Alberto Del Rio

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Contract negotiations (2008–2009)

He made brief appearance for WWE as a security guard on 30 June 2008 episode of Monday Night Raw.

By the fall of 2008, a story broke that Rodríguez had wrestled a dark match for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and that they had offered him a contract. Over the following months conflicting reports of whether he had signed or not arose, but he remained CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. When he lost the title to Último Guerrero it was believed that he had indeed signed with WWE, with him being rumored to be a surprise participant in the 2009 Royal Rumble. However, he remained with CMLL and stated that he signed a four-year deal and chose CMLL because they offered him a better deal than WWE.

Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2010)

On 17 June 2009, Rodríguez confirmed that he had signed a three-year contract with WWE, stating that he would not have to go to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, but directly to the main roster. Furthermore, he would retain the rights to his name, mask and image, but allow the WWE to use it for promotional purposes while he is under contract with them. He agreed to the contract since it addressed the main reasons why he turned down the WWE's offer in January 2009. Despite his claims, he had a match with Kris Logan at FCW under the name Dos. He later also went on to wrestle under the ring names Dorado and El Dorado. During a segment on the Abraham Washington show at the 6 August taping, Rodríguez revealed a new, unmasked wrestling character named Alberto Banderas. When he revealed his face, he was criticized by some Mexicans for revealing, to which he responded that only a few people know why he lost the mask in that way. During WWE's WrestleMania Revenge tour of Europe in April 2010, he made numerous appearances in untelevised matches for the Raw brand. One night he wrestled as Dos Caras, but he did not wear his mask. He was presented as a villain in a losing effort against Christian. The following month Caras put his mask back on for WWE's tour of Mexico and worked as a hometown hero, prior to returning unmasked during untelevised matches for subsequent Raw and SmackDown shows. Later, Rodríguez said that he hated his time in FCW, but that he learned a lot.

Early feuds (2010–2011)

On 25 June 2010, episode of SmackDown, Rodríguez appeared on a taped promotional video as the unmasked Alberto Del Rio. Thereafter, a vignette aired every week on SmackDown promoting his character as an arrogant rich Mexican aristocrat, espousing his own virtues of honesty, integrity and mental faculties. After two months, Del Rio wrestled his first match at a house show in Brisbane, Australia and a week later, he made his television debut on the 20 August episode of SmackDown by defeating Rey Mysterio in the main event by submission with the cross armbreaker. As part of his act, Del Rio made his entrances in an expensive car, while he was introduced by his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez. The following week, Del Rio continued the storyline with Mysterio by attacking him after his match with Kane, giving him a storyline injury by refusing to relinquish his armbar. Two weeks later, he defeated Matt Hardy via submission in Hardy's last appearance with the company causing Hardy's friend Christian to challenge Del Rio to a match at Night of Champions on 19 September. Despite declining the match, on the 24 September episode of SmackDown Del Rio attacked Christian and injured him the same way he did Mysterio the previous month. This was done to write Christian off television, as he had suffered a torn pectoral muscle. Mysterio returned on the 8 October episode of SmackDown, and handed Del Rio his first defeat in the main event match. On the 15 October episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Chris Masters to represent the SmackDown brand at Bragging Rights on 24 October, but during the pay-per-view event, he attacked teammate Rey Mysterio, before being eliminated from the match by Team Raw's CM Punk. At Survivor Series on 21 November, in the traditional five-on-five elimination match, Del Rio captained a team against Rey Mysterio's team. Despite Del Rio's team losing, he was removed from the match after Big Show knocked him out with a WMD. On the 26 November episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Big Show via countout to qualify for the 2010 King of the Ring tournament. In the tournament the next week on Raw, he made United States Champion Daniel Bryan submit in the first round, but was defeated by John Morrison in the semifinal after being distracted by Mysterio who was inside his car. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on 19 December, Del Rio competed in a fatal four-way Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Edge and also included Kane and Rey Mysterio. On 7 January 2011 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Mysterio in a two-out-of-three-falls match, with help from Ricardo Rodriguez by holding Mysterio out of the ring to end his long feud with Mysterio.

On the fourth season of NXT, starting in December 2010, Del Rio mentored rookie Conor O'Brian, who became the second contestant to be eliminated from the competition on 18 January. The following week the rookies competed in a fatal-four-way match, of which the winner could change their pro. Brodus Clay won the match and chose Del Rio as his new pro. After the conclusion of NXT, Del Rio hired Clay as his bodyguard.

