WWE: 3 Top Stars Who Could Quit Following CM Punk's Shock Exit
2. Alberto Del Rio
A man who was "supposed to be a big deal, fairly quick", Alberto Del Rio was lured to WWE by the promise of fame, fortune and a big push out of the gate, to be their new Latino icon, catering to an ever increasing demographic of the market. But Del Rio' has has always been vastly under-received by the live audiences in WWE, something which has not been helped by his booking. As impressive as ADR is inside the ring, he seemingly never made the connection with the audience that is such a huge part of WWE's storytelling. He served well in the roles he was cast in, but he always felt like a utility player. Even when he defeated CM Punk for the WWE Title by cashing his MITB, he was the 5th most notable person in that story, behind Punk, Cena, Vince, HHH and, uh.....Kevin Nash. Yeah. So add to that his weekly "sending a message" by meaninglessly squashing lowcard jobbers, and you've got a recipe for a guy who the audience just won't care about. All the mega-pushes and World Titles in the world can't help a guy who the audience is just not responding to, though that's never stopped WWE before. But his constant losses at the Main Event level to WWE's preferred guys, and presentation as a bit player even when holding the Title hurt his perception with the crowd and they never truly bought him as being on that same level as Cena, Punk, Orton, etc Over the past 7 days, the complexion of his story has changed in a huge way. Rumours have emerged that Del Rio is making it publicly known inside the company that he will not be renewing his contract when it comes due later in the year. Like Punk, ADR is citing frustrations with the creative direction of the product, physical burnout and more lucrative opportunities elsewhere as reasons he intends to let his contract run out without renewal. There is a very real possibility that Del Rio will be the next Superstar to walk out on WWE, for nearly the same reasons CM Punk did. This is not a good sign for WWE, when higher profile talent are leaving high paying positions almost exclusively due to frustrations with management. Ironically, the best received run that Del Rio had was when he was working heel against newly babyface Dolph Ziggler, with the double turn they executed at the Payback PPV in Chicago last Summer. Which brings us to our next candidate with a case to walk out on WWE:
