Alberto Del Rio To Make Major Wrestling Return This Month

The four-time WWE World Champion looks set to make a major return at the end of the month.

by Andrew Pollard
alberto del rio royal rumble
WWE.com

Despite being more involved in the world of MMA in recent times, it looks as if Alberto El Patron - formerly Alberto Del Rio in WWE - is making a major return to the wrestling business later this month.

As per FanByte's Emily Pratt, a source has indicated that the four-time WWE World Champion will be returning at AAA TripleMania XXX on 30 April. The current plan is for Alberto to be the surprise partner of Laredo Kid in a triple threat tag team match against Dragon Lee & Dralistico and Taurus & Johnny Superstar, aka John Morrison.

Laredo Kid's original partner, Aero Star, is dealing with visa issues that will prevent him from making this TripleMania XXX contest, and Ringside News reports that AAA booker Konnan felt like he needed "a big star, a big surprise" as Aero Star's replacement. Thus, Alberto El Patron was reached out to.

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It's not known at this stage whether El Patron's AAA return will be a brief one or if the plan is to bring him in as a regular member of the roster from here on out. Regardless of focussing on MMA - including penning a deal to work as a Spanish commentator for UFC - the one-time Royal Rumble winner has still been active on the independent scene, most recently competing on 31 March, where he teamed with El Hijo de Dos Caras to go up against DMT Azul & Toscano at the Wrestling In Gomez Palacio event.

This past December saw the 44-year-old cleared of all kidnapping and sexual assault charges that were brought against him by an ex-partner. Since then, the real-life Jose Alberto Rodríguez Chucuan has talked about having an interest in returning to WWE or signing with AEW. The belief is that WWE, AEW and IMPACT Wrestling and MLW have all have no interest in bringing in El Patron at this time.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.