The least surprising news of the year
If you have been following professional wrestling for the last decade, your reaction to the latest headline wasn't shock. It was a tired, heavy sigh. News broke this week that Alberto El Patron—formerly Alberto Del Rio in WWE—has been arrested in Mexico following a domestic violence accusation.
We don't have all the legal details yet. But we have a pattern. This is a massive, undeniable, decade-long pattern of behavior that should have permanently blacklisted him from the industry years ago.
Yet, for reasons that defy all logic and basic human decency, promotions keep handing him a microphone and a paycheck. It is exhausting to even recount his history at this point. But we have to.
Every time he does an apology tour, some promoter tries to sweep the past under the rug. We cannot let them do that anymore.
A timeline of burned bridges
Let's look back at how we got here. In 2014, WWE fired him after he slapped a social media manager over an allegedly racist joke. At the time, a lot of fans actually took his side, viewing him as a guy standing up to corporate ignorance.
He went to AAA, won their Mega Championship, and looked like he was going to be a massive star outside the WWE machine. Then he went back to WWE in 2015. He beat John Cena clean for the United States Championship at Hell in a Cell.
WWE strapped a rocket to him again, pairing him with Zeb Colter in a baffling 'MexAmerica' storyline. Less than a year later, he was suspended for a wellness policy violation and requested his release. That was just the beginning of the spiral.
He went to Impact Wrestling in 2017 and they immediately made him their World Champion. How did he repay them? By getting suspended following a public, ugly domestic altercation at an Orlando airport. Impact stripped him of the title and eventually let him go.
The San Antonio arrest and the apology tours
Things got unimaginably worse in 2020. Alberto was arrested in San Antonio, Texas, facing horrific charges of sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. The details from the police reports were genuinely sickening.
For a moment, it seemed like the wrestling world had finally washed its hands of him. But the charges were eventually dropped in late 2021 after a key witness failed to appear in court.
Alberto immediately launched a media tour, painting himself as the ultimate victim. He claimed he was completely exonerated. He demanded apologies from fans, journalists, and promotions.
He talked constantly about returning to WWE, a delusion that no one in Stamford ever seriously entertained. Instead of laughing him out of the room, some corners of the wrestling industry welcomed him back.
Independent promotions, desperate for a recognizable name on a poster, started booking him again. Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, a company that should absolutely know better, brought him back to major events. They put a microphone in his hand and let him cut promos about redemption.
The MMA disaster and the ego
If you want a perfect encapsulation of his detached reality, look at his disastrous return to mixed martial arts in 2019. Combate Americas booked him in a fight against Tito Ortiz. Ortiz was past his prime, but still a real fighter.
Alberto was a pro wrestler who hadn't had a real fight in over a decade. The result was entirely predictable. Ortiz choked him out in the first round.
It was a blatant cash grab that humiliated Alberto on pay-per-view, yet his ego refused to acknowledge the reality. He paraded around beforehand like he was a legitimate threat, only to tap out three minutes into the fight.
He even surrendered a replica WWE championship belt to Ortiz after the fight, a stunt that felt incredibly disrespectful to the business that made him a star.
That level of delusion translates directly to how he handles his personal controversies. He operates with an arrogance that assumes the world will always bend to his version of events. Every time he gets arrested, it is someone else's fault.
The sickness of the wrestling business
This is where the criticism has to shift from Alberto himself to the industry that enables him. Professional wrestling has a deeply ingrained, toxic habit of forgiving anything if a performer can still draw a dime.
But here is the sick joke: Alberto El Patron doesn't even draw. When is the last time you bought a ticket specifically to see him? When is the last time he had a match that set the internet on fire?
He isn't Kenny Omega. He isn't Will Ospreay. He wrestles a slow, plodding WWE style from 2012. He doesn't move merchandise, and he doesn't pop television ratings.
Even when promotions do book him, the creative execution is usually atrocious. When he won the Impact World Championship from Bobby Lashley at Slammiversary XV, the match was an overbooked mess that relied on interference and ref bumps.
Impact tried to position him as a conquering hero, but the Orlando crowd actively rejected him. The booking completely ignored the reality that fans were already tired of his act. It was a classic example of a promoter forcing a square peg into a round hole.
Real world consequences
We need to stop treating domestic violence accusations as storyline hurdles. When a wrestler gets injured, they go to rehab and we cheer their return. When a wrestler battles addiction, they get sober and we celebrate their triumph.
But abuse is not an injury. It is not a personal demon. It is violence inflicted on another human being. By constantly offering Alberto a platform, wrestling tells victims that their pain does not matter.
It tells them that if their abuser is famous enough, society will eventually just look the other way. That is unacceptable. And now, we have this latest arrest in Mexico.
Another headline. Another police station. Another alleged victim. The details will eventually come out in court, and Alberto will likely deploy his usual defense: a massive conspiracy against him, jealous exes, a misunderstanding.
We have heard the script too many times to buy the ticket again.
The contrast with modern wrestling
Look around the rest of the wrestling world today. Companies are trying harder than ever to run professional operations. WWE has completely overhauled its corporate structure.
AEW has implemented strict protocols for backstage behavior. Even major independents like GCW have cut ties with performers who cross the line. The standard has been raised.
The days of the outlaw mudshow are supposed to be behind us. Yet, there is always some promoter willing to drag the industry back into the gutter for a cheap headline.
The Mexican Lucha Libre scene has produced some of the most breathtaking talent of this generation. Guys like Penta El Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix, Bandido, and El Hijo del Vikingo have redefined what is possible inside a wrestling ring.
They are innovating every single night. Giving a main event spot to Alberto over these young, hungry, generational talents is not just a moral failure. It is flat-out terrible booking.
The fans have to speak up
So what is the solution? It starts and ends with the audience. Promoters only book Alberto El Patron because they think you will pay to see him.
You have to prove them wrong. If a local indie promotion books him, do not buy a ticket. Do not buy their pay-per-view on Triller TV. Tweet at them and politely explain why they are losing your money.
If AAA puts him on a major card, skip the match. The only language these enablers understand is financial.
Wrestling media also has a role to play. Stop giving him a microphone to air his grievances or cover his press conferences where he attacks reporters.
Enough is enough
We are just twelve days away from WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas. The UCL Quarter-Finals kicked off today. Sports and sports entertainment are delivering massive, compelling stories.
The barrier for entry for fan attention is incredibly high. Why on earth would anyone waste two hours watching a washed-up, controversial figure wrestle a sloppy match in a half-empty gymnasium?
He had his run. He had more chances than any normal person would ever get in a corporate job. He blew every single one of them.
This latest arrest in Mexico needs to be the final nail in the coffin of his wrestling career. No more comeback tours. No more redemption angles. No more surprise run-ins.
Close the door, lock it, and throw away the key. Professional wrestling is better off without him.
