Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio
Rodríguez on Raw as Alberto Del Rio in 2012
Birth name	José Alberto Rodríguez
Born	(1977-05-25) May 25, 1977 San Luis Potosí City, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Residence	San Antonio, Texas, United States
Alma mater	Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí
Children	3
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Alberto Alberto Banderas Alberto Del Rio Alberto El Patrón Dorado Dos Dos Caras Dos Caras Jr. El Dorado El Hijo de Dos Caras El Patrón El Patrón Alberto
Billed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Billed weight	239 lb (108 kg)
Billed from	San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Trained by	Greco-Roman Leonel Kolesni Juan Fernández Professional Dos Caras Sicodelico Florida Championship Wrestling MMA Marco Ruas
Debut	May 3, 2000

José Alberto Rodríguez (born May 25, 1977) best known as Alberto Del Rio is a Mexican professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently signed to WWE,Rodríguez wrestled as El Patrón Alberto in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), Ring of Honor (ROH), Lucha Underground, Japan, Puerto Rico, and various U.S. independent promotions. Before working for WWE, Rodríguez used the name Dos Caras Jr. as both a mixed martial artist and luchador in mostly Mexico and Japan, achieving success in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).

Rodríguez is a seven-time world champion, having held the WWE Championship twice, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship twice, the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship once, the WWL World Heavyweight Championship once, and the AAA Mega Championship once. Rodríguez also won the 2011 Royal Rumble and a WWE Championship contract in the 2011 Money in the Bank ladder match, making him the only wrestler to win both in the same calendar year.

Amateur wrestling

Born in San Luis Potosí as the son of luchador Dos Caras. Rodríguez graduated from Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí where he earned a degree in architecture. Growing up in a family of wrestlers Rodríguez decided to take up Greco-Roman wrestling, training under Leonel Kolesni and Juan Fernández. He earned a place on the Mexico national team in Greco-Roman wrestling and while competing on the national team obtained several accomplishments. In 1997, he placed third at the World Junior Championships, in the Czech Republic. He also won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games. Rodríguez was on track to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but due to a lack of funding and support, Mexico did not send a wrestling team that year.

Professional wrestling career

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (2000–2002)

After not competing at the 2000 Olympic games, Rodríguez turned to the family business, and trained with his father to become a professional wrestler. Caras made his debut appearance on May 9, 2000 as he ran in during an Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) show to save his father from a beat down from El Texano, Pirata Morgan. Over the next couple of years, Caras worked both in Mexico and Japan to gain experience in the ring. In Mexico he worked exclusively for AAA making appearances at shows such as the 2002 Verano de Escándalo, where he teamed with El Gronda and El Hijo del Solitario to defeat the trio of Pirata Morgan, Sangre Chicana and El Brazo.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

Técnico (2005–2009)

In 2005, Rodríguez was signed to a contract with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), promotion that Rodríguez considers his house. In his first test in the company, Caras competed in the 2005 La Copa Junior, but the storyline of the tournament saw him defeated in the semi-final by Dr. Wagner Jr. Caras's advancement to the semi-final of the cup, mere months after signing with the company was an indicator that the bookers were interested in elevating him up the rankings, this was further supported when he received matches for both the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship inside a three-week period. The following year on March 31, 2006 Caras was entered again into the La Copa Junior tournament and earned a return victory over Dr. Wagner Jr. who knocked him out of the tournament the previous year. He also won against Heavy Metal and Apolo Dantés to gain a place in the final, defeating Héctor Garza to win the prize. While working in Japan, Caras had taken to teaming with another second-generation wrestler, Lizmark Jr., and when both found themselves in CMLL they were teamed up once again with the team's famous fathers being the selling point. Over the next year Caras found himself without much direction, he worked storylines with Último Guerrero and Kenzo Suzuki but nothing long term came of it. Caras received two opportunities to challenge Universo 2000 for the CMLL World Heavyweight title but came up short until his third attempt on July 8, 2007 when he became the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. While in wrestling promotions outside of Mexico the Heavyweight title would indicate that he was the top man in the federation, Mexican wrestling promotions tend to put more emphasis on the lower weight divisions over the heavyweights.

Caras's run with the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship remained largely uneventful with only four title defenses in the 533 days that he held the championship. After defending against Lizmark Jr. and former champion, Universo 2000, it was nine months before his next defense.

Rudo (2009)

Throughout his entire career Dos Caras Jr. had always played a heroic character, known in Mexico as a técnico. However, after the contract dealings with WWE surfaced he began showing signs of becoming a villain, known as a rudo. He would turn his attention away from the matches and instead try to win the approval of the fans, often costing his team the match because he was distracted. Caras himself explained this behavior by stating that he "hurt his shoulder, but bravely stayed in the arena". After hinting at a change for weeks Caras finally cemented his villainous persona on April 11, 2009, the second member of the Rodríguez family to be a heel (after his uncle, El Sicodélico Sr). After becoming a rudo, he began working a storyline with Shocker.

