With his fancy cars, expensive clothes and Latin flavor, WWE superstar Alberto Del Rio very much enjoys the luxurious South Beach lifestyle. So it’s no surprise the sports entertainer calls South Florida home when he isn’t performing before WWE fans around the world.
After Del Rio initially signed with WWE in 2009, he moved from Mexico to Tampa, working at the company’s developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling. When he was transferred to the main roster, he packed his belongings and traveled south to be near his older sister and cousins in South Florida.
Ultimately, Del Rio sacrificed everything — even his coveted mask — for WWE. “That is the reason I came,” Del Rio said. “I left everything in my country. I left my family, my house, my friends, my position as the main guy in the company in Mexico [CMLL] and everything else for this opportunity.
“A lot of people say, ‘It’s incredible what you have done in a short time. Are you happy?’ I tell them, ‘Yes, I am happy because this is the reason I came here.’”The son of Dos Caras and nephew of legendary Mil Máscaras and Sicodelico, Del Rio had lucha libre in his blood. He spent a decade working his way up the ladder in Mexico. Combining his international experience in pro wrestling with his background in amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts, it was hard for WWE to ignore him.
“A lot of people are not aware of this, but I have been doing this for more than 10 years,” Del Rio said. “In Mexico and Japan, I was one of the biggest stars or one of the biggest stars. I also was a big star in Europe. That is the reason why I came to WWE, to do the things I’m doing right now.”The superstar transitioned to the WWE style fairly quickly in FCW. He was determined to get his chance on the worldwide stage, sooner rather than later.
“A lot of people helped me adjust to the style, including Steve Keirn, Dusty Rhodes, Norman Smiley,” Del Rio said. “Those guys helped me in FCW because in Mexico we wrestle on the right side, and here we wrestle on the left side. That was the main issue because, essentially, wrestling is the same everywhere. That particular area and transition were kind of hard, but in the end everything worked out well.”
Vignettes introducing an unmasked Del Rio with a trademark arrogant smile began airing on WWE SmackDown in June 2010. The WWE Universe knew the Del Rio name before he was officially introduced to a live crowd by his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez.
“It was pretty cool,” Del Rio said. “I never did things like that in Mexico because there you really just wrestle. Of course, we wore masks and everything, but we never really did promos or vignettes. I had a good time when I did that.”
The good time gave birth to Alberto Del Rio, a talented sports entertainer in WWE. “Alberto Del Rio is something Vince McMahon and I created,” he noted. “We created this character. He came up with the idea of the scarf, the cars and everything. However, I developed the character from guys from the movies like ‘Scarface’ and ‘The Godfather’ or guys who I hated during my life.”Del Rio made an immediate impression by defeating Rey Mysterio in his WWE debut match in August. The luchador turned sports entertainer emerged as one of the most hated villains in the company.