Late last month, WWE released Alberto Del Rio’s personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez. It was unfortunate — Ricardo had briefly become a fan favorite before being forgotten and abandoned by creative — but understandable. They released Alberto Del Rio himself a little over a week later, so what can you do?
According to sources, one of the reasons Rodriguez was let go was because of his weight. The company had set weight goals for him to meet, and he’d had trouble meeting and maintaining them. It didn’t help that they put him in the world’s most unflattering body suit to compete as NXT wrestler “El Local.” Fast forward to yesterday and the announcement of the signing of independent wrestling star Kevin Steen, a man who is, well, not exactly Prince Devitt when it comes to maintaining a chiseled physique.
Ricardo got a little miffed and tweeted a sarcastic congratulations to Steen, following it up with a mention of a derisive nickname he’d received from management. They were deleted pretty quickly, as you’d imagine.
Congrats.. I hope he at least looked at you while shaking hands at one point and did call you fat as f–k. #OhMemories.
#BumbleBee was his name for me… Don’t even think he ever knew my real name.
“Bumblebee,” of course, is in reference to this guy:
The timing of that is bad given the firing of a pair of high profile Hispanic employees and repeated accusations of racist practices, but … man, that nickname is spot-on. A chubby guy who shows up to act like an idiot and randomly speak Spanish? They could’ve called Scott Hall “Barney Gumble” and it would’ve been less accurate.
Another thing Triple H knows: Bumblebee Man was a terrible wrestler.