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Florida Championship Wrestling (2008–2010)

By the fall of 2008 a story broke that Rodríguez had wrestled a dark match for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and that they had offered him a contract. Over the following months conflicting reports of whether he had signed or not arose, but he remained CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. When Caras lost the title to Último Guerrero it was believed that he had indeed signed with WWE, with him being rumored to be a surprise participant in the 2009 Royal Rumble. However, Rodríguez remained with CMLL and stated that he signed a four-year deal and chose CMLL because they offered him a better deal than WWE.

On June 17, 2010, Rodríguez confirmed that he had signed a three-year contract with WWE, stating that he would not have to go to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, but directly to the main roster. Furthermore, he would retain the rights to his name, mask and image, but allow the WWE to use it for promotional purposes while he is under contract with them. He agreed to the contract since it addressed the main reasons why he turned down the WWE's offer in January 2009. Despite his claims, he had a match with Kris Logan at FCW wrestling under the name Dos. He later also went on to wrestle under the ring names Dorado and El Dorado. During a segment on the Abraham Washington show at the August 6 taping, Rodríguez revealed a new, unmasked wrestling character named Alberto Banderas. When he revealed his face, he had a lot of criticism from Mexican people because he revealed his identity. However, Del Rio said that only a few people know why he lost the mask in that way. During Raw's WrestleMania Revenge tour of Europe in April 2010, Caras made numerous appearances in untelevised matches for the Raw brand. One night he wrestled as Dos Caras, but he did not wear his mask. He was presented as a villain in a losing effort against Christian. The following month Caras put his mask back on for WWE's tour of Mexico and worked as a hometown hero, prior to returning unmasked during untelevised matches for subsequent Raw and SmackDown shows. Later, Rodríguez said that he hated his time in FCW, but that he learned a lot.

Early feuds and WWE Champion (2010–2012)

Del Rio at the Tribute to the Troops in 2010

On the June 25, 2010, episode of SmackDown, Rodríguez debuted on a pre-taped promotional video as the unmasked Alberto Del Rio. Thereafter, a vignette aired every week on SmackDown promoting his character as an arrogant rich Mexican aristocrat, espousing his own virtues of honesty, integrity and mental faculties. After two months, Del Rio debuted at a house show in Brisbane, Australia and a week later he made his official television debut he on the August 20 SmackDown by defeating fellow luchador Rey Mysterio in the main event using his new cross armbreaker submission. As part of his act, Del Rio made his entrances in an expensive car, while he was introduced by his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez. The following week, Del Rio continued the storyline with Mysterio by attacking him after his match with Kane, giving him a storyline injury by refusing to relinquish his armbar. Two weeks later he defeated Matt Hardy via submission in Hardy's last appearance with the company causing Hardy's friend Christian to challenge Del Rio to a match at Night of Champions. Although he declined the match, on the September 24 SmackDown Del Rio attacked Christian and injured him the same way he did Mysterio the previous month, marking the third successive wrestler Del Rio was scripted to injure. This was done to write Christian off television, as he had suffered a torn pectoral muscle. Mysterio returned on the October 8 episode of SmackDown, and handed Del Rio his first defeat in the main event match. In October Del Rio defeated Chris Masters to represent the SmackDown brand at Bragging Rights, but during the pay-per-view event he attacked teammate Rey Mysterio, before being eliminated from the match by Team Raw's CM Punk. At Survivor Series, in the traditional five-on-five elimination match, Del Rio captained a team against Rey Mysterio's team. Although Del Rio's team lost, he was never technically eliminated, instead Big Show knocked him out with a punch and he was removed from the match. On the November 26 SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Big Show via countout to qualify for the 2010 King of the Ring tournament. In the tournament the next week on Raw, he made United States Champion Daniel Bryan submit in the first round, but was defeated by John Morrison in the semifinal after being distracted by Mysterio who was inside his car. On the November 30 episode of NXT, it was announced that Del Rio would mentor Conor O'Brian on the fourth season of NXT, starting the following week. On December 19 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Del Rio competed in a Fatal four-Way Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Edge and also included the then champion Kane and Rey Mysterio. On the January 7, 2011 SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Mysterio in a two-out-of-three-falls match, with help from Ricardo Rodriguez by holding Mysterio out of the ring to end his long feud with Mysterio.

On January 18, Del Rio's NXT rookie Conor O'Brian became the second contestant eliminated from the competition. The following week the rookies competed in a Fatal Four Way match, of which the winner could change their pro. Brodus Clay won the match and chose Del Rio as his new pro. After the conclusion of NXT, Clay was hired as the bodyguard of Del Rio. On January 30, 2011, Del Rio defeated 39 other participants to win the 2011 Royal Rumble and earn the right to compete for either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVII by last eliminating Santino Marella. The following night on Raw, Del Rio chose to compete for the World Heavyweight Championship, which, at the time of his choosing, was held by Edge. At Elimination Chamber, Del Rio attacked Edge, after he had successfully defended his World Heavyweight Championship and solidified his spot as Del Rio's opponent at WrestleMania. However, Edge managed to come out the exchange victorious, after Christian made a return from his injury and attacked Del Rio. On the March 18 SmackDown, Del Rio and Christian finally had their first one–on–one match inside a steel cage, in which Christian was victorious. At WrestleMania XXVII, Del Rio was unsuccessful in his World Heavyweight Championship match against Edge. On the following SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Christian to earn a rematch against Edge at Extreme Rules. However, when Edge unexpectedly retired from professional wrestling on the April 11 Raw, Del Rio was instead booked to face Christian in a ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.

Del Rio as the WWE Champion

On the April 25 episode of Raw, Del Rio was drafted from SmackDown to Raw. Ricardo Rodriguez moved to Raw with him, while Brodus Clay remained on SmackDown. On May 1 at Extreme Rules, Christian defeated Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 23 Raw, Del Rio slapped Big Show after he had gotten into a confrontation with Ricardo Rodriguez. After competing in a match, Show was run over by Del Rio's car, being driven by Rodriguez, leaving him sidelined with a storyline knee injury. Big Show made his return three weeks later, chasing Del Rio out of the ring and beating Rodriguez down. On June 19 at Capitol Punishment, Del Rio defeated Big Show via referee stoppage, when Show was unable to continue the match as a result of a pre-match assault by Mark Henry. On the June 27 Raw, Del Rio defeated Big Show in a steel cage match, again with help from Mark Henry. On July 17 at Money in the Bank, Del Rio defeated Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, R-Truth and Rey Mysterio in a Money in the Bank ladder match to earn the right to challenge for the WWE Championship whenever and wherever he wanted, while also becoming the first wrestler in history to win a Royal Rumble and a Money in the Bank match in the same year. Following the orders of Vince McMahon, Del Rio attempted to cash in his contract later that same night on CM Punk, who had just defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship, but was attacked and laid out by him before he could do so. Del Rio eventually cashed in his contract on August 14 at SummerSlam, challenging CM Punk after the main event, where he had defeated John Cena to become the undisputed WWE Champion. Between the two matches, Punk was attacked by Kevin Nash, which led to Del Rio scoring a quick pinfall victory to win the WWE Championship for the first time. In winning the title, Del Rio became the first ever Mexican-born WWE Champion. Del Rio made his first televised title defense the following night on Raw, defeating Rey Mysterio to retain his title. On September 18 at Night of Champions, Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to John Cena. Del Rio regained the title on October 2 at Hell in a Cell by defeating Cena and CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell match. On October 23 at Vengeance, Del Rio successfully defended the WWE Championship against John Cena in a Last Man Standing match, following interference from The Miz and R-Truth. On November 20 at Survivor Series, Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to CM Punk. Del Rio received a rematch for the WWE Championship on the November 28 Raw, but was defeated after CM Punk dropped him onto an exposed turnbuckle, managing to avoid a disqualification, which would have cost him the title, in the process. On December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Del Rio failed again to recapture the WWE Championship from CM Punk in a Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, also involving The Miz. The following night on Raw, Del Rio suffered a torn groin muscle, which required surgery and sidelined him for four to six weeks.

World Heavyweight Champion (2012–2013)

Del Rio made his return at a WWE house show in San Francisco on February 11, 2012, arm wrestling Sheamus to a no contest. On February 19 at Elimination Chamber, Del Rio made an appearance to show support to Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis. Del Rio returned on the April 2 Raw, confronting World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and vowing to become the next champion. On the following SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Sheamus in a non-title match via disqualification to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. On the April 20 SmackDown, it was announced that Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez had been officially traded from Raw to SmackDown. On May 20 at Over the Limit, Del Rio failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a Fatal Four-Way match, also involving Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. On the following SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Kane and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat match to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. At the June 5 tapings of SmackDown, Del Rio suffered a legitimate concussion, which led to WWE pulling him from his scheduled World Heavyweight Championship match against Sheamus at No Way Out. Del Rio returned on the June 18 Raw, defeating United States Champion Santino Marella in a non-title match. The following week on Raw, Del Rio wrestled Dolph Ziggler to a no contest in a Contract on a Pole match for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. As a result, both Del Rio and Ziggler were entered into the championship match four days later on SmackDown, where Sheamus retained the title after pinning Ziggler. Del Rio received another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship on July 15 at Money in the Bank, where he was again defeated by Sheamus. The following night on Raw, Del Rio was looking to take out his frustrations on Zack Ryder, but his post-match assault was interrupted by his longtime rival Rey Mysterio making his return and attacking him. Four days later on SmackDown, Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler were defeated by Mysterio and Sheamus via disqualification, following interference from Rodriguez. After the match, Del Rio viciously attacked Sheamus. On the July 27 SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan, Kane, and Rey Mysterio in a four-way match to again become number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. The title match, originally set for SummerSlam, was moved to the August 10 SmackDown, after Del Rio threatened to press charges against Sheamus for stealing his car on the previous Raw, which would have prevented Sheamus from appearing at the pay-per-view. However, before the match got started, Del Rio attacked Sheamus along with men posing as police officers, which led to SmackDown General Manager Booker T taking away his number one contender's status as a result. However, the following week, Sheamus had the title match put back on for SummerSlam. At the pay-per-view on August 19, Del Rio again failed in attempt to dethrone Sheamus after the referee failed to notice Del Rio's foot on the bottom rope. On the following SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Randy Orton via submission to once again become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 7 SmackDown, Del Rio filed assault charges against Sheamus, after Sheamus had attacked him and Rodriguez on the previous Raw, which led to Booker T banning the Brogue Kick with the caveat that Sheamus would be stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship if he used the move again. However, on September 16 at Night of Champions, Booker T concluded his investigation into the dangers of the move and lifted the ban. In the match that followed, Sheamus used the Brogue Kick to defeat Del Rio and retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

With his rivalry with Sheamus behind him, Del Rio moved on to feuding with Randy Orton, with the two attacking each other on the September 28 SmackDown. The rivalry built to a singles match on October 28 at Hell in a Cell, where Orton emerged victorious. On the following episode of Main Event, Del Rio teamed with The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) to face Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Sin Cara in six-man tag team bout that ended with Orton pinning Del Rio for the win. On the November 6 SmackDown, Del Rio was again defeated by Orton in a Falls Count Anywhere match, after taking an RKO onto the ringside steel steps. The two were then on opposing teams for the traditional five-on-five elimination tag match on November 18 at Survivor Series. Del Rio's team, led by Dolph Ziggler, ended up defeating Orton's team, led by Mick Foley, despite Del Rio being eliminated by Orton prior to the finish. The following night on Raw, Del Rio was once again defeated by Orton in a two-out-of-three-falls match, ending the feud.

Alberto Del Rio as the World Heavyweight Champion in early 2013

On December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Del Rio turned face for the first time in his WWE career, when he saved Ricardo Rodriguez and the Spanish announce team from 3MB (Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater, and Jinder Mahal). Later in the event, Del Rio teamed with The Miz and The Brooklyn Brawler to defeat 3MB in a six-man tag team match. The following night on Raw, Del Rio and Miz teamed up with Tommy Dreamer to defeat 3MB in another six-man tag team match. On the December 28 SmackDown, Ricardo Rodriguez was awarded a title match against World Heavyweight Champion Big Show, but Show knocked Rodriguez out backstage. Del Rio was then awarded the title match in Rodriguez's place, however, the match ended in a no contest after Sheamus attacked Big Show. On the December 31 Raw, Show chose to defend his title against Ricardo Rodriguez. As Rodriguez was about to lose the match, Del Rio attacked Show from behind, causing a disqualification and re-igniting a feud between Del Rio and Show. On January 8, 2013, at the tapings of the January 11 SmackDown, as Del Rio's character transitioned into a hero of the Latino fanbase, he defeated Show in a Last Man Standing match to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio made his first successful title defense on January 27 at the Royal Rumble, defeating Show in another Last Man Standing match, after Rodriguez duct taped Show's legs to the ropes. After repeated attacks from Show to both himself and Rodriguez, Del Rio and Show faced off in a singles match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber, where Del Rio submitted him to the cross armbreaker to retain his title. Del Rio then began a feud with his new number one contender, Jack Swagger, over his opposing political views regarding immigration in America. The feud escalated on the March 18 Raw, when Swagger broke Rodriguez's ankle with his Patriot Lock submission. Del Rio continued his feud with Swagger on the April 1 Raw, defeating Swagger's manager Zeb Colter via disqualification after Colter hit Del Rio with Ricardo Rodriguez's crutch. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Del Rio defeated Swagger via submission to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The following night on Raw, Del Rio defeated Swagger and Zeb Colter in a Two-on-one handicap match after forcing Swagger to submit to the cross armbreaker. Immediately following, Del Rio lost the World Heavyweight Champion to Dolph Ziggler who cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, ending his reign at 90 days. Following the loss of the World Heavyweight Championship, Del Rio would continue feud with Swagger and Ziggler over the title. On the April 29 Raw, Ricardo Rodriguez defeated Big E Langston and Zeb Colter in a three-way match to give Del Rio the right to choose the stipulation of his three-way match at Extreme Rules and chose a ladder match. However, Ziggler would suffer a legitimate concussion at a SmackDown taping, thus removing their match from Extreme Rules. As a result of Ziggler's injury, Del Rio instead would be booked to face Swagger in a number one contender "I Quit" match at the pay-per-view on May 19, which Del Rio won. In the following weeks, Del Rio would face Ziggler's enforcer Big E. Langston in a series of matches, which Del Rio won 3-2.

