Del Rio talks returning to WWE with new approach, why he did not sign with TNA, Styles, more

On-again/off-again U.S. champion Alberto Del Rio talked about why he decided to return to WWE in a new interview.

“It doesn’t matter where you go, all of the other companies have something good to offer, but if you really want to say that you succeeded in this business you have to be here,” Del Rio told TV entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet ahead of Monday’s Raw in Miami.

“This is the place where I belong, in the major leagues of pro wrestling. That’s the reason I came back and I’m happy. I’m just doing it different this time, I’m not stressing myself with things that I know I’m not able to change.”

Del Rio’s last comment hinted at why he was released last year – disagreement with WWE management over feeling like he was wronged because of his nationality. During his downtime, Del Rio says he cleaned up his training to get in great shape, nearly ventured to TNA, and spent time with new WWE signee A.J. Styles when their paths crossed on the independents.

“I had the opportunity to share places with (A.J.) while I was gone for the year that I was not here in WWE,” Del Rio said. “He’s a great performer and he’s a great person and I’m pretty sure he’s going to do just fine here in WWE.”

As for why he did not go to TNA, Del Rio said, “I was going to. We were in talks pretty much the whole time, they just didn’t have the money to pay me.

“Once they finally got the money to pay me, I was in conversations with WWE already. So I was like ‘I really want to go back to WWE. Sorry guys, thank you for the opportunity, thank you for making all of those efforts to get me but I’m going to go back there for whatever years. Maybe in the future we will be able to do business.’”