Ranking All 50 WWE World Heavyweight Champions - From Worst To Best

42. Alberto Del Rio

WWE Champions
WWE.com

P*sspoor lines about his "destiny" weren't enough to make Alberto Del Rio's maiden title victory in 2011. The benefactor of the text message Kevin Nash sent to himself at the climax of SummerSlam 2011, he won and lost the title to John Cena later that year before returning the favour to the 'Voice of the Voiceless' at Survivor Series.

He was, in effect, the captain of a sinking ship. WWE hit iceberg after iceberg that year, with the botching of the Punk story just one of the crimes committed against creativity that summer. Del Rio was neither ready for the negative attention, nor capable of deflecting it.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett