Alberto Del Rio
Rodríguez at WWE Tribute to the Troops in December 2010.
Ring name(s)	Alberto Banderas[1][2] Alberto Del Rio[1][3] Dorado[1] Dos[1] Dos Caras[1][4] Dos Caras, Jr.[1] El Dorado[1] El Hijo de Dos Caras[1]
Billed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[5][6]
Billed weight	239 lb (108 kg)[6]
Born	(1977-05-25) May 25, 1977 (age 35)[1][5][7] San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí[5][8]
Resides	Tampa, Florida[9]
Billed from	San Luis Potosí, Mexico[6]
Trained by	Leonel Kolesni (Greco-Roman wrestling)[1][10] Juan Fernández (Greco-Roman wrestling)[1][10] Dos Caras (Professional wrestling)[1] Sicodelico (Professional wrestling)[1] FCW Training[1] Marco Ruas (MMA)
Debut	02000-09-29September 29, 2000[5][11]

Alberto Rodríguez^[1][5] (born May 25, 1977)^[1][5] is a Mexican professional wrestler signed to WWE, performing under the ring name Alberto Del Rio and appearing on the SmackDown brand. He is a former two-time WWE Champion, while also being the 2011 Royal Rumble winner, outlasting 39 other participants to win the largest Royal Rumble match ever, and 2011 Mr. Money in the Bank (Raw). Before working for WWE, Rodriguez used the name Dos Caras, Jr. as both a mixed martial artist and luchador in mostly Mexico and Japan. He worked in both of Mexico's main wrestling promotions and achieved