Smark Out Moment

On this 20th edition of SUPERSTAR SCORES, we take a look at someone who we've been critical of in the past, despite how we also see many of the benefits in him as a superstar. He's recently left WWE for the second time—most likely due to how he was being used with the impression that he deserved better. This man is of course Alberto Del Rio...but you already knew that.

If you're unfamiliar with how the segment works, here is a quick breakdown: Each edition, a wrestler will be put under the spotlight and rated on a 0-100 scale based on 10 categories that have been broken up into 5 umbrella sections: In the Ring Skills, On the Mic Skills, Appearance, Behavior, and Crowd Reaction. The rating scale is as basic as you can get: 0-1-2-3-4 | 5 | 6-7-8-9-10. It follows the Three-Count Critique method of green being the good, yellow being in the middle, and red being the bad. A perfect 100 is the goal.


Update: On March 20, 2020, we did a recalibration of points for a 25th episode special. In that episode, nearly every wrestler saw some adjustments. Below, you'll see the original scores on the left and then the updated score on the right, with the original description for the original score underneath. For explanation on the updated points, check out the 25th edition podcast.

IN THE RING SKILLS

Athleticism: Does the person have a good signature moveset and finisher? Can they perform a wide variety of moves on a regular basis and not botch them?

My Rating = 7
The spin he used to do with the armbreaker, many of his kicks, and a general knowledge of some different styles of wrestling means I can't deny that Del Rio is versatile when he wants to be and when he's allowed to be (for the times WWE tells him to simplify his act, as that does happen). Still, if I'm ranking him based on people like Shawn Michaels being a 10, he's no 10. If that were the case, I'd enjoy his matches more.

Psychology: The wrestler's ability to tell a story in the ring. Do they make you believe it's real or do they forget to sell their injuries properly? Can they make a long match stay interesting and not get boring?

My Rating = 6
I think Del Rio knows what he's doing, but he also doesn't want to put himself in a position where he looks weaker than he wants to look. Essentially, this is a problem of humility. He would probably rank two points higher here if I thought he had the same grasp when he's on the losing side of things compared to when he's winning. When Del Rio is supposed to play the part of the villainous heel who is in charge of the match, he's great. When he's the one taking the beating, I always get the feeling that he's too annoyed that he doesn't look strong, and he undercuts it. Basically, it's similar to the John Cena effect, where Cena does half of a match perfectly and the other half seems like he forgot what was going on. Still on the positive side of things, though.

ON THE MIC SKILLS

Charisma: If they get a mic, can they cut a promo without stuttering? Are they repetitive or do they keep things fresh?

My Rating = 6
Here's the thing. Del Rio is not fun to listen to on the mic, pretty much at all. I have to put him above a 5 because he feels comfortable enough not to stutter and flub his lines, but he never really brings any kind of passion to it. The enthusiasm isn't there. He basically cuts the same promo all the time and he just is angry for every sentence. That's not range.

Character: Is their gimmick(s) interesting? Can they pull off being both a heel and a face?

My Rating = 8 / 7
There are some big positives and some unfortunate negatives here. At his best, Del Rio was the rich, smug asshole with the car, the scarf, Ricardo Rodriguez, pyro, and all that. Slowly but surely, those were taken away, and without the glitz and glamor, he wasn't as interesting. Babyface Del Rio was a botched experiment that just didn't work out. MexAmerica was terrible. The League of Nations was a decent idea that had no backing to it, so it failed. Really, Del Rio has been riding on the coattails of being a discounted hybrid of Ted DiBiase and JBL, and he wasn't as good as either of those, but if you factor in all of the potential, there was still a time where he was one of the most genuine characters on the roster.

APPEARANCE

Physique: Are they in the proper shape for their gimmick or are they out of shape? (note: someone like Mabel isn't supposed to look like John Morrison, but Matt Hardy gaining weight deducts his points).