Del Rio finally received his title shot on June 16 at Payback, and during the match a double turn took place; Del Rio turned heel once again by repeatedly and ruthlessly targeting Ziggler's head after his recent concussion to defeat Ziggler and regain the World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio later explained that he targeted Ziggler's head the same way Ziggler targeted Del Rio's injured leg when Ziggler cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the title from Del Rio. On July 14 at Money in the Bank, Del Rio defeated Ziggler via disqualification to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, after Ziggler's girlfriend AJ Lee hit Del Rio in the face with her Divas Championship belt. The following night on Raw, Del Rio defeated Ziggler in a non-title rematch after a distraction by AJ. On the July 29 Raw, Del Rio re-entered a feud with Christian after losing to him in a non-title match. That same week on SmackDown, after Christian won a three-way match to become the number on contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, Del Rio attacked him during a post-match interview. On the following Raw, Del Rio lost a non-title match to Rob Van Dam, after Ricardo Rodriguez's interference backfired, which led to Del Rio viciously attacking Rodriguez post-match. Four days later on SmackDown, Del Rio was again defeated by Christian in a non-title match. On August 18 at SummerSlam, Del Rio successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Christian. Upon Rodriguez's return, he aligned himself with Rob Van Dam, accompanying him to matches and helping him defeat Del Rio in a non-title match to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 13 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Rodriguez in a single match. Two days later at Night of Champions, Del Rio and Van Dam's title match ended in a disqualification win for Van Dam, after Del Rio refused to relinquish the cross armbreaker, retaining the World Heavyweight Championship as a result. After the match, Van Dam attacked Del Rio and hit him with the Van Terminator. On October 6 at Battleground, Del Rio defeated Van Dam in a Hardcore match via submission to again retain his title. The following night on Raw, Del Rio was defeated by Ricardo Rodriguez after being distracted by Vickie Guerrero announcing his Hell in a Cell opponent as John Cena. Afterwards, Del Rio brutally attacked Rodriguez. On October 27 at the pay-per-view, Del Rio lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Cena, ending his reign at 133 days. Del Rio received his rematch for the title on November 24 at Survivor Series, but was again defeated by Cena.

Final feuds and departure (2013–2014)

The following night on the November 25 episode of Raw, Del Rio teamed up with his former rival Randy Orton against and were defeated by John Cena and Big Show in a tag team match. On the December 2 and 9 episodes of Raw, Del Rio suffered upset losses to the returning of Sin Cara. Del Rio finally defeated Sin Cara on the January 6, 2014, episode of Raw. After the match, Del Rio insulted the soon-to-be returning Batista and that he would eliminate Batista in the Royal Rumble to get everyone talking about him. On the January 13 episode of Raw, he defeated Rey Mysterio and after the match, once again confronted Batista. On the January 20 episode of Raw, after he defeated Rey Mysterio, Batista returned and attacked Del Rio with a Batista Bomb. Six days later at the Royal Rumble, Del Rio entered the Rumble match at number 27 and performed well, but was eliminated by Batista who went on to win the match. On the February 3 episode of Raw, Del Rio confronted and ultimately assaulted Batista, which led to Batista powerbombing Del Rio through the announce table the following week. Before that, Del Rio squashed Dolph Ziggler. This led to a match between Del Rio and Batista at Elimination Chamber, which Batista won. The following night on Raw, Del Rio defeated Batista in a rematch from the previous night. At WrestleMania XXX, Alberto Del Rio participated in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal and made a number of eliminations before being eliminated by Sheamus.

On the June 2 episode of Raw, Del Rio defeated Dolph Ziggler to qualify for the 2014 Money in the Bank ladder match which later became for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship; Del Rio would lose the match to John Cena. On the July 4 episode of Smackdown, Del Rio unsuccessfully challenged Sheamus for the United States Championship. He defeated Ziggler on the July 7 episode of Raw to earn another United States Championship opportunity against Sheamus, but was again unsuccessful after a Last Man Standing match the following night on Main Event. At Battleground he participated in a battle royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship but was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. On the July 25 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio was defeated by Roman Reigns. On the August 4 episode of Raw, Del Rio was defeated by Dean Ambrose in a Beat Clock Challenge match. His last appearance in WWE on the August 5 episode of Main Event, Del Rio was defeated by Jack Swagger. Two days later on August 7, WWE announced that Del Rio was fired from the company due to "unprofessional conduct" following an altercation with an employee who allegedly made a racist joke.

