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Monday, March 21, 2011

He Has a Past...

Photo credit: Weston White
By Kevin Hunsperger

Saturday afternoon as I watched Friday night SmackDown! on my DVR something hit me.  Probably something that I had thought about, but not really thought about, if you know what I mean.  Michael Cole said the cage match between Alberto Del Rio and Christian being Del Rio's first.

I knew prior to his experience in the WWE, del Rio had wrestled in Mexico under a mask.  He was known as Dos Caras, Jr. son of the legendary Dos Caras.  What I didn't realize was that Del Rio started wrestling almost 11 years ago.
The more I read, and watched on YouTube, the more intrigued I became with his past.  Then I asked myself the obvious question.  Why isn't the WWE using any of this in the promotion of Del Rio? I think that's my problem with him being in the main event (or one of them) of Wrestlemania. 

We've only seen this guy in action since the fall.  He's thrown that arm bar hold on top guys like Rey Mysterio and Christian and picked up some key wins, but what else has he done?  The WWE continues to cram him down our throats by having him appear on Raw and SmackDown in the same week.  He's been in matches with Edge and John Cena.  He even won the 2011 Royal Rumble, but many still haven't bought him as the number one contender for the World championship.

Dos Caras, Jr.
I think part of the reason for that is we don't know enough about Del Rio.  I like how they're giving us a little more history on Sin Cara before he actually gets into the ring.  Of course, I've had to do my own research on him too. 

Did you know Del Rio has a history in MMA?  You can see him in his Dos Caras mask mixing it up.  There are videos of him wrestling and fighting on YouTube.  The WWE could have and in my opinion should have used this footage when they were building him up. 

I understand the character Del Rio plays is more of an aristocrat.  I would have booked him as a luchador proud of his hertiage, there to help Rey Mysterio.  Then have him do a heel turn and adopt this "I'm better than you" gimmick.  At least we would know a little bit more about this guy.

Would I be able to accept Del Rio-Edge as a Wrestlemania quality match if the WWE had done a better job building up Del Rio?  Sure.  Would adding information about his past make him seem like a more credible contender to the world title?  I don't see how it could hurt. 

That's the confusing thing about the E.  Sometimes they use a wrestler's past history to play into the storyline and develop the character: the Rock, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, and Cody Rhodes immediately come to mind.  The history of others goes ignored.  Jessie (he is the son of Terry Gordy), Brian Christopher (until recently the WWE never really acknowledged he's the son of Jerry Lawler), and of course Alberto Del Rio.

My point, if you're going to build a star of the future, you have to show us their past if they have one in the ring.  But I'm just a fan with an opinion.  What's your 1-2-3 Cents?

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