How, exactly, does a four-time heavyweight champion make this list? All one has to do is look at Del Rio's current position in WWE and look at how he got there to find the answer to that question. When Del Rio debuted in 2010, he did so as a Mexican aristocrat whose destiny it was to win the WWE title. Four years later, his character remains a Mexican aristocrat whose destiny it is to win the WWE title. Despite already being a two-time WWE and two-time World Heavyweight champion. The fact of the matter is that bookers in WWE have failed Del Rio tremendously by refusing to evolve or grow his character. Even when he turned babyface in 2013, he was the same guy, only much nicer to his friend Ricardo Rodriguez than he was before. The Del Rio character, as fans are witnessing now, simply has no purpose if he is not competing for the heavyweight championship. It is very much a case of one performer being built solely to be a main event star and when he is not in the title hunt, he becomes useless to the bookers. Sure, he still manages to have highly competitive matches thanks to a phenomenal skill set but the character is so one dimensional that it completely falls apart unless the biggest prize in the company is at stake. When he is champion, Del Rio is typically a great one. An old school-style performer whose family bleeds wrestling, he carries the titles with class, respect and dignity. He presents himself as a champion and it helps legitimize the title in the process. Unfortunately for him, the rise of Daniel Bryan, the Shield and the Wyatt Family, all much more interesting characters at this point, has limited the amount of openings higher up on the card. As a result, Del Rio wastes away in the midcard with no trace of a character and no heat, or momentum, to speak of.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
