Alberto Del Rio returned last year after being fired rather unfairly. He started off with a bang, winning the United States Championship against John Cena cleanly. Things just went downhill for him from the time he lost the title. The League of Nations just flopped and Del Rio was not treated right since. I am not saying it would have made all the difference in the world for Del Rio, but the WWE should have treated that stable better, including giving them the tag titles. New Day does not need them that badly. Those goofballs sell merchandise, I know, but they will sell items as long as they are entertaining. They'll sell shirts, cereal, unicorn horns, bellybutton lint, and everything else they can cut a promo on. Meanwhile, other teams could have used the credibility of holding the titles.
Anything major of value lost? Not really. I like Alberto Del Rio. He had potential. Things just never came together for him. But the WWE does lose a heel with some main-event credibility and who is a solid enough worker in the ring. Alberto Del Rio can be replaced, but the WWE will have to get to work on that. Is Kevin Owens being groomed to take that spot? Meanwhile, Smackdown's roster takes a hit. Bringing back lower-midcarders and midcarders will not take Alberto Del Rio's spot on Smackdown. The WWE will probably maintain a solid push for Baron Corbin.
Something I really don't like about this situation is that Alberto Del Rio supposedly expected to be treated a certain way by the WWE during this run and they did not follow through. He is not the most over guy in the WWE, and so is not entitled to much, but if the WWE made him believe he would get something if he returned and they failed to live up to their end of the bargain, I do not blame Del Rio for wanting out. It is the same kind of thing with The Dudleys. You just take guys with potential and fizzle out on how you push them. The WWE cannot keep on hiring all these guys and show the kind of ego issues that they sometimes have in the past. You have to give them fair opportunities, use them efficiently, and if you make promises to them, it would be nice if you saw them through.
Alberto Del Rio was in a relationship with Paige. Perhaps not coincidentally, she also looks like she might not be in the WWE much longer. She was dealing with some injury issues. She got suspended the same time Del Rio did for a wellness violation. And now there are these rumors that the WWE threatened to fire her if she did not break up with Del Rio.
First, let me just look at that report about the WWE threatening to fire Paige. If they actually did threaten to fire Paige over that, it comes down to whether they did it for a professional reason or some petty reason. If they did it for a professional reason, the WWE would not have anything to worry about and just acknowledge it. Just say that they felt the relationship was having a negative influence on the careers of the two involved or the professional atmosphere backstage. Something like that. The WWE pointed the finger of blame on Del Rio the first time they fired him. If Paige is causing a problem backstage due to this relationship or the WWE feels the relationship is negatively impacting her career, they can just come out and say that. The WWE has denied the reports. That makes me think journalists are exaggerating the situation or the WWE did it for reasons that go beyond what is truly best for their workers and the backstage environment.
Now, let me just look at Paige. She is a credible jobber. She was a credible jobber in 2014. She was a credible jobber in 2015. And her career was not improving in 2016. Some fans say the WWE handed Paige the world when they handed her the Diva's Championship on her first night on the main roster. No, they handed her the Diva's Championship. That's all. Looking at how they pushed her during that first reign, it was very mediocre. There was often a lack of proper feud development and often better creative focus on the women Paige was feuding against than Paige. Paige was not being pushed as a star. Things started to improve when she started to feud against AJ Lee again, but that was because Paige was being used to put her over. Paige's second title run was short and possibly even worse than her first one. The Bellas and AJ overshadowed her. She jobbed a ton during the start of the diva revolution last year. She was supposedly the leader of her trio, but Charlotte was the one groomed for a push in that group. And her career since putting over Charlotte has been an afterthought.
I do not blame Paige for the current situation she might be in. The WWE does not like her being immature? How about when AJ Lee was being immature? This is an example of why I don't like the WWE letting certain individuals get away with things they stomp other workers for doing. The WWE just ends up looking like hypocrites. Paige was there in the WWE when AJ Lee was acting up. She watched as AJ did things that could have made the WWE look bad and could have gotten AJ in serious trouble. Instead, AJ was allowed to be the longest-reigning Diva's Champion during her time in the company, won the belt two more times after that, remained undefeated at Wrestlemania, and got to retire when she wanted. I never read reports of the WWE threatening to fire AJ Lee or forcing her to retire. They just pushed her better than they should have.
Some people might say that AJ was treated that way because she is a big star. Problem is, she didn't exactly earn it by starting off with the credible jobber pushes most female wrestlers get, got over off that, and then moved on to a legendary career. The WWE groomed her in the periphery. Why wasn't Paige given the opportunity to earn that spot for herself, especially after AJ retired? I have said many times before that she should have. People say the WWE was making money off AJ Lee. Well, they were also making money off Paige. They should have done more to push her as a star and try to make even more money off her. That has been one of the WWE's problems in the past. They try to make money off of things that they want to make money off of and make stars out of people they want to be stars. If the WWE viewed Paige the same way they viewed AJ Lee, they would push her better on a consistent basis, make even more merchandise for her, and let her get away with some supposed backstage immaturity.
Some might say it is an age thing. Paige is so young and people at that age are sometimes not professional and might take things for granted, like their career. I would say it is more about being misled, which the WWE has done to certain other workers, regardless of age and gender. The WWE has not pushed Paige even decently in a long while. If she sees things are not going her way, why shouldn't she lose interest? It happens. Some might say Paige should still remain professional. Easier said than done at times. And if the WWE has made Paige believe that she was ever on top of the world or they were giving her a chance to be on top of the world, the mistreatment she has endured for most of her career on the main roster is going to hurt. Paige knows she has gotten great reactions. She knows she has made money for the WWE. To be put through the motions that the WWE has done to many female wrestlers for almost two decades now is annoying. It does have an emotional and psychological impact on people. I have brought up a few men that had enough and don't want to be a part of the WWE anymore from just this year. How often do you have women become disgruntled with the WWE to the point that they leave? Gail Kim is one of the best examples of this decade. But how many since her? AJ Lee? Not as many as the men, although I would say many women have more of a reason to walk away.
Should Paige leave the WWE and be allowed to work elsewhere, what will become of her? She has a few options. She comes from a wrestling family in England and can easily go back there. She can work in the independent scene in the United States. Having gained some notoriety from being in the WWE, TNA would love to have Paige. With Gail Kim reaching that age where she might finally retire, TNA might look for a new centerpiece for their KO division. Why not Paige? She has a lot of great qualities on her side. It might be a good fit for her.
What would losing Paige mean for the WWE? Honestly, I would say the WWE needs Paige more than she needs them. I already pointed out that she has various options. The WWE has a depth problem with their women's division, especially on Raw. Is Bayley the only face currently on Raw? No, but Raw misuses the roster so much, it feels like she is. Things will get a little better when Sasha Banks returns. Problem is, Sasha has shown that she can be very sloppy at times, particularly when doing dangerous spots. That makes Raw's depth questionable whether she is there or not. And these other NXT women need to stay healthy or things can collapse very easily. With a healthy Paige there, however, that helps the depth a little. NXT can't build women down there fast enough to help the situation on Raw.
You also have to keep in mind that Paige was on the main roster about 2 years before her injury issue, suspension, and the rest of the drama. The other top-tier NXT women have only been around a year. Bayley debuted a few weeks ago. I would like to see how the WWE keeps the ball rolling with these other women, if they even try to keep it rolling. Charlotte might be the centerpiece of Raw, but what about the rest? If they go through the same demotion Paige went through, how would they react? What stories will dirtsheet writers come up with? How will fans react? What happened with Paige could happen again.
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