At the Royal Rumble on 30 January, Del Rio defeated 39 other participants, last eliminating Santino Marella, to win the Royal Rumble match and earn the right to compete for either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVII on 3 April. The next night on Raw, Del Rio chose to compete for Edge's World Heavyweight Championship. At Elimination Chamber on 20 February, Del Rio defeated Kofi Kingston and later attacked Edge, after he had successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match and solidified his spot as Del Rio's opponent at WrestleMania. However, Edge managed to come out the exchange victorious, after Christian returned from his injury and attacked Del Rio. On 18 March episode of SmackDown, Del Rio and Christian finally had their first one–on–one match in a steel cage, in which Christian won. At WrestleMania XXVII, Del Rio was unsuccessful in his World Heavyweight Championship match against Edge. On 8 April episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Christian to earn a rematch against Edge at Extreme Rules on 1 May. However, when Edge unexpectedly retired from professional wrestling on 11 April episode of Raw, Del Rio was instead booked to face Christian in a ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship, after Christian won a battle royal.

WWE Champion (2011–2012)

On 25 April episode of Raw, Del Rio was drafted to the Raw brand. Ricardo Rodriguez moved to Raw with him, while Brodus Clay remained on SmackDown. At Extreme Rules, Del Rio lost to Christian in a ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. On 23 May episode of Raw, Del Rio slapped Big Show after he had gotten into a confrontation with Ricardo Rodriguez. After competing in a match, Big Show was run over by Del Rio's car, driven by Rodriguez, leaving him sidelined with a storyline knee injury. Big Show made his return three weeks later, chasing Del Rio out of the ring and beating Rodriguez down. On 19 June at Capitol Punishment, Del Rio defeated Big Show via referee stoppage, when he was unable to continue the match due to a pre-match assault by Mark Henry. On 27 June episode of Raw, Del Rio defeated Big Show in a steel cage match, again after interference from Henry.

On 17 July at Money in the Bank, Del Rio defeated Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, R-Truth and Rey Mysterio in the Raw Money in the Bank ladder match for a future WWE Championship match whenever and wherever over the next year, while also becoming the first wrestler in history to win a Royal Rumble and a Money in the Bank match in the same year. Following the orders of Vince McMahon, Del Rio attempted to cash in his contract later that same night on CM Punk, who had just defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship, but was attacked and laid out by Punk before he could do so. Del Rio eventually cashed in his contract on 14 August at SummerSlam, challenging CM Punk after the main event, where he had defeated John Cena to become the undisputed WWE Champion. Between the two matches, Punk was attacked by Kevin Nash, which led to Del Rio scoring a quick pinfall victory to win the WWE Championship for the first time. In winning the title, Del Rio became the first ever Mexican-born WWE Champion. Del Rio made his first televised title defense the next night on Raw, defeating Rey Mysterio to retain his title. On 18 September at Night of Champions, Del Rio lost the championship to John Cena, but gained it back on 2 October at Hell in a Cell by defeating Cena and Punk in a Hell in a Cell match. On 23 October at Vengeance, Del Rio successfully defended the WWE Championship against John Cena in a Last Man Standing match, after The Miz and R-Truth interfered. On 20 November at Survivor Series, Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to Punk. Del Rio received a rematch for the WWE Championship on the 28 November episode of Raw SuperShow, but lost after Punk dropped him onto an exposed turnbuckle, managing to avoid a disqualification, which would have cost him the title. On 18 December at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Del Rio failed again to regain the WWE Championship from Punk in a triple threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, also involving The Miz. The next night on Raw SuperShow, Del Rio suffered a torn groin muscle, which required surgery and sidelined him for four to six weeks.

World Heavyweight Champion (2012–2013)