Return to AAA (2014–2015)

After being fired from WWE, on August 11, 2014, AAA announcer Arturo Rivera stated that Rodríguez would be returning to the promotion at Triplemanía XXII. AAA officially confirmed that Del Rio's return later that same day and started advertising him for the event. In a press conference on August 14, Rodríguez acknowledged that WWE owned the Alberto Del Rio name and also revealed that he would be working for AAA under the new ring name El Patrón ("The Boss"). He was nicknamed this in WWE by Ricardo Rodriguez, during ring introductions and Spanish commentary, but it was not trademarked. Rodríguez also stated that for the moment he was under a 90-day no-compete clause, which would prevent him from wrestling for AAA. He later also revealed that as part of his departure from WWE, Del Rio was banned from wrestling in the United States for one year. On August 17 at Triplemanía XXII, El Patrón and his father Dos Caras appeared to open the show, speaking on coming to AAA and addressing WWE, claiming that the company was racist. They were interrupted by the Los Perros del Mal stable. After one of the members laid his hands on Caras, El Patrón ran after the stable and cleared house, while officials reminded him that he has the no-compete clause from the WWE. The show ended with El Patrón attacking Los Perros del Mal leader El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, after his win in the main event. In early September 2014, Rodríguez's lawyers had resolved his issues with WWE and he was no longer restricted by the 90-day no-compete clause. On September 14, Rodríguez, now billed as "El Patrón Alberto", made his AAA in-ring return teaming with Myzteziz and La Parka in a six-man tag team main event, where they defeated Aguayo, Averno and El Texano Jr. Alberto then began feuding with El Texano Jr. over the AAA Mega Championship. On November 28, Ricardo Rodriguez made his AAA debut, once again becoming Alberto's personal ring announcer. On December 7 at Guerra de Titanes, Alberto defeated El Texano Jr. to become the new AAA Mega Champion. With the win, Rodríguez became the first wrestler to have held both the CMLL and AAA world heavyweight championships. On May 24, 2015, Alberto came together with Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr. to form the "Dream Team" for AAA's Lucha Libre World Cup. The trio eventually won the tournament, defeating Johnny Mundo, Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson in the finals. At Triplemanía XXIII, El Patrón defeated Brian Cage in a Hair vs. Hair Lucha de Apuestas. At Héroes Inmortales IX, El Patrón retained the Mega Championship against Johnny Mundo.

After Rodríguez returned to WWE, Dorian Roldán announced on November 9 that he could not return to AAA to defend the Mega Championship and was therefore stripped of the title. WWE had allowed to participate at Guerra de Titanes but when the event was canceled, WWE rescinded the offer.

World Wrestling Council (2014–2015)

On August 24, 2014, the World Wrestling Council began a storyline by airing a backstage segment where heel manager Juan Manuel Ortega talked by telephone with someone only identified as "patrón" and referenced a reunion previously held at WrestleMania XXX. The following week featured a segment where the manager picked Ricardo Rodriguez from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and drove to a golf club where Ray González, Sr. (who had been feuding with several of Ortega's protégés) was playing a round. There it was revealed that the former WWE ring announcer had been sent on behalf of Del Rio, delivering a sign of disrespect as a "personal message" before fleeing the scene. The following week a match between both was confirmed for Septiembre Negro, where González, Sr. defeated and injured Rodriguez (now promoted as "El Emisario del Patrón") and immediately challenged Del Rio to a match at WWC Aniversario. On September 24, 2014, the storyline with Rodriguez continued, when he was depicted calling Ortega to confirm the presence of Del Rio at Aniversario. However, after being announced Del Rio was unable to make an appearance and the storyline digressed, with Hernandez supplanting him at Aniversario.

On November 7, 2015, WWC resumed the angle with Del Rio, beginning with a segment where he assaulted Ray González's son, El Hijo de Ray González, during a training session at Texas Wrestling Academy in retaliation for the injury that his father inflicted on Rodriguez. The following day, Ray González, Sr. challenged Del Rio to a match. The majority of the promotional skits were filmed before he returned to WWE, but was given continuity, being the only external appearance cleared by the promotion after the enactment of a new contract. On December 5, 2015, González, Sr. defeated the now-WWE United States Champion Del Rio by disqualification in WWC's season closing event, Lockout.

Other promotions (2014–2015)

On November 1, 2014, Rodríguez, working under the ring name "Alberto", made his debut for the Japanese Wrestle-1 promotion, defeating Masakatsu Funaki. On November 15, 2014, Rodríguez made a surprise appearance at Tommy Dreamer's House of Hardcore VII show, where he cut a promo expressing his delight of being in the former ECW Arena for the first time. Rodríguez would then fend off an attack from Brian Myers. Rodríguez competed for the World Wrestling League defeating champion Glamour Boy Shane and Ricky Banderas to capture the WWL World Heavyweight Championship in January 2015. The title was vacated on September 19, 2015, after a controversy during a defense against Ricky Banderas.

