Who Alberto Del Rio Reportedly Slapped

The biggest story this week is that WWE has released Alberto Del Rio due to an altercation he had with another employee backstage.

As members of the F4WOnline.com message board were discussing Del Rio’s incident and trying to figure out which WWE employee was on the receiving end of his slap, Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer remarked “Cody Barbierri.”

According to the report WWE’s social media manager was supposedly asked to wipe his plate clean following a meal in catering. He allegedly joked that it was Del Rio’s job to clean the plate, which Del Rio perceived as racist. Del Rio was informed of the comment, and confronted him. The individual did not apologize for his remark and then smiled at him. Del Rio recated by slapping him.

Addressing the matter Friday evening, WWE released a statement via Twitter asking fans to direct their anger toward Del Rio since he did not conduct himself in a professional matter: “@VivaDelRio is responsible for his own actions. If you’re angry at anyone, be angry at Alberto. There’s no excuse for a pro athlete not to conduct themselves in a professional manner.”

Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events and Creative, re-Tweeted the comment in its entirety.