WWE Survivor Series 2011: Crowd Reaction Has Doomed Rise of Alberto Del Rio

WWE had huge hopes for Alberto Del Rio and have given him a chance to succeed by pitting him against two of the company's top workers in John Cena and CM Punk.

The experiment has failed miserably as the crowd couldn't care less when Del Rio is talking. John Laurinaitis gets more heat than Del Rio right now and that says a lot about his lack of gravitas among the WWE Universe.

Furthermore, it's that lack of crowd reaction which will doom the Mexican aristocrat against CM Punk at Survivor Series on Sunday.

Del Rio has one thing working for him and that's having “the look.” He has the appearance of a major superstar, but he lacks the other qualities necessary to sustain an extended title run without significantly hurting the ratings.

His mic skills are sub par, mostly because he's overly repetitive and doesn't have the adlib skills to make timely comebacks that could win over fans. Whatever direction he's given in the back is the path he sticks to.

As for his wrestling ability, it's solid yet unspectacular. He brings a good energy level to every match, but his finisher isn't always convincing. That is, especially when he's going up against a bigger wrestler, whose arm seems to be resting comfortably as Del Rio tugs away.

Perhaps the biggest sign that Del Rio's build was a failure was WWE's tour through Mexico. Even there, Del Rio struggled to get the crowd involved, which was probably the final nail in his coffin when it came to an extended title run.

The future isn't all doom and gloom, though.

A new gimmick may be in order after he loses the title, which should come on Sunday. It's painfully obvious his current style and persona didn't make it over with fans and that's all that really matters—no matter how much Vince McMahon likes him.

No more destinies, no more personal ring announcers. He needs something new that would actually make the crowd care when his music hits.

All told, it's another cautionary tale about a meteoric rise that happened too quickly to fully resonate with the audience.

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