Latest Details on Alberto Del Rio’s WWE Release

– The Wrestling Observer has more details on Alberto Del Rio’s WWE release. The site reports that Del Rio was, as has been heavily reported, fired after slapping a WWE social media employee. That employee is Cody Barbierri, the WWE’s Manager of Social Media Live Events, and the incident occurred last week on the night of the Smackdown tapings (August 5th). The report of Barbierri making a racist joke about Del Rio’s job being to clean plates is accurate; one performer for the company notes that the firing wasn’t as much about the slap but how hard it was, enough to knock Barbierri to the ground.

The Observer notes that Barbierri isn’t well-liked backstage because he frequently talks down to the talent, but he is a high-ranking person in the company and has the support of the McMahon family.