"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome at this time, Alberto Del Rio's personal TV Tropes announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez!""¡Damas y caballeros! Aquí es mi gran honor de presentar la esencia de excelencia, el campeón mundial de peso pesado del WWE y el orgullo de la gente de México... Él es...En Inglés
Ladies and gentlemen! It is now my great honor to present the essence of excellence, the world heavyweight champion of the WWE and the pride of the people of Mexico... He is...
AlbertoooooOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo... DEL RIO!"Alberto Del Rio (real name Alberto Rodríguez, born May 25, 1977) is a Mexican professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, performing on its Smackdown brand and is a two-time WWE Champion, and the formerWWE World Heavyweight Champion. Prior to working with WWE, he was well known as Dos Caras, Jr., which he wrestled as in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and fought under as a mixed martial artist.
All American Face: Despite being undeniably Mexican, his face persona contains elements of the all-American hero, defending the idea of America as a land of opportunity and equality against the anti-immigrant xenophobe of "Real American" Jack Swagger.
Affably Evil: As a heel, he'd often wears a smile some would consider charming...but don't be fooled. (See Faux Affably Evil.)
Alpha Bastard: While he was a heel; "I'm handsome! I'm powerful! I'm RICH! I'M EVERYTHING!!" The ego, the attitude, the fancy cars, the white scarf, he had an aura of being a male example (and is listed as such on the Alpha Bitch page).
Badass: Established his credentials in this category, especially as a face after he took down The Big Show and beat Jack Swagger at WM 29. Also, despite being essentially on one leg, he nearly managed to beat Ziggler in the cash-in match as well.
Bad Boss: As a heel he didn't do much to protect his extremely hammy ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez seems to have two jobs: One, to announce Del Rio's entrance to the ring (in Spanish, of course), and two, to act as Del Rio's unwilling meat shield. A lot of Del Rio's confrontations with other face wrestlers end with Alberto rolling out of the ring and leaving Ricardo behind to take the other guy's Finishing Move. This is now averted now that he's a face, he actually tries to stop the attacks, with the result of him sometimes getting attacked as well.
Played with during a September 2012 storyline/promo where Alberto calls Ricardo his only friend for pushing him out of the way of a Brogue Kick from Sheamus, resulting in Ricardo getting injured (knocked unconscious) as a result.
He acknowledged the fact he had treated Ricardo poorly, during the December 31 2012 episode of Raw when Ricardo been chosen by Big Show as his opponent (All the champions got to choose their opponents for the night). He interfered on the behalf of Ricardo when Show was going to go for his Finisher after being dominant for most of the match.
After weeks of telling everyone that it was his destiny to win the 2011 Royal Rumble, he won it.
And now, he has added "WWE Champion" to his fulfilled prophecies. And while it took a year and a half and a face turn, the "World Heavyweight Champion" has been added to that list.
Del Rio has made a habit of cussing quite a lot in Spanish when he's angry or excited.
That wink he does also has more negative connotations in Mexico and many Mediterranean countries than it does in the States.
Ricardo Rodriguez also has a different over-the-top introduction for Alberto Del Rio each time out, usually complete with a diss about how Alberto is greater or richer than the fans or the city they're in. Many fans probably have no clue what exactly he is saying, yet for Foreign Wrestling Heel reasons, this still gets heel heat.
For anyone fluent, or even passable in Spanish, Del Rio and Rodriguez are hilarious. Live events and untaped segments are where they shine as a comedy duo. Ricardo's constantly trying to make Del Rio break character and vice versa.
Won the 2011 Raw MITB match by yanking off Rey Mysterio Jr's mask when the both of them were fighting at the top of the ladder, which naturally caused Mysterio to cover his face instead of going for the briefcase. Fridge Brilliance comes in when you realize that ADR himself fought as a Masked Luchador in Mexico and might have been the only one in the match to think to do that.
That's not to mention some of his hijinks with chair shots, or the time he won a Triple Threat WWE Title cage match by having Ricardo lock the defending championout of the cage.
Or the pragmatic instinct he displayed the night he beat Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship. Not only rolling out of the ring to break the Last Man Standing count after taking a WMD knockout punch, but also tipping an entire announce table onto a downed Big Show in order to keep Show from getting up.
Not to mention, since Last Man Standing matches are No-DQ, having Ricardo duct tape Big Show's feet to the ring ropes so he couldn't physically rise for the 10 count.
A chokeslam and a WMD from The Big Show and he still managed to stand up before a 10-count.
He was a bit Genre Savvy at that point, after being hit by WMD, he knew he wouldn't get up in time, so he rolled to the edge of the ring and put his feet on the floor, thus breaking the officials 10 count.
