This is what started it all, as far as Alberto's rise to the top of the company is concerned. Until this night, Del Rio's biggest win was against Rey Mysterio (who he defeated twice) in the midcard. Otherwise, he was busy feuding with the likes of R-Truth before the Rumble. You could still tell he had a bright future, though, simply based on the amount of television time he was getting. As the very first 40-man Royal Rumble, this event was getting a lot of buzz, both of the positive and negative variety. Some thought it was a great idea, allowing more people on the roster to be involved in the match, while others thought it was terrible, meaning that there would be more "filler" entrants that had no chance of winning. Coming in at the #38 spot, Del Rio had the odds in his favor, to the point where he spent less than ten minutes in the match before winning. The final stretch ended up being one of the more memorable in Rumble history, with Del Rio tossing Randy Orton out, causing everyone to think he had won, only for Santino to reveal that he was still in the match. With the crowd anticipating one of the most stunning victories in wrestling history, Del Rio reversed Santino's comeback attempt and tossed him out for the actual win. As is always the case with the people who win the Royal Rumble (except for "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, who never truly reached main event status, and Big John Studd, who had all of his career highlights take place before his Rumble win in 1989), it was the event that took someone to the "big time". Two WWE Titles, two World Titles, and a Money In The Bank victory later, and Del Rio has an argument for having the most success in all of WWE over the last four years. If he truly is gone from the company, he will be missed for his solid matches with just about anyone he stepped in the ring with. If the rumors of TNA already reaching out to him about joining them are untrue, they should make it true. Adding him to their roster would really be a boost that they could use, even though it will bring on yet more "TNA is the home of WWE's castaways" jokes from the internet. Wherever Del Rio ends up next, it will be a huge story, that's for sure.
Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.
