WWE News: Alberto Del Rio Reveals The Main Reason For His WWE Departure & Sheds Light On Paige’s Future

Alberto Del Rio has arguably accumulated a WWE Hall of Fame resume during his two stints with the company, but wounds appear to be too fresh for that talk to accelerate any time soon. Neither time that Del Rio departed seemed all that amicable, and even though much of the business has been built on the “never say never” mentality, it’s likely we’ve seen the last of Del Rio in a WWE ring.

Many of the reports that surfaced prior to Del Rio’s exit from WWE highlighted the animosity between he and Triple H. When Del Rio returned to the company in late 2015, Vince McMahon had grand visions for another push to the main event. But Triple H convinced his father-in-law otherwise and those plans never materialized.

Welcoming our newest Cast Member Alberto Del Rio to The Division! pic.twitter.com/7G7rn6xxy2

— Division Staff (@thedivisionfilm) November 16, 2016

Just as Del Rio’s character was growing stale, his conduct outside the ring (in the WWE’s mind) was deteriorating as well. Accused of being a bad influence on his real-life girlfriend and fellow WWE superstar, Paige, the two were suspended on the same day for violating the WWE Wellness Policy. That suspension was handed down in August, and less than a month later, the two sides came to an agreement on his release.

Whether the reports of friction between Del Rio and Triple H were true, neither side threw the other under the bus publicly. Del Rio has claimed the company offered him empty promises without naming specific culprits. Now, in an interview with KENS 5, Del Rio reveals that lacking control over his character ultimately led to his departure from the WWE (Thanks to Wrestling Inc for the transcription).

“That was one of the main reasons why I decided to leave that company, it was my decision not to work for WWE. I’m always gonna be grateful with that company because they put me out there, they gave me a name, they gave me the opportunity to show my talent to the world. And because of that I am always going to be grateful, but it was time for me to just enjoy my family, start new projects like this one, I’m the President of Combate Americas which is the first American-Hispanic MMA company in history… I’m doing a lot of projects that I could not have done in WWE, but now I’m doing them and I’m just happy I get to see my kids everyday and that makes me the happiest man in the world.”

One of favorite photos of #RicardoRodriguez & #AlbertoDelRio from #TributetoTheTroops pic.twitter.com/rcNy139e8k

— »»—.??? ??????? ????.—«« (@AngelicIllusion) November 19, 2016

The other person that has made Del Rio happy has been the aforementioned Paige. The two have taken their relationship public over the course of the year, but it’s gotten them in trouble on more than one occasion as well. Paige remains employed by the WWE, but her most recent match came back in June. She was suspended a second time in October while also dealing with serious neck issues. Del Rio seemed to clear the air on her uncertain future.

“…She’s gonna continue wrestling for all of those people wondering if she is gonna go back to the ring one day. Yes she will. She had surgery just three weeks ago but she’s just doing what she’s supposed to do in order to get back into the ring.”

Paige (who proposed to Del Rio at a recent independent wrestling event) and Del Rio’s relationship was filmed for the upcoming season of Total Divas, which had many wondering how or even if that footage would be used. The original intent was for their lives to be a major storyline, but Del Rio says that won’t be the case now.

“I’m not gonna be there, they’re just gonna be promoting me because they know everybody wants to know about this. Especially because I never — I mean in the past I was never putting my life out there for the people to see it. This is the first time people get to know about me. Yeah, they gonna get to see me for just two or three seconds. They’re not allowed to use my image or voice — you gonna get to see me for just four or five seconds.”

[Featured Image by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images]