Part of the reason that Alberto Del Rio's initial heel run worked so well was that having his own personal ring announcer in the form of Ricardo Rodriguez made him stand out from everyone else on the roster. Rodriguez spent years by Del Rio's side - even becoming a face when the former WWE Champion did the same - but when Del Rio turned heel in 2013, WWE higher-ups decided to separate the two men. After that, both floundered until they left the company. After his tenure with WWE ended, Rodriguez echoed many of Del Rio's sentiments about the company - namely, that he found himself the victim of racism and harassment during his tenure. It looked unlikely that either man would ever come back to WWE, but the company made Del Rio an offer he couldn't refuse, and last month, he returned with Zeb Colter as his manager. Though Del Rio has been booked strongly since his return, the pairing with Colter is not likely to reach the same levels as his partnership with Rodriguez. With WWE looking to get the most out its investment in Del Rio, expect them to make a play to rehire Rodriguez, and expect the announcer to be back at Del Rio's side before long.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
