The Untold Backstage Story Behind WWE Firing Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez

Here is one of those WWE stories that starts simple and gets messier the closer you look. Alberto Del Rio was on a real climb in the early 2010s, then a backstage incident in 2014 blew it all up. It also happened to land right after his longtime on-screen partner Ricardo Rodriguez left the company. Let’s unpack what actually went down, who said what, and where everybody ended up.

The 2014 flashpoint

WWE announced in 2014 that Alberto Del Rio was fired for what they called unprofessional conduct. A week earlier, Ricardo Rodriguez had been released, too. The core of Del Rio’s exit: a confrontation backstage with a WWE employee. Del Rio reportedly slapped a social media staffer who made a racially insensitive joke. WWE publicly held the line that there’s no excuse for a pro athlete to act that way and even posted about it on X.

"@VivaDelRio is responsible for his own actions. If you’re angry at anyone, be angry at Alberto."

- WWE on X, August 8, 2014

Del Rio did return in 2015, but the momentum he had before never really came back. He left the company for good in 2016.

Conflicting accounts and a lot of emotion

Del Rio has defended himself, telling E! Wrestling News that he felt he was the victim in the situation. He acknowledged his conduct was unprofessional, but framed his response as refusing to let anyone take his dignity or mock where he comes from.

Former SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long added another layer in an interview on Wrestling Time Machine with Bill Apter and Mac Davis. Long said Ricardo Rodriguez told him that someone backstage used a racial slur toward him. Long wouldn’t name names, but he compared it to being called the N word. That gives you a sense of how ugly the remark was and why tempers exploded.

As you’d expect, reactions split: some felt Del Rio had grounds to respond, others argued violence is never the answer in a workplace, period.

Ricardo Rodriguez: why he left and where he went

Despite the timing, Rodriguez wasn’t cut loose as collateral damage. In a 2024 interview with Chris Van Vliet, he said he asked for his release. He had already been split from Del Rio on TV and moved to Spanish commentary, where he was unhappy. He talked about going through depression, making less money than before, and having multiple conversations with office exec Mark Carrano that didn’t solve anything. So he walked.

After WWE, Rodriguez wrestled as El Local in NXT and then returned to the independents as Chimera. He shifted into announcing and commentary too: Spanish-language work for AEW, plus announcing for the Hispanic MMA promotion Combate Americas. He briefly reconnected with Del Rio in the short-lived Mexican promotion Nacion Lucha Libre, which Del Rio co-founded and shut down in 2020. These days he runs Three Legacies Wrestling in Lancaster, Pennsylvania — part training facility, part promotion — and he is involved with MLW, promoting local shows and training talent with a big emphasis on discipline, respect, and storytelling.

How it all shakes out

• 2014: Ricardo Rodriguez asks for and receives his WWE release.
• 2014 (one week later): WWE fires Alberto Del Rio for unprofessional conduct after he slapped a social media staffer over a racially insensitive joke.
• Aug. 8, 2014: WWE posts on X that Del Rio is responsible for his own actions and fans should direct anger at him, not the company.
• 2015: Del Rio returns to WWE but never regains his earlier momentum.
• 2016: Del Rio exits WWE again, this time for good.
• Post-WWE Rodriguez: works as El Local in NXT, wrestles as Chimera on the indies, does Spanish commentary for AEW, announces for Combate Americas, briefly reunites with Del Rio in Nacion Lucha Libre (closes in 2020), and now runs Three Legacies Wrestling while working with MLW.

It’s a messy, very human story that ended one of WWE’s most locked-in wrestler-announcer pairings. The facts are clear enough on paper, but the context — a vile remark, a slap that cost a career peak, and two very different paths forward — is the part that sticks.