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Old 03-23-2013, 01:26 AM   #1
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DISCUSSION: Should Alberto Del Rio drop the Mexican aristocrat gimmick?
2013 has seen the assertion of Alberto Del Rio as the WWE's top Hispanic babyface, a spot the WWE has had since Eddie Guerrero increased WWE's SmackDown brand's popularity with Hispanic audiences with his rise professional wrestling stardom, culminating in a WWE Championship victory in 2004. Since Eddie's passing in late 2005, Rey Mysterio has been pushed to the top, most recently winning the WWE Championship in 2011, but mounting injuries have forced the WWE to find a new star to appeal to this demographic.

Alberto Del Rio was chosen due to his amazing in-ring abilities, legitimate background as an amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist, natural charisma and movie star looks. Del Rio is as much the "total package" as anyone in WWE today. He remains pretty consistently over with crowds, without experiencing too much fan backlash due to the "blandification" most heels go through when they turn babyface and start fighting for truth, justice and...the Mexican way. Del Rio hasn't hit that "white hot" melting point that faces like CM Punk and Randy Orton have reached in the past, however. The "WWE Universe" seems content with Del Rio as their suddenly heroic World Heavyweight Champion, but is Del Rio creating the stir that he potentially could?

The problem might lie in that word "suddenly." Since his arrival on the WWE scene in the second half of 2010, Del Rio has been a bad guy. He talks about how great he is, he drives to his matches in cars more expensive than any audience member can afford, he wanted "respect" out the gate and has injured many a fan favourite Superstar's shoulder with his Cross Armbreaker submission hold. The Alberto Del Rio character is a piece of shit, simply put. Yes, WWE fans have been forced to acknowledge the man's abilities in the ring, but as a human being, there is not much to empathize with as far as the Mexican legend is concerned. His initial saving of his good friend and personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, made him appear to have a heart and heroic desire to protect his friends, but he's remaining a good guy because, well, he's started cracking jokes and slapping hands with fans.

The man behind Alberto Del Rio seems truly proud of his Mexican heritage (he has "Made in Mexico" tattooed on him), is a legitimate bad-ass, has worked hard to be the best at what he does, a father and someone that could be presented as genuinely likeable and marketable to your average WWE consumer. But is he going to hit that note of mass appeal with fancy cars, expensive suits and glamorous entrances?

With Del Rio's current rival, Jack Swagger, and his camp targeting Mexican immigrants -- something which Del Rio is not, thus not really allowing Swagger's attacks to land on him as a target -- perhaps Del Rio's character could realize his snobbery at this point in time? There have been some classic stories told of men in fortunate positions that have been made to realize the error of their ways. Ebenezer Scrooge comes immediately to mind, realising that his miserly ways were leading him down a dark path. So that brings me to the question of the evening:

Would Alberto Del Rio benefit from realizing that he doesn't need so much money, and thus shift his aristocratic character into one more accepting of the responsibility and potential of his position, and focus more on altruism and his natural aptitude to in-ring competition?

Del Rio could stop wearing gold, stop driving cars to the ring, stop the pyro shower and instead be focusing on cementing the purity of his legacy and competing for the pure love of competing (and because it's something he's very good at). Down the track, when it comes time to turn Del Rio heel again, you don't need to revert him back to being an aristocrat -- you can just have his bitter nature re-emerge itself through dirty tactics and malicious in-ring practice.

The Mexican Aristocrat character served its purpose, has introduced Alberto Del Rio as someone notable to the WWE Universe, and has led to three World Title reigns, the biggest Royal Rumble victory ever and triumph in Money in the Bank -- but it might be time to shift the focus on Del Rio, and evolve him into someone that everyone can really get behind.
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Old 03-23-2013, 01:28 AM   #2
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tl;dr version: Alberto Del Rio is basically a heel character in a babyface role. Should the character, through proper development, be amended to make Del Rio more of a "hero?"
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Old 03-23-2013, 01:34 AM   #3
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Even the tl;dr version is still tl;dr. Could you shorten it even more please?
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Old 03-23-2013, 04:22 AM   #4
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He hasn't driven a car in quite some time now.
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Old 03-23-2013, 08:40 AM   #5
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Did he get a DUI as well!?
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Old 03-23-2013, 09:54 AM   #6
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He did a promo as a true babyface when he was fighting show. he renounced his way and embraced the fans. he also only wear mexican colors now
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Old 03-23-2013, 10:56 AM   #7
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He stopped driving the cars to prove he is a "common man" much like the fans. At least that's how it seems.
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Old 03-23-2013, 11:07 AM   #8
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He still seems to essentially be the same character to me. Do you feel that more of an overhaul is needed?
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Old 03-23-2013, 11:13 AM   #9
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Of course, his character is not built to be a face and the only things going for him are Ricardo and the fact that they were touring Arizona, California and Texas, thus receiving a lot of face pops from the local populations. This week in a northern, white working class city like Pittsburgh there were USA chants. If they really want to get him over with the crowd they would not accent the hot button immigration issues that divide half the country and half the audience. It's almost as if he is not a full fledge face and Swagger is not a full heel due to the split opinions on the actual subject of the feud. I love Swag and Zeb though, they are doing all they can to make it work.
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Old 03-23-2013, 11:16 AM   #10
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I like that Swagger attacked Ricardo. He's being an asshole and that should add to his heat.
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Old 03-23-2013, 12:45 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Noid View Post
Del Rio could stop wearing gold
Done.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Noid View Post
stop driving cars to the ring
Done.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Noid View Post
stop the pyro shower
Also Done.


His mini-tron was also changed to get rid of his palatial estate in the background and put in a Mexican Flag.

He is a man of the people now.
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Old 03-23-2013, 01:33 PM   #12
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Thought he already dropped the "aristocrat" part around the time of the Big Show feud. Started to claim more his success was due to the same hard work mentality like the people.

Also think the "American Dream" story involving a poor immigrant becoming successful in the US started with the Swagger feud.
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Old 03-23-2013, 04:11 PM   #13
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Yeah, he's not the same character anymore really. They just haven't gone crazy trying to push it down our throats how much he's like "one of us" now to the point of it becoming corny. They've done it a little more subtly. And it's worked wonders.
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Old 03-23-2013, 05:55 PM   #14
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Yeah, works much better this way than going with the old "Hey Ted DiBiase Jr lost all his money and now he likes having BBQs in the parking lot!" routine.
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Old 03-23-2013, 06:45 PM   #15
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Keep him rich, but give him a Bruce Wayne gimmick.
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Old 03-23-2013, 06:48 PM   #16
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Then put Dean Ambrose in some face paint and we've got feud of the century.
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Old 03-23-2013, 10:17 PM   #17
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I actually think Ted DiBiase would be a good choice to return with a Bruce Wayne gimmick.
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Old 03-24-2013, 10:19 AM   #18
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Quote:
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I actually think Ted DiBiase would be a good choice to return with a Bruce Wayne gimmick.
Who are we going to get to murder Ted Sr then?
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Old 03-24-2013, 11:17 AM   #19
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Old 03-24-2013, 11:21 AM   #20
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Old 03-24-2013, 11:19 PM   #21
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I read your entire post, Noid, and I believe part of ADR's uniqueness is that he is a WEALTHY BABYFACE. For him to throw away donate most of his wealth in a populist appeal would erode the character's worth, IMHO.
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