Alberto Del Rio burst onto the scene in a blaze of hostility, putting Rey Mysterio out of action within a few weeks of his début.
In the few short months that have followed Del Rio has coached a NXT Rookie to the final of the show, shelved WWE Superstars Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne and Christian, won the Royal Rumble and at WrestleMania will battle for the World Heavyweight Championship against ring-veteran Edge.
Alberto Del Rio's Rise to the Main Event
It was obvious from the huge two-month promo campaign that WWE top brass had high hopes for Alberto Del Rio, and when he made his début on the 20th August edition of Smackdown his extravagant entrance and subsequent win over Rey Mysterio confirmed that he was to be pushed hard right from the off.
Following his successful début he put Matt Hardy, Christian and Evan Bourne out of action in quick succession, while also notching up impressive victories over the likes of The Big Show and Raw's United States Champion Daniel Bryan.
Around the end of December Alberto Del Rio began talking about his 'destiny', which it quickly became clear was, at least in his mind, to win the Royal Rumble and take the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania.
He made good on the first part on January 31st, becoming the first man to ever win a 40-Man Royal Rumble and book his place in the main event on the grandest stage of them all.
Edge's Road to WrestleMania XXVII
Meanwhile Edge's Road to WrestleMania began when he took the World Heavyweight Championship from Kane back in December at TLC in a Fatal-4-Way match featuring none other than Alberto Del Rio.
After retaining the gold in a Last Man Standing match on the 7th January edition of Smackdown Edge moved away from his feud with Kane and instead got involved in a semi-rivalry with Dolph Ziggler and his estranged ex-wife Vickie Guerrero.
Ziggler took the title from Edge, albeit through a very biased decision on Vickie's part, but Teddy Long returned during The Blonde Bombshell's coronation ceremony and ordered a re-match for the gold, which The Rated R-Superstar won to claim back the gold less than 20 minutes after officially handing it over.
Circumstance threw Edge and Del Rio together as much as anything, with one being the Champion and the other being the Royal Rumble winner, but as Edge had a legitimate score to settle with the man who put his lifelong friend out of action, the rivalry already had a strong basis.
Edge and Christian Reunited
At Elimination Chamber Edge retained the World Championship against 5 other men, but after the bell Del Rio hit the ring and began to beat his Mania opponent down.
Christian, who hadn't been in action for the best part of 4 months, returned to make the save and get involved in the rivalry in the run up to WrestleMania.
Around the same time Del Rio's NXT Rookie Brodus Clay came very close to winning the competition, and the Essence of Excellence clearly saw something of worth in him, taking him on as 'protection'.
In the weeks leading up to the Pay Per View Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay competed against Edge and Christian in a number of different matches, all of which seemed to end with Del Rio locking his Cross-Armbreaker on one or even both of his rivals, despite the outcome of the matches.
What to Expect from Alberto Del Rio Vs. Edge at WrestleMania
Del Rio is a very accomplished wrestler and has shown over the past half a year that he deserves to be in and around the top flight, and if the few previous encounters he's had with Edge are anything to go by this one should be a very worthy WrestleMania main event.
With nothing else to do on the card and the likelihood that both Brodus Clay and Ricardo Rodriquez will be at ringside, Christian should show up at some point, maybe even accompanying his brother/friend right from the off.
Interference is a given provided Teddy Long doesn't apply some sort of stipulation prior to the match, but does Alberto Del Rio have enough about him to fulfil the prophecy he made and achieve his 'destiny'?
Prediction:
Edge has had the title for a while now and Del Rio's rise to the top of Smackdown seems almost unstoppable.
But Edge failed to win at last year's WrestleMania despite coming in as the hot favourite, and with Christian's assistance the same could well happen here to Del Rio this time.
However, on the subject of Christian, there has long been talk of rekindling the rivalry between the former friends, and a heel turn from Captain Charisma would be a great way to set it up while keeping with the WrestleMania tradition.
Jay Davies - Jay Davies is a 25 year old graduate of the University of Lincoln's School of Journalism, currently residing in South Yorkshire, ...
