How Alberto Del Rio Can Become Top WWE Star Again Following Brand Split

Although there are plenty of good and bad points about WWE's upcoming brand split, one major positive is that it will give midcard talents more opportunities to showcase their abilities—and in Alberto Del Rio, the company has a guy who can use the split to his advantage and ascend all the way to the top once again.

As a four-time world champion in WWE, Del Rio has the pedigree and, perhaps more importantly, the character that can succeed at the top end of the company.

Sure, the main event scene is a markedly different place to the one Del Rio was a regular in three or four years ago, but a slow start to the Mexican's second spell with WWE is gradually being forgotten—and Del Rio is showcasing glimpses of his star power.

The build to Money in the Bank earlier this month was the clearest indicator of that. The marquee ladder match, which was eventually won by Dean Ambrose, had most of its hype based around The Lunatic Fringe and Kevin Owens, the two most likely winners of the bout.

But as the match drew closer, Del Rio appeared to come out of his shell and start to look like a credible challenger, becoming more vocal in some of the backstage segments to push the match.

There was a particularly entertaining segment where he, Owens and Chris Jericho traded verbal blows backstage, and although Del Rio wasn't at the forefront of it, he more than played his part. 

There have also been increases in the amount of "Si!" chants at live WWE events, especially during this past Monday's edition of Raw. It's hard not to buy into Del Rio with the way he wrestles—an entertaining style with an array of in-ring moves—and although some of his momentum was lost with the disastrous League of Nations stable, he can get that back after the brand split.

So what does he need to take the next step and move up to the main event scene of his respective brand? The first thing he needs is arguably a slice of luck when it comes to the draft. If WWE decides it is going to push ahead with two world titles—one for each brand—it would be wise to keep Del Rio away from Raw.

Raw will no doubt be flooded with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose fighting over what is likely to become the WWE Championship. So with a fresh world-title scene to be established on SmackDown, it could work in Del Rio's favor if he's moved to that brand.

Granted, there will probably be someone like AJ Styles above him in the short term, but if he continues to look strong, win matches and perform well in the early weeks of the brand split, it will set him up nicely.

Del Rio probably needs a couple of other strings to his bow, too. It just doesn't feel right seeing Del Rio come out from behind the curtain on his own, given how we were more accustomed to seeing him emerge in a luxury car with Ricardo Rodriguez announcing his entrance.

Rodriguez is not with WWE anymore, but a good addition as a manager could help his arrogant, egotistical character to flourish. Although Del Rio has his moments on the mic, it would be great to see someone do his talking as he establishes himself as a top heel who does what he wants, when he wants. There's recent evidence that such a move could be bad for him—as his alliance with Zeb Colter showed—but if WWE makes the right move in that regard, it will work.

Then there's weighing up some potential feuds for the Mexican. If he's to push through as a potential world champion again, a run with one of the company's midcard titles may work if they are split and become exclusive to a brand.

At the age of 39, you feel his time may be starting to run out with such a young roster surrounding him. But the brand split could make a top star out of Alberto Del Rio—but that still depends on where he's drafted.

If everything falls into place, there's no reason why Del Rio's face can't fit at the top of WWE again.