Alberto Del Rio Proving That There Is Life After WWE

WWE fired Alberto Del Rio, but it freed him as well.

The former world champion has officially worked out a deal with WWE that allows him to return to wrestling, the no-compete clause now a memory. He's now free to use rings in Mexico, Japan or elsewhere as his blank canvases, an artist reinvigorated.

While the paychecks will be lighter and the arenas will be smaller, Del Rio is already looking energized by post-WWE life.

After WWE released him in August, Del Rio became a coveted free agent, albeit a restricted one.  His contract prevented him from wrestling for other companies. He did his best to work around that, appearing for Mexico's AAA promotion at TripleMania XXII in an non-wrestling role.

As Latin Times writer Michael Durarte reports, a judge later ruled in his favor, allowing him to compete in an event in Cancun, Mexico, on Sept. 14, his first match since WWE cut him.

Del Rio (now known as El Patron or El Patron Alberto) more recently announced that he and WWE had come to an agreement about him working for other companies:

Per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required) (h/t Wrestling Inc), the settlement will allow him to work for Lucha Underground in 2015. The report also notes that he helped sell out a recent event in Laredo, Mexico.

That's no surprise. Del Rio was a top star in Mexico before he ever stepped into a WWE ring. His family is legendary in the world of Lucha Libre, both his uncle Mil Mascaras and his father, Dos Caras, are household names in Mexico. Del Rio held onto the CMLL world title (as Dos Caras Jr.) from July 2007 to Dec. 2008.

He now wrestles in his homeland again, a place where his legacy is well-established. 

Even with all his successes in WWE, he never quite got his due. Fans dubbed him "boring" and never connected with him, especially not the way he has bonded with Mexican fans. Del Rio was often viewed as getting too much too soon, many WWE fans unaware of the Mexico portion of his resume.

WWE pushed him anyway. For a while, at least.

After significant time with his name on the marquee, his stock in WWE fell recently. Toward the end of his run, he began to slide down the card.

At WrestleMania 30, WWE crammed him into the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, essentially the place where the leftovers from the rosters went to play. WWE didn't offer him a spot on the Battleground, Payback or Extreme Rules cards. He had no premier feuds, no real momentum. 

In AAA, his position is miles apart from that.

From the beginning, that company has treated Del Rio like a major star. He headlined the Heroes Inmortales VIII event, battling in a tag match opposite Perro Aguayo Jr.

He now not only gets to work in his home country for a company that values him, but Del Rio is no longer bound by WWE's punishing schedule. 

To work for WWE is to go on an unending odyssey. It's a journey Del Rio was tiring of.

In an interview with Wrestletalk TV (NSFW note: Video contains brief profanity), he said of WWE, "They tell you what to say. They tell you what to do. They tell you how to wrestle. It was just not fun anymore." 

Del Rio has far more control of when and where he works now. He can head to Japan as he did, going on second to last at W-1 WRESTLE-1's Keiji Muto 30th Anniversary show.

He's also free to be a part of Lucha Underground, a promising new show that already boasts John Morrison, Ricochet and Chavo Guerrero on its roster. In that aforementioned Wrestletalk TV interview, Del Rio talked about missing the fun element of wrestling. He will certainly find it at Lucha Underground.

That innovative, rapid-fire take on wrestling is injecting joy back into the art form.

Del Rio is free to seek that out, to be a main eventer for AAA and cherry-pick the dates he works. WWE is by far the biggest stage on which a wrestler can work, but by no means is it the only one. 

He told Wrestletalk TV, "I had a big name before WWE and I have a bigger name right now after WWE. ... I don't need them."

If anything, WWE needs Del Rio. With a roster thinned by injuries, CM Punk's abrupt retirement and Brock Lesnar's part-time status, the company could certainly use a skilled in-ring technician with Del Rio's renown.

He'll be busy clamping on the cross armbreaker to all the perros Mexico throws at him.