Alberto Del Rio Explains Why His WWE Return Didn't Work
Alberto Del Rio's WWE return in 2015 was one of the company's best surprises in a very long time, but it didn't last long. Here, he explains the problem with "Mex-America" and his place in the locker room...
Alberto Del Rio's return at Hell in a Cell in 2015 came as a huge surprise, especially as he was accompanied by former enemy Zeb Colter. After beating John Cena for the United States Championship during an open challenge, Del Rio was thrown into an unsatisfying feud with Kalisto and the whole Mex-America angle quickly vanished. From there, he joined the awful League of Nations stable, and shortly after the Draft, he left WWE seemingly for good.
During an interview on Sam Roberts' podcast (via Uproxx), Del Rio weighed in on why Mex-America didn't work and how he fought to make his return as impressive as possible from an athletic standpoint.
"The ‘Mex-America’ storyline was so stupid because nobody understood what we were trying to do. I couldn’t understand what we were trying to do so the people didn’t click with it because it was just really confusing, and nothing but respect for Dutch Mantell, I mean, he’s hurt, he couldn’t really walk, so he wasn’t really helping me out there, but even though my work in the ring was fantastic, and I’m in amazing shape. When I came back to WWE I said okay, this is my second opportunity, I’m going to make the most of it so I went back to the gym and started dieting and really working hard. I am in amazing shape and I did everything in my power to make it work, but the storyline wasn’t there."
There's no denying that Del Rio was in great shape and delivered some strong matches after coming back to WWE, but the storylines were definitely problematic. However, the problem may have ultimately been even more significant as his brief time away from the company led to the former WWE Champion feeling like a fish out of water in the locker room as he found himself surrounded by younger talent with vastly different interests.
"From there I started to feel like I wasn’t comfortable with the company; all my friends were gone. All my friends like Edge, Chavo Jr, Rey Mysterio, and was there in the locker room with great kids, great guys, but different generation; they’re into their comic books, playing video games, looking at their iPads, and whatever and I’m just completely from a different generation. I remember Vince [McMahon] saying this to me; ‘hey, why don’t you try to blend with the kids, with the guys.’ I said because we’re so different. I read books, they play video games, they read comic books, they’re 19, 20 years old and I’m 38 so we have nothing in common. I have three little kids, I’m a father, so we have nothing in common."
It's a shame things didn't pan out for Del Rio, especially as he had been drafted to SmackDown Live, a brand which has since receive universal critical acclaim. He could have turned things around in a big way had he stuck around, but Del Rio has since torn up the Indies, so it's not like he's been unable to show his talent off in the ring. Be sure to check out the podcast for the full interview as it's well worth a listen to as the former WWE Superstar delves into a variety of topics.