Although Ricardo Rodriguez was primarily employed as a wrestler before joining the organization, he is most recognized for his time spent working for the WWE as Alberto Del Rio’s valet and ring announcer, where he participated in multiple on-screen series. In an interview with “Under the Ring,” Rodriguez talked about how he got his start in the WWE.
In his own words, Rodrigeuz wrestled in the independent circuit under a mask at the time and was approached by a talent scout following a luchador tryout. “It ended up being just this one man and me. The talent scout at the time was Ty Bailly. Then he came up to me and asked if I would be interested in moving to Florida.”
It’s interesting to note that Rodriguez was able to get a position in the audition finals because his opponent turned down an offer to serve as an announcer on “WWE SmackDown.” “So, they come up to me, so I ended up going to San Bernadino, and I do this ring announcing the deal, and it just kind of happened from there, and Vince liked it.”
Then, Rodriguez stated that although Dean Malenko claimed he impressed Vince McMahon, his announcing gig was originally intended to be a one-time contract. “It was just meant to be for Alberto’s WWE debut, according to what Malenko, who was like my wrestling dad in the WWE, used to tell me. Vince thought so much of my performance as ‘Ricardo’ that he chose to keep me on.”
Please give credit to “Under The Ring” and provide due credit to Wrestling Inc. for the transcribing if you use any quotes from this article.