Del Rio returned at a WWE house show in San Francisco on 11 February 2012, arm wrestling Sheamus to a no contest. On 19 February at Elimination Chamber, Del Rio made an appearance to show support to Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis. Del Rio returned on the 2 April episode of Raw SuperShow, confronting World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and vowing to become the next champion. On the 6 April episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Sheamus in a non-title match by disqualification to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. On 20 May at Over the Limit, Del Rio failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a fatal four-way match, also involving Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. On the 25 May episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Kane and Randy Orton in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. The next week on SmackDown, Del Rio suffered a legitimate concussion, which led to WWE pulling him from his scheduled World Heavyweight Championship match against Sheamus at No Way Out. Del Rio returned on the 18 June episode of Raw SuperShow, defeating United States Champion Santino Marella in a non-title match. The next week on Raw SuperShow, Del Rio wrestled Dolph Ziggler to a no contest in a Contract on a Pole match for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. As a result, both Del Rio and Ziggler were entered into the championship match four days later on SmackDown, where Sheamus retained the title after pinning Ziggler. Del Rio received another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship on 15 July at Money in the Bank, where he again lost to Sheamus. The next night on Raw SuperShow, Del Rio was looking to take out his frustrations on Zack Ryder, but his post-match assault was interrupted by his longtime rival Rey Mysterio making his return and attacking him. Four days later on SmackDown, Del Rio and Ziggler lost to Mysterio and Sheamus by disqualification after Rodriguez interfered, but Del Rio viciously attacked Sheamus. On the 27 July episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan, Kane, and Mysterio in a fatal four-way match to again become number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. The title match, originally set for SummerSlam, was moved to the 10 August episode of SmackDown, after Del Rio threatened to press charges against Sheamus for stealing his car on the 6 August episode of Raw, which would have prevented Sheamus from appearing at SummerSlam. However, before the match began, Del Rio attacked Sheamus along with men posing as police officers, which led to SmackDown General Manager Booker T taking away his number one contender's status in result. However, the next week, Sheamus had the title match put back on for SummerSlam on 19 August, where Del Rio again failed in another attempt to dethrone Sheamus after the referee did not notice Del Rio's foot on the bottom rope. On the 24 August episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Randy Orton by submission to once again become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. On the 7 September SmackDown, Del Rio filed assault charges against Sheamus, after Sheamus had attacked him and Rodriguez on the 3 September episode of Raw, which led to Booker T banning the Brogue Kick with the caveat that Sheamus would be stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship if he used the move again. However, on 16 September at Night of Champions, Booker T concluded his investigation into the dangers of the move and lifted the ban. In the match that followed, Sheamus used the Brogue Kick to defeat Del Rio and retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

With his rivalry with Sheamus behind him, Del Rio moved on to feuding with Randy Orton, with the two attacking each other on the 28 September episode of SmackDown. The rivalry built to a singles match on 28 October at Hell in a Cell, where Orton emerged victorious. On the 31 October episode of Main Event, Del Rio teamed with The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) to face Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Sin Cara in six-man tag team bout that ended with Orton pinning Del Rio for the win. On the 6 November episode of SmackDown, Del Rio was again defeated by Orton in a Falls Count Anywhere match, after taking an RKO onto the ringside steel steps. The two were then on opposing teams for the traditional five-on-five elimination tag match on 18 November at Survivor Series. Del Rio's team, led by Dolph Ziggler, defeated Orton's team, led by Mick Foley, despite Del Rio being eliminated by Orton prior to the finish. The next night on Raw, Del Rio once again lost to Orton in a two-out-of-three-falls match, ending the feud.

Final feuds and departure (2013–2014)

The following night on the 25 November episode of Raw, Del Rio teamed up with Randy Orton in a losing effort against John Cena and Big Show in a tag team match. On the 2 and 9 December episodes of Raw, Del Rio suffered upset losses to the returning Sin Cara. Del Rio finally defeated Sin Cara on the 6 January 2014, episode of Raw. After the match, Del Rio insulted the soon-to-be returning Batista and that he would eliminate Batista in the Royal Rumble to get everyone talking about him. On the 13 January episode of Raw, he defeated Rey Mysterio and after the match, once again confronted Batista. On the 20 January episode of Raw, after he defeated Rey Mysterio, Batista returned and attacked Del Rio with a Batista Bomb. Six days later at the Royal Rumble, Del Rio entered the Rumble match at number 27 and performed well, but was eliminated by Batista who went on to win the match. On the 3 February episode of Raw, Del Rio confronted and ultimately assaulted Batista, which led to Batista powerbombing Del Rio through the broadcast table the following week. Before that, Del Rio squashed Dolph Ziggler. This led to a match between Del Rio and Batista at Elimination Chamber, which Batista won. The following night on Raw, Del Rio defeated Batista in a rematch from the previous night. At WrestleMania XXX, Del Rio participated in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal and made a number of eliminations before being eliminated by Sheamus.

Return to AAA (2014–2015, 2018)

On 11 August 2014, AAA announced that after bring fired by WWE, Rodríguez would be returning to the promotion at Triplemanía XXII. In a press conference on 14 August, Rodríguez acknowledged that WWE owned the Alberto Del Rio name and also revealed that he would be working for AAA under the new ring name El Patrón ("The Boss"). He was nicknamed this in W