On the December 26 th , 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw, Alberto Del Rio appeared in front of the WWE Universe in a wheel chair. Del Rio was pushed to the entrance ramp by his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez. Del Rio informed the WWE Universe that he had suffered one of the most horrible injuries to man, a complete groin tear. Before leaving Del Rio made the following announcement to the WWE Universe “I promise you all one thing and that will be my New Years Resolution. I will be back and it will be more vicious, more aggressive than ever before. And I don’t care who I need to destroy, I will be WWE Champion again.”
WWE Doctor Chris Amann confirmed Del Rio’s injury on WWE.com. The groin tear suffered by Del Rio will require surgery. The surgery will keep Del Rio out of action for four to six weeks.
Del Rio’s injury could be a blessing in disguise. Rumor had it that Del Rio was going to drop out of the WWE Championship picture. Now that Del Rio has taken himself out of the WWE Championship picture, the WWE will not have too. This will prevent the WWE from moving Del Rio to an Upper Mid-Card Superstar for the time being. Since Del Rio will be out of action for four to six weeks it will give the WWE time to plan his return. They could still move forward with their original plans of moving Del Rio to an Upper Mid-Card Superstar or they could allow Del Rio to win the Royal Rumble for a second year in a row. If everything goes as planned for Del Rio, he should be returning right around the time of the Royal Rumble. My guess would be the night of the Royal Rumble where Del Rio will look to make history. Del Rio could become the fourth Superstar to win back to back Rumbles. It is not uncommon for a Superstar to return from injury and win the Royal Rumble. In 2008, John Cena returned to win the Royal Rumble after suffering a torn pectoral back in October of 2007. In 2010, Edge returned to win the Royal Rumble after suffering a torn Achilles tendon back in July of 2009. Will Del Rio experience the same success as Cena and Edge or did he shoot himself in the foot by guaranteeing another WWE Championship reign.
Sources:
Alberto Del Rio Injury
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