they don’t necessarily “need” a three-man announce team for the Spanish television broadcasts, nor a dedicated interviewer for the Spanish-language shows, so the decision to release him was said to be a relatively easy decision to make considering the fact that the company is making some heavy talent and office cuts right now.
(Credit: Figure Four Weekly Newsletter)
Alberto Del Rio suffered a nasty gash above his left eye during Monday night’s WWE Superstars taping, which took place prior to RAW.
Del Rio defeated Justin Gabriel via submission after applying his Cross Armbreaker.
Below is a photo of Del Rio getting stitched up backstage after the match. Visit WWE.com to view a full photo gallery of Del Rio getting stitched up
– It was announced during Monday’s RAW that on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, the featured match will be Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio. WWE Main Event airs live on the WWE Network on Tuesday night at 8pm EST.
– Also announced during RAW this week was the confirmation that Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt will meet again at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view in August. The match was confirmed during a RAW segment that featured Chris Jericho making fun of Stephanie McMahon, all-the-while angering Triple H. As noted previously, Jericho and Wyatt are expected to work matches against each other in three consecutive pay-per-views — Battleground, SummerSlam and Night Of Champions.
The following matches were taped prior to Monday’s RAW for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
– Alberto Del Rio def. Justin Gabriel via Submission after applying his Cross Armbreaker, forcing the tap out from Gabriel.
– Heath Slater & Titus O’Neil def. Sin Cara & Zack Ryder in tag-team action via pinfall. Ryder ended up being the man on his team who had to look up at the lights, as you would expect.
WWE has announced a return to Mexico, as they will be bringing shows to the Arena Ciudad in Mexico City on October 18th and in Monterrey on October 19th. Additionally, there will be two other shows. One in Bogata, Columbia and another in that region, both of which have not been given official dates as of yet.
John Cena, Bray Wyatt and Alberto Del Rio are listed as the top stars of the tour, which will include most of WWE’s top performers.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The following are results for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars. The matches were taped prior to WWE RAW on Monday night in Miami, Florida.
– Adam Rose def. Heath Slater in the opening match of the evening.
– Alberto Del Rio def. R-Truth in the main event of the show.
– It was announced on the post-Battleground edition of WWE RAW that on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which airs this Friday night on the SyFy Network, that one of the main events will be Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio.
– The following is Flo Rida’s performance from Monday night’s edition of WWE RAW.
– Sami Zayn, Charlotte and Adrian Neville of NXT are all scheduled to work the WWE RAW and SmackDown television tapings next week in Richmond and Fayetteville, likely performing in non-televised dark matches. Ric Flair is also booked for the WWE TV shows next week.
– WWE has added Jeff Jarrett to their Alumni roster.
– WWE U.S. Champion Sheamus was said to be banged up after his “Last Man Standing” match with Alberto Del Rio at this week’s WWE Main Event. Sheamus had a number of welts on his back and shoulders after the bout.
Joey Styles tweeted the following earlier today, announcing that tonight’s WWE United States Championship match between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio will now be a “Last Man Standing” match:
Tonight’s @WWESheamus vs @VivaDelRio U.S. Title bout is now a Last Man Standing Match! Watch @WWE #MainEvent at 8ET on @WWENetwork for FREE!
— Joey Styles (@JoeyStyles) July 8, 2014
Following Monday’s RAW, here is an updated look at the official WWE Battleground pay-per-view lineup:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
– Kane vs. Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. John Cena
Battle Royal for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Cesaro, Kofi Kingston, Damien Sandow, The Great Khali, Rob Van Dam, Dolph Ziggler, Big E., Ryback, Curtis Axel, Alberto Del RIo, Bo Dallas, Sheamus and Fandango
– Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
– Following Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Montreal, here is the updated list of official participants confirmed for the Intercontinental Championship Battle Royal at the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view: Cesaro, Kofi Kingston, Damien Sandow, The Great Khali, Rob Van Dam, Dolph Ziggler, Big E., Ryback, Curtis Axel, Alberto Del RIo, Bo Dallas, Sheamus and Fandango.
– The following is the Bret Hart and “Bret Sandhart” segment from Monday’s RAW:
Tonight’s episode of Raw took place in Montreal, Canada and featured a total of eleven matches, including a first ever one-on-one meeting between the WWE World Heavyweight champion John Cena and Money in the Bank briefcase holder Seth Rollins.
Canadian icon and WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart graced the WWE Universe with his presence and cut a promo. Of course, he brought up the Montreal Screw Job, but it was a nice moment. Also, WWE continued to promote current on-going storylines leading up to Battleground.
Last week’s episode of Raw was one of the best and most exciting in recent history. Did this edition live up to last week’s high standards? Without further ado, here are highlights, lowlights and my random thoughts on the 7/7/2014 edition of Monday Night Raw:
BEST MATCH: The opening bout between the Usos and the Wyatt Family was the best match of the night. There were two other matches that could have stolen the show, but they failed to do so for a couple of reasons. First, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose gave it their best effort, but it was clear to see that the two didn’t have very much chemistry, at least when it comes to singles action. Also, the Dean Ambrose botch wasn’t a crowd-pleasing moment.
Chris Jericho vs. the Miz could have been special, but the match didn’t last as long as I hoped. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins had the most promise, but they weren’t given enough time to do anything memorable and the obvious interference by Kane and Randy Orton ruined the match for me.
What was your favorite match of the night?
WORST MATCH: AJ Lee/Paige vs. Naomi/Cameron was the worst match of the night. Aside from the main event and the tag team match between the Usos and the Wyatt Family, there weren’t any real standout matches. However, this bout stood out for all the wrong reasons and it was a poor showing amongst the four Divas involved. Bo Dallas vs. El Torito was a close second for the worst match of the night award because at least the crowd was somewhat into it.
The worst segment of the night was the Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox disaster, but I don’t think there was an opening bell and nobody was declared the winner. Therefore, Idon’t consider this to be a match; otherwise, it would have won the award.
UPSET OF THE NIGHT: Kofi Kingston defeating Cesaro was the upset of the night. I know that Kofi defeated Cesaro last week on Raw, but I didn’t expect him to do it again and I don’t think the fans/crowd did either. I see Cesaro winning the Intercontinental Title at Battleground and Kingston falling into obscurity once again, but at least Kofi is living in the moment now.
To quote the great Mike Adamle, Kofi be Jamaican me crazy.
MOST SHOCKING MOMENT: I expected Randy Orton to defeat Dean Ambrose in their match tonight, but I was anticipating Seth Rollins to screw Ambrose over, resulting in Ambrose losing cleanly. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Ambrose has been really hot as of late and Rollins costing him the match would have protected Ambrose a bit more. Also, it would have spiced things up and furthered the Ambrose/Rollins feud.
– After defeating Dolph Ziggler on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Montreal, Alberto Del Rio earned himself a shot at Sheamus and the WWE United States Championship on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which airs live on Tuesday night on the WWE Network.
– It was also announced on RAW that Fandango has been officially added to the upcoming battle royal for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship at the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view.