10 Times WWE Forced It Down Our Throats

His name was Alberto Del Rio, but you already knew that. And it was his destiny to cut the same promo over and over again, while being merely an adequate hand in the ring. But this didn't stop WWE pushing him to the moon, giving him the gimmick of a Mexican JBL (who was, in turn, a Texan Million Dollar Man), a showroom's worth of expensive wheels to park along the entrance ramp, and his very own ring announcer in the shape of Ricardo Rodriguez.

The trouble with Del Rio was that he had so many opportunities handed to him without having seemed to have earned any of them. Not many new stars defeat a former World Champion on their Smackdown debut, but Alberto did exactly that against Rey Mysterio. Which made some sense in fairness, with WWE needing someone to replace the ageing and injury-prone Rey as the darling of the Hispanic demographic, but therein lay the crux of the matter: WWE needed someone. Anyone, it seemed. They chose Del Rio and gave him a gimmick with a proven track record, a ring announcer who was more popular than he was, the cars, and a vicious submission manoeuvre. WWE were hellbent on making Alberto into a big deal, fairly quick. He won the Rumble in 2011, to a painfully mild crowd reaction, and the Money In The Bank briefcase later that year.

It was soon after Money In The Bank that apathy for Del Rio reached its nadir. For the sake of having a Mexican WWE Champion in place for the Mexican tour, Del Rio cashed in the briefcase on CM Punk at Summerslam to win the belt and insert himself into a series of PPV main event matches involving Punk and Cena, with Cena referring to the WWE Champion as 'Alberto Del Third Wheel' on an episode of RAW. Ultimately, Alberto's destiny was to depart the company in 2014 after an alleged fracas with a WWE official, putting an end to his endless opportunities. For all the chances he got, Alberto needed to be special for us to buy into him, and he wasn't.