WWE: Why Alberto Del Rio Didn't Click As WWE Champion

Forget Jack Swagger and Christian—Alberto Del Rio was the worst World Champion that the WWE has seen in the last several years. 

Swagger, Captain Charisma and Del Rio were all victims of horrendous booking at the hands of the creative team, but in the cases of the first two, that was their main problem. 

For Del Rio, on the other hand, his was a much bigger one. 

When the WWE first began promoting Del Rio’s debut in the summer of 2010, the odd vignettes the company ran portrayed Del Rio as an “honest man,” and we didn’t quite understand what the basis of his character would be. Soon after he debuted in the company, however, it was clear that the ADR was going to be somewhat of a JBL-like character. 

In true heel fashion, Del Rio was richer and better than everyone else, and he wanted all of us to know it. But the one thing that Del Rio consistently began to preach about was his “destiny.” 

Everything that Del Rio would go on to accomplish started off as his destiny: It was his destiny to win the Royal Rumble, it was his destiny to win Raw’s Money in the Bank match and it was his destiny to win a World Championship. 

That’s all fine and dandy, Berto. But what happens when you fulfill all of your destinies, and you have nothing left to accomplish? 

You fail, that’s what.

When Del Rio achieved everything that he had set out to do in the WWE, it took away the entire basis of his character. It would be like the creative team walking up to John Cena and saying, “Hey, we still want you to be a baby face, but you can’t talk about ‘Hustle, Loyalty, Respect’ or ‘Rise Above Hate’ and you can’t say ‘You Can’t See Me’ anymore.” 

There’s no way in hell that’s going to work. Just like Del Rio’s character wasn’t going to work after destiny became just a word rather than a way of life. 

Look, we can try to blame Del Rio’s failures during both of his WWE Champion reigns on any number of factors: The way he was booked like a coward, the fact that he faced two of the WWE’s top baby faces (Punk and Cena), etc.

But the fact remains that all of Del Rio’s problems stem from SummerSlam when he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and finally fulfilled his last destiny. All of his problems stem from that cash-in and the fact that he couldn’t adjust his character once he became WWE Champion. 

Whereas most stars—like Mark Henry or CM Punk—can pretty much keep their characters the exact same whether they’re defending or challenging for a World title, Del Rio was not able to do that because, without him probably even realizing it, his character centered on always being a challenger. 

World champions do not talk about their destinies to win a bigger prize. They can’t because they’re already holding the top prize in all of the WWE. 

That is, however, what challengers do. Challengers talk about wanting to “dethrone the champ” or “take what is rightfully mine.” 

Yet, Del Rio was never able to forget that he was a Champion and not a challenger.

Instead of stepping his game up on the microphone and in the ring and becoming a truly hated heel—a la Henry or Christian—Del Rio seemed like a lost kid in the mall. 

What do I do? How do I act? Where do I go? 

Del Rio did not know the answer to any of those questions, and as a result, he did not know how to perform as WWE Champion. 

Perhaps next time he’ll do what the greats do and tweak his character so that it fits his current position in the company. 

If not, then it won’t matter how much Del Rio improves in the ring or how many more Royal Rumbles he wins. He’ll always be a failure as World Champion.