Ring of Honor (2014–2015)

On December 11, 2014, Ring of Honor (ROH) announced that Rodríguez, billed as Alberto El Patrón, had signed to make his debut for the promotion on January 3, 2015. He defeated Christopher Daniels in his debut match. During the ROH Winter Warriors tour on January 30 & 31, El Patrón defeated ACH and Roderick Strong. On March 1, 2015, at ROH 13th Anniversary Show, El Patrón unsuccessfully challenged Jay Lethal for the ROH World Television Championship.

Lucha Underground (2015)

On January 17, 2015, Lucha Underground announced that Rodríguez had signed with the promotion. He debuted at the promotion's television tapings in Los Angeles, California later that same day. During his debut, Rodríguez, billed as Alberto el Patrón, was attacked by his AAA rival El Texano Jr., who was also making his debut. This led to a match on the March 25 episode, where he successfully defended the AAA Mega Championship against El Texano Jr. in a Bullrope match. On May 6, Alberto defeated Johnny Mundo in a match for the number one contender for the Lucha Underground Championship. However, on May 13, 2015, Alberto was defeated by Hernandez after Mundo threw him against a window, losing his opportunity. Then, Alberto and Mundo feuded until Ultima Lucha, where Mundo defeated Alberto after an interference from Melina, Mundo's girlfriend.

Return to WWE (2015–present)

Del Rio made an unannounced return to the WWE at Hell in a Cell on October 25, 2015, with Zeb Colter as his manager, he defeated John Cena to win the WWE United States Championship for the first time. The next night on Raw, Del Rio revealed that he and Zeb Colter had started their new country "MexAmerica" and unofficially renamed the United States Championship as the "MexAmerican Championship". Del Rio went on to defeat Neville in a singles match the following night on Raw and again on SmackDown. In November, Del Rio took part in the tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Stardust in the first round and Kalisto in the quarterfinals, before being eliminated by Roman Reigns in the semi–finals at Survivor Series.

On the November 30 episode of Raw, Del Rio joined Sheamus's new stable, "The League of Nations", and a week later ended his association with Zeb Colter. After retaining his championship against Jack Swagger, in a chairs match, at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay–per–view, Del Rio reignited his feud with John Cena, after the latter returned on December 28. On the January 11th episode of Raw, Del Rio lost the United States Championship to Kalisto, but regained the championship the next night on the January 12th tapings of the January 14th episode of SmackDown.

Mixed martial arts career

Dos Caras Jr.
Born	(1977-05-25) May 25, 1977 San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Nationality	Mexican
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	96 kg (212 lb; 15.1 st)
Division	Heavyweight
Style	Professional wrestling
Fighting out of	San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Mixed martial arts record
Total	14
Wins	9
By knockout	2
By submission	7
Losses	5
By knockout	2
By submission	1
By decision	1
By disqualification	1
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

After making his professional wrestling debut in 2000, Dos Caras Jr. decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts (MMA). His full MMA record can be viewed below.

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
14 matches	9 wins	5 losses
By knockout	2	2
By submission	7	1
By decision	0	1
By disqualification	0	1

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	9–5	Yamamoto Hanshi	TKO (punches)	Cage of Combat 4: Spanish Bombs	February 27, 2010	2	2:47	Madrid, Spain
Win	9–4	Arthur Bart	KO (head kick)	Cage of Combat 3: San Vale Todo	February 13, 2010	1	3:51	Torreón, Mexico
Win	8–4	Toshiyuki Moriya	Submission (neck crank)	COC I: Cage of Combat I	December 26, 2009	1	3:17	Veracruz, Mexico
Win	7–4	Ignacio Laguna	Submission (rear naked choke)	Berkman MMA Promotions I	December 15, 2008	2	2:36	Mexico City, Mexico
Win	6–4	Hato Kiyoshi	Submission (rear naked choke)	MMA Xtreme 17	December 15, 2007	2	2:31	Honduras
Win	5–4	Joao Tua	Submission (guillotine choke)	MMA Xtreme 14	October 13, 2007	1	2:41	Honduras
Win	4–4	George King	Submission (rear naked choke)	VFX: Vale Tudo	May 27, 2007	1	4:00	Tláhuac, Mexico
Loss	3–4	Kazuhiro Nakamura	Decision (unanimous)	Pride 27	February 1, 2004	3	5:00	Osaka, Japan
Loss	3–3	Mirko Filipović	KO (head kick)	Pride Bushido 1	October 5, 2003	1	0:46	Saitama, Japan
Win	3–2	Brad Kohler	Submission (shoulder injury)	Deep: 12th Impact	September 15, 2003	1	1:25	Tokyo, Japan
Loss	2–2	Hiroyuki Ito	DQ (grabbing the ropes)	Deep: 9th Impact	May 5, 2003	1	3:21	Tokyo, Japan
Win	2–1	Tatsuaki Nakano	Submission (rear naked choke)	Deep: 6th Impact	September 7, 2002	1	4:05	Tokyo, Japan
Loss	1–1	Kengo Watanabe	Submission (rear naked choke)	Deep: 4th Impact	March 30, 2002	2	3:52	Nagoya, Japan
Win	1–0	Kengo Watanabe	TKO (broken arm)	Deep: 2nd Impact	August 18, 2001	1	0:50	Yokohama, Japan