My Rating = 8 / 7
On average, Del Rio never really looks out of shape. At his best when he first came back to WWE, I would put him a notch higher, but that slowly tapered off a bit—not too much, but a bit. He's tall, has a handsome face, and looks like a legit athlete. No complaints.

Entrance: Their music, the pyro if they have any, whatever taunts or actions they do to make it interesting.

My Rating = 5 / 8
Again, at his best, this was several points above, but he's lost all of that. The last we saw of him, none of that existed, so since they went from lots of pomp and circumstance to just a catchy song, he's docked some points.

BEHAVIOR

Backstage Professionalism: Are they a locker room leader or do they cause problems behind the scenes? Are they bogged down in politics? Do they put other people over or screw people over?

My Rating = 2
Problems with getting into fights? Check. Issues putting people over? Check. Bad influence on Paige? Apparently. The incident with the writer? There's another. Always seemingly talking about how he should be a top guy instead of what he's doing? I don't seem to hear someone like Chris Jericho complaining like that. We've seen people do more horrible things, but I can't imagine many people sticking up for Del Rio getting a much higher score than this when it comes to this category.

Public Relations: Does this wrestler project a bad image onto the company with arrests and such, or are they someone that promotes the company well, does charities, talk shows, etc?

My Rating = 2
Again, there are far worse people out there, but Del Rio has had one shitty year in this category. He caused a scene with Paige and was arrested around Money in the Bank, then fails the Wellness Policy, leaves the company, and then complains, seemingly dragging Paige down with him and causing problems for both of them even beforehand as the company felt the need to separate them. He also is constantly talking in interviews about how no company gives him enough money or utilizes him correctly, so that must translate to everybody and not just a few people in WWE pissing him off. If that's the way he is as an employee, why would you put him on talk shows and such? Also, he doesn't get to undo some of this with a huge charity presence. Many negatives, very few (if any) positives.

CROWD REACTION

Popularity: How loud are the cheers and boos for them? Do they sell merchandise? Are ratings up or down when they're on screen? How many Twitter and Facebook followers do they have?

My Rating = 6
Del Rio is a big name in a small pond. Would he be a great asset to a company like TNA? In terms of star value, sure. However, he's not going to start making their ratings double. People aren't going to tune into his shows in droves no matter where he goes like what happened with wrestlers during the Monday Night War. His merchandise sales were never something that we heard much buzz about and he was always being groomed as a top star for the Spanish-speaking audience, but it's not even up for debate whether he reached Rey Mysterio levels. He didn't. Is he more popular than jobbers? Sure, but that's because WWE tried so hard to convince everyone that he was popular. If the same treatment applied to anyone else, they'd be at a similar level.

Credibility: Is this person someone you would see as a main eventer and a future legend or are they doomed to forever be a jobber?

My Rating = 8
While many of the same things carry over from Popularity about WWE making him get to a point just by constantly beating it into our heads that he is at that ranking, it's harder to step into the smark side of thinking with Credibility. WWE can tell the audience that Wrestler X is super popular, but if nobody cheers, the illusion is broken. However, with Credibility, if WWE books someone to win as many championships as Del Rio, then he by default IS that credible. This guy held 4 world titles, 2 United States titles, the Bragging Rights trophy for 2010, won a Royal Rumble and was Mr. Money in the Bank. That's a main eventer. Did he deserve all of this? I don't think so. Did he win it? Yup.

TOTAL SCORE: 59/100 - 60/100

FINAL THOUGHTS: I crap on the guy a lot, but I give credit where it's due. This is a higher score than I'm sure a lot of you thought I'd be giving him. Really, though, what kills him is the Behavior section. If this was just a personal preference thing of rather watching other wrestlers and that wasn't a factor, he'd be in the 70s range like most people. When you have a history of being a problem, though, that hinders your score quite a bit. Del Rio is a talented guy who gets in his own way. If he had a different work ethic and philosophy, some more humility, and a few other character traits like that going in the opposite direction, he'd be so much more likable.