Just four days out from SummerSlam, one of the WWE's biggest events of the year, the company announced Wednesday that it had suspended Alberto Del Rio 30 days for violating the WWE's talent wellness policy.
BREAKING: WWE has suspended Alberto Del Rio for violation of company talent wellness policy. https://t.co/tGykC4PtLx pic.twitter.com/p3cP9bf6lw
- WWE (@WWE) August 17, 2016
This is the first violation for Del Rio, real name Jose Rodriguez, who was not scheduled to be a part of the SummerSlam card as of Wednesday morning, prior to the announcement. Del Rio did appear on SmackDown live Tuesday night, in a losing effort to John Cena in the main event of the show.
The 39-year-old Mexico native is a four-time WWE world champion, two-time United States champion and a winner of both the largest Royal Rumble match in WWE history (2011) and the Money in the Bank ladder match (2011). Before coming to the WWE, Del Rio had an MMA career, going 9-5 before making his permanent move to the world of professional wrestling.
Del Rio's first run with the WWE came to an acrimonious end. He was fired from WWE due to unprofessional conduct on Aug. 7, 2014; the firing allegedly stemmed from an incident in which a WWE employee used racially charged language, leading to a physical confrontation backstage. He returned to the WWE on Oct. 25, 2015, at the WWE's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, defeating Cena for the United States championship in his first night back.
With Del Rio's suspension, there have now been four suspensions relating to the WWE's wellness policy thus far in 2016. The highest-profile incident came in June, when Roman Reigns also incurred a wellness violation; Konnor and Adam Rose (who has since been released) were the other violators. SummerSlam is Sunday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The suspension begins effective Thursday, meaning Del Rio will be eligible to return on Sept. 17.