8. Attacks Ricardo Rodriguez (Raw, August 5th, 2013)
In a perfect world, this is something that probably should have elevated Del Rio even further, and also helped to make Ricardo a star on the face side of things. Of course, that didn't quite happen for Ricardo, but that might be more of his fault than anything else (Wellness Policy violation, plus his rumored desire to be a wrestler on the main roster instead of just doing managing and commentary work). Their split had been rumored for a while before it happened, but Del Rio was so good during the attack that it made you forget about all of that. You figured it was continued punishment for Ricardo's suspension (this was his first day back after the suspension), but Del Rio was vicious, and immediately had fans feeling bad for Ricardo, who was totally defenseless. You wanted him to eventually get his revenge, and you waited for him to return from the beating... only to have him aligned with Rob Van Dam in one of those wink, wink, nudge, nudge moments. The pairing with RVD made no sense outside of those inside jokes over Wellness violations, and the RVD/ADR feud ended up being something that nobody wanted to see, with both men looking unmotivated the entire time. For that one night, however, it looked like things would really end up working out for both Alberto and Ricardo, making this a very good segment with a lot of wasted potential.
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.
