WWE: Does Anyone Really Care About Alberto Del Rio Anymore?

Alberto Del Rio has become one of the biggest stars in WWE, even though he has only been with the company for a little over a year.  After two months of vignettes promoting his arrival, Del Rio made his debut on SmackDown, defeating fan favorite Rey Mysterio.

Over the next several months, he went from a WWE rookie to Royal Rumble winner, outlasting 39 other superstars to earn a title shot at WrestleMania.  

Though he fell short in April, Del Rio has since stolen the next biggest prize in WWE when he won Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match, guaranteeing himself another title shot.

Any long time wrestling fan can tell you that Del Rio has risen though the ranks of the WWE roster faster than anyone in recent history.  Though he has yet to obtain WWE's top prize, there is no doubt that Alberto Del Rio has made a huge impact since his arrival last year. 

For someone to have risen this quickly in a cut-throat company like WWE, he must be doing something right, which you think would have earned him a following of fans. 

Obviously, the younger crowd would not take to his heelish attacks on their favorite superstars such as Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston, but surely the older fans and the members of the IWC appreciate what he has done for the company, don't they?

The answer is no.  For whatever reason, nobody seems to care about Alberto Del Rio. 

Every other superstar seems to have their following.  The young fans flock to current babyfaces like John Cena and Randy Orton, the IWC has their golden boys such as John Morrison and Christian, and we all know that everyone loves Zack Ryder, but Alberto Del Rio seems to be disliked and forgotten across the board, especially in the last few months, where his IWC fans have been slowly disappearing.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of people in the IWC who like (or at least don't hate) Alberto Del Rio, but he is far from your typical "Golden Boy."  

When anyone in the IWC discusses Del Rio and the hardships that he is running into on his way to the top of WWE, they never seem to get upset and angry like they have for other superstars, rather they only pass off his misfortune as another string of bad luck.

Remember when Christian lost the World Heavyweight Championship only days after winning it for the first time in his career?  The IWC went absolutely nuts.  Everyone wondered how WWE could kick someone down so quickly after they finally reached their life-long goal.

Yet when Alberto Del Rio lost his WrestleMania match against Edge, even though he was thought to be the favorite, the IWC just sat back and said "oh well."

If Del Rio would have been pushed harder and actually succeeded in taking the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge, or taken it after "retiring" the Rated R Superstar, he would have become one of the most hated superstars in recent WWE history.  While that may not seem like a good thing, you have to look at it from a bigger perspective.

As a heel, your job is to get as many fans as possible to hate you.  The louder the boos are in the arena, the better you are at doing your job.  By being a hated superstar, you give the fans exactly what they want, a "hero" who can defeat the bad guy.  

Nobody is going to go to the arenas to watch Rey Mysterio and John Cena if they have no opponents to defeat.  Without the heels, the faces cannot grow to their full potential.  Faces don't create heels, heels create faces.

If Del Rio had won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, or even just after Edge was forced to retire, he would have succeeded in becoming the WWE's top heel.

I was in the TD Garden in Boston when Del Rio won the Royal Rumble, and I can honestly say that I have never left an arena where the fans were so upset at how the event ended.  The average fan would think that WWE was making a mistake, but I saw it as their golden opportunity.

Del Rio could turn John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and other young faces into even bigger superstars, and all WWE needed to do was continue to push Del Rio.

Four months later and Del Rio has been pushed alright, only it has been to the back of the line. Circumstances in several areas have prevented him from getting his chance at the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships.

While Raw's main event scene is doing just fine with the CM Punk drama, the feud between Orton and Christian on SmackDown has been less than interesting as of late.  

Meanwhile, Del Rio is stuck in a meaningless feud with Kofi Kingston, who's potential SummerSlam match is likely going to serve as the bathroom break match for many fans.

So why has everything played out like this?  Why has Del Rio been pushed to the brink of greatness, only to be shoved back down the ladder?  

Because WWE is playing it too safe.

WWE likes a balance between their heels and faces.  Though Randy Orton and John Cena are obviously the top superstars on their respective shows, both Christian and CM Punk have their loyal fans as well.  Both of the current heels sell merchandise and have signs all around the arena.

 If Del Rio were to become a top heel, I don't think he would have the fan base that someone like CM Punk or even Christian has.

However, what WWE needs to realize is that if they want to create a new generation of up-and-coming young superstars and get them over as faces, they need a heel who can help them get a response from the fans.  Alberto Del Rio is that superstar.

Listen up, WWE.  Don't let Del Rio go to waste.  We may not not like him, but if we're booing him, that means we care about him.