Personal life

Son of noted luchador Dos Caras, nephew of Mil Máscaras and Sicodelico, and cousin to Sicodelico Jr. and Hijo de Sicodelico, Rodríguez is part of one of the most well known Mexican wrestling families. His younger brother Guillermo signed a WWE contract in August 2012 and was assigned to the promotion's developmental territory NXT Wrestling under the ring name Memo Montenegro, but was released in July 2013. He supports Real Madrid C.F. He is married with three children: a son, Joseph (born April 17, 2010) and two daughters Estephanie and Sophie.

In wrestling

Del Rio applying the cross armbreaker on John Cena

Del Rio performing a double knee backbreaker on Randy Orton

Del Rio performing an enzuiguri on Sheamus

• Finishing moves
  • As Alberto Del Rio/Alberto
    • Cross armbreaker, often while rolling
    • Diving double foot stomp to an opponent held in the tree of woe (WWE) – 2015–present
  • As El Patrón Alberto/Alberto El Patrón
    • Rompe Destinos (Cross armbreaker, often while rolling)
  • As Dos Caras Jr.
    • Military press dropped into a bridging German suplex
• Signature moves
  • Arm wringer
  • Double foot stomp
  • Double knee armbreaker
  • Double knee backbreaker, sometimes to a rope hung opponent and preceded by multiple forearm smashes to the rope hung opponent's back
  • Diving double axe handle
  • Fireman's carry double knee gutbuster – 2011
  • Moonsault
  • Multiple kick variations
    • Back
    • Drop
    • Shoot
    • Step-up enzuigiri, sometimes to a cornered opponent or to an opponent on the top rope
    • Super to a kneeling or seated opponent – sometimes used as a finisher
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Belly-to-back
    • Bridging/Release German
    • Inverted super
  • Senton, sometimes from the top rope or in a seated position
  • Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker
• Managers
  • Brodus Clay
  • Dos Caras
  • Ricardo Rodriguez
  • Zeb Colter
• Nicknames
  • "El (Hijo del) Hércules Potosino" (Spanish for "The (Son of) Potosinian Hercules")
  • "The Essence of Excellence"/"La Esencia de la Excelencia"
  • "The Pride of Mexico"
  • "The Mexican Aristocrat"
  • "Mexico's Greatest Export"
  • "Mr. Money in the Bank"
• Entrance themes
  • "Realeza" performed by Mariachi Real de Mexico and composed by Jim Johnston (WWE; August 20, 2010 – March 11, 2013; February 10, 2014 – August 7, 2014; October 25, 2015 – present)
  • "Realeza 2013" performed by Mariachi Real de Mexico and composed by Jim Johnston (WWE; March 18, 2013 – February 3, 2014; October 25, 2015 – November 9, 2015 (used after a match only))
  • "Frijolero" (w/ Realeza Intro) by Molotov (AAA; 2014-2015)
  • "Hellfire" by CFO$ (WWE; November 30, 2015 – December 3, 2015; used while a part of The League of Nations)
  • "A League of Their Own" by Jim Johnston (WWE; December 7, 2015 – present; used while a part of The League of Nations)

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

• Central American and Caribbean Games
  • First place (3 times)
• Pan American Games
  • Gold (1999)
• World Junior Championships
  • Gold (1997)

Professional wrestling

Del Rio is a four-time world champion in WWE, having held the WWE Championship (pictured) twice and the World Heavyweight Championship twice.

• Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
  • AAA Mega Championship (1 time)
  • Lucha Libre World Cup (2015) – with Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.
  • Técnico of the Year (2014)
• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • CMLL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • La Copa Junior (2006)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #6 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011
• World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
  • World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • WWE Championship (2 times)
  • WWE United States Championship (2 times, current)
  • Bragging Rights Trophy (2010) – with Team SmackDown (Big Show, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, Edge, Tyler Reks, and Kofi Kingston)
  • Money in the Bank (Raw 2011)
  • Royal Rumble (2011)
• World Wrestling League
  • WWL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Gimmick (2010)

Luchas de Apuestas record

See also: Luchas de Apuestas

Winner (wager)	Loser (wager)	Location	Event	Date	Notes
Dos Caras Jr. (mask)	Darketo (mask)	Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico	Live event	March 6, 2003
El Patrón Alberto (hair)	Brian Cage (hair)	Mexico City, Mexico	Triplemanía XXIII	August 9, 2015

External links

• Alberto Del Rio's profile on WWE.com
• Alberto Del Rio on Twitter
• Ring of Honor profile
• Online World of Wrestling profile