One of the big topics of discussion this past week here at Cageside Seats has been the WWE firing of Alberto Rodriguez (aka Alberto Del Rio) and AAA immediately signing him to debut at TripleMania this Sunday, whilst also inviting Rey Mysterio to appear on the show.
AAA were clearly sailing very close to the wind here, as initially they were advertising Rodriguez under his WWE trademarked name of Alberto Del Rio and courting the disgruntled Rey Mysterio whilst he was still under contract to WWE.
With WWE being very protective of their contracts and trademarks, it's unsurprising that AAA has had to quickly change course. At their press conference for TripleMania yesterday, Rodriguez unveiled his new gimmick of El Patron, whilst explaining that he couldn't use the name Alberto Del Rio any longer as WWE owned the rights to that name. When a reporter asked about the rumours that Rey Mysterio would also be joining AAA soon, AAA President Joaquin Roldan was quick to point out that he is currently a WWE contracted Superstar and that they aren't talking to him and wouldn't tamper with his contract.
However, that wasn't where the WWE legal smackdown of AAA, Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio ended, as Dave Meltzer reported on his subscriber only radio show today:
"Rey [Mysterio] is under contract to WWE and that's not going to change. He's going to be under contract to WWE until the end of April [2015], so that's it. I don't know what he's going to do, but he can't get out of it and that's the end of the deal.... AAA is not going to risk a lawsuit with WWE....
As far as Del Rio goes, they were under the impression that Del Rio could wrestle, this was as of yesterday, and then as of today that changed again and now WWE I guess made it real clear that Del Rio cannot go for 90 days, so he's on a 90 day thing."
That suggests that WWE are attempting to enforce both Rey's contract and the standard 90 day no-compete clause in Del Rio's contract. Meltzer wasn't sure how Alberto could legally appear at TripleMania if that was the case, but insisted that it was still going to happen, but he would have a heavily reduced role at the event:
"He's going to be a guest and wave and he's going to be there. I don't know. He said he can't wrestle for 90 days, so I don't know."
AAA can probably just about get away with that, as about a week after the WWF had released Rena "Sable" Mero, she appeared in the front row and waved to the crowd on the June 14th WCW Monday Nitro in a ratings stunt that went absolutely nowhere. But it sounds like WWE wouldn't tolerate him doing anything more than that.
Not only are WWE stopping Del Rio from wrestling anywhere in the world for the next 90 days, but they also want to restrict him from wrestling for anyone in the United States for a whole year:
"But WWE is trying to push a one year [or] eleven month or ten month non-compete in the United States which is essentially to keep him away from TNA. For Mexico it's going to be for 90 days."
WWE may also be worried about Del Rio appearing on the new Lucha: Uprising television show that will premiere on the El Rey Network in the fall and will be taped shortly, which will be co-produced by AAA and was at one point thought would allow AAA to finally get a foothold in the United States market.
What's your thoughts on these latest developments, Cagesiders?