Development Gag: As is the case with many of WWE's superstars, both on air and in their development territory, Alberto was known by a name of someone he resembled. He was known as Alberto Banderas during his time in FCW, and the resemblance...well, let's just say he could indeed be◊ related to him◊.
At Money in the Bank 2011, he attempted to pull a Your Princess Is in Another Castle on CM Punk by cashing in his MITB Briefcase after Punk had just won a grueling match with John Cena. Punk casually kicked Alberto in the head and knocked him out before fleeing the building. This was in part due to Punk being Dangerously Genre Savvy, having done what Del Rio had attempted to do twice in the past. Also, Vince McMahon was shouting to cut the music and obviously calling for Del Rio to come out right where Punk could see it, so really this was on Vince.
Although some credit has to be given to Punk, who was the first person to think of this escape method regardless of whether Vince telegraphed it or not.
But then it happened again on the 7/25 RAW, when he tried to cash in on Rey Mysterio's "WWE Title". Alberto was so busy calling for the bell instead of getting into the ring (a match can only 'officially' start when both competitors are inside the ring and the bell has been rung) that he didn't see Mysterio go airborne. After getting hit with a suicide dive, Alberto pulls a Screw This, I'm Outta Here and retreats with his briefcase.
He's basically a Mexican JBL. Christianlampshaded this by calling him "Juan Bradshaw Layfield" at least one time. And his entrance definitely is JBL all the way, but his actual gimmick errs much closer to that of "The Million-Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, almost to the point that you could call him a Composite Character of the two. And more recently, he seems to have adopted some of the in-ring behavior patterns from the early heel runs of Eddie Guerrero - although one could argue he had those all along, what with his ethnicity, obvious love for nice rides, arrogant streak, and tendency to cheat as much as he can get away with doing.
JBL himself wishes he had thought about getting his own ring announcer.
Face Heel Double Turn: His current feud with The Big Show is a reprise of a feud that happened a couple of years back - except the first time, Del Rio was a heel and Show was a face.
Faux Affably Evil: He'll be happy and smiling, even while beating you up, but his façade will occasionally crack and his face will contort with rage.
Since his Face turn, he's added a moonsault from the second rope (which means less elevation). Yep - a 6'5", 240-pound man doing a moonsault. Lightning Bruiser indeed.
Foreign Wrestling Heel: At first averted as he had an actual gimmick other than simply being foreign. Inverted after his Heel Face Turn and championship win, where he now feuds as a fan favorite against a Type-2 Eagleland xenophobic heel in Jack Swagger.
Flanderization: After he won the Royal Rumble, he proclaimed that it was his destiny to win the World Title, to go along with his Rich Idiot with No Day Job gimmick, with him being naturally better than anyone due to being descended from Mexican royalty. However, as time went on he started losing just about every other part of his gimmick outside of having Ricardo Rodriguez as a personal ring announcer and coming out in expensive cars every week. And then, after he turned face, he lost the expensive cars, too and just became a Dashing Hispanic.
Fleeting Demographic Rule: Fans with good memories quickly recognized the method in which Del Rio won his second Last Man Standing match with The Big Show - because John Cena won a match with Batista in the same manner a few years ago.
Forced To Watch: This happened to him after the 2013 Royal Rumble, where The Big Show taped his arms to the ropes as revenge for what he did to Show the other night and beat down Ricardo right in front of him.
Graceful Loser: After having lost his World Heavyweight Title Dolph Ziggler, he comes out during Ziggler's celebration on Smackdown, telling him he knew the feeling of cashing in his contract for WWE Championship title and wanted to congratulate Ziggler on his successful cash-in. But also added when his ankle was fully healed, he would use his rematch clause to regain the title.
Heel Face Turn: The 2012 TLC PPV saw Del Rio making the save when Ricardo was being harassed by 3MB after trying to defend the Spanish announce team. He and The Miz, along with the Brooklyn Brawler of all people, would team up later as babyfaces to defeat 3MB.
Heel Face Revolving Door: It looked like WWE couldn't decide whether to stay with his recent Heel Face Turn or not, resulting in a strange phenomenon where he was booked as a heel on some shows and as a face on others. Part of this is because of WWE taping their X-Mas specials in advance, so it's understandably confusing when you see Alberto "run down" St. Nick one week (which arguably made him look like a sympathetic heel anyway), then act like a Face and a Benevolent Boss the next week.
Heel Realization/Even Evil Has Standards: He then solidified his Heel Face Turn on the last Raw of 2012, explaining to Ricardo that seeing The Big Show treat him like dirt made Alberto realize how badly he had mistreated his announcer over the last several months, and promised to be at ringside to look out for Ricardo in his World Title match against the giant.
Incredibly Long Note/Big Word Shout: Every week Ricardo Rodriguez will drag out saying his name longer and longer. At this point, Del Rio could get to the ring, finish the match, and be back in the showers before Rodriguez is finished.
Crowd Song: And now that Del Rio's got the fans behind him, some of them (most depending on what area they're in) inevitably try to imitate Ricardo's several-minutes long yell.
Jack of All Stats: Del Rio's PPV matches tend to feature him doing a bit of everything. He's got a couple of power moves, some moves usually used by 'speed-type' wrestlers, a bit of mat work, some pretty wicked strikes...and, of course, the Cross Armbreaker.
Kick Them While They Are Down: After he wins, he has a tendency to continue to assault his opponents, then put them in his armbar over and over again.
Used against him by CM Punk, after a rather grueling battle against The Big Show, Punk lays an Anaconda Vice on the beaten down Del Rio until he agrees to a championship match at Survivor Series. Naturally Del Rio labelled him a complete coward afterwards.
Mythology Gag/Viewers Are Geniuses: Matt Striker said that Alberto has two faces: the smiling, virtue-spewing gentleman and that vicious arrogant wrestler; his Lucha name, Dos Caras. translates as Two Faces.
Double subverted. Ricardo Rodriguez, in fact, does not seem to affect whether Alberto Del Rio is a complete Jerkass or not - but at the same time, he's the only individual Del Rio has ever shown any level of concern about (he was visibly upset in the several weeks after Ricardo was Put on a Bus due to a kayfabe injury) and can really be considered the closest thing Del Rio has to a friend.
It finally did when he performed a Heel Face Turn to protect him from 3MB.
His career in Mixed Martial Arts(under the 'Dos Caras' name) before joining the WWE, while not terrible, (He was a respectable 9-5 in MMA competition) is primarily remembered for the match in which Mirko "Cro Cop" Filopovic knocked him out in 46 seconds with a head kick.
Mythology Gag: CM Punk would stop Del Rio's first Money in the Bank cash in with a Roundhouse Kick to the head.
Later, Del Rio got his revenge by kicking Punk in the head with an enzuigiri and stealing the WWE Title.
He lent it to Ricardo, as well lending him his car, when he had a match against The Big Show (see above for reason), so he could go out to the ring in style.
Ship Tease: With the Bella Twins (an angle cut short due to his injury and the twins' subsequent release) and with Rosa Mendes, one has to see if it continues after his face turn.
Actually had a similar technique work for him in a recent match against Sheamus. He tried to hit Sheamus with a chair while the ref's back was turned, but when Sheamus yanked it out of his hands, Del Rio hit the deck just in time for the ref to turn around and catch Sheamus with the chair. Sheamus got DQ'd (and, as a result, Del Rio gets a title shot).
He began making regular appearances on Raw while still being a top star on Smackdown during the time the two brands were kept separate.
This wound up being a subversion (and perhaps a case of Foreshadowing), as now the "Brand Extension" has ended and most major players in the WWE are liable to show up on any show - even the B Show, WWE Main Event.
Ironically, this aspect of his character only started to come out after his Heel Face Turn. One prime example was in a tag match the week after he won the World Heavyweight Championship - mid-match, he threw a bucket of water into The Big Show's face and essentially made him Rage Quit the entire match and just walk off.
Then, a few weeks later, he helped Show's mistreated assistant put his tour bus up on blocks... then doused the giant in orange paint when he came out to investigate.
Unlimited Wardrobe: He comes out in a new car every show. This was dropped once he turned face.
Very Punchable Man: Del Rio himself often qualifies, but Ricardo Rodriguez in particular gets it pretty bad. Every time he attempts to interupt a match in Del Rio's favor usually leads to a very nasty beatdown from his opponent. Even more passive Faces such as Rey Mysterio have been driven to a merciless rage over his interfering.
This hasn't disappeared even now that Del Rio's a Face. In fact, it seems to have been cranked Up to Eleven, now that Big Show has singled out Ricardo as a target.
Villainous Breakdown: After losing his title to John Cena at Night Of Champions, he went berserk in the locker room afterwards.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Seemed to play this trope pretty straight with Ricardo in retrospect. He was occasionally (much more before his apparent Face turn) a real jerk to Ricardo. If anyone else dared injure or insult him, though, there would be hell to pay.
He's a finely dressed sophisticate who enjoys wine.
And a good fiesta.
Throws one heckuva retirement party, too! Although Edge wasn't too impressed.
Wrestling Family: Is the son of Dos Caras, and nephew of Mil Mascaras. His brother was hired by WWE and works in their developmental promotion under the name Memo Montenegro.
, and the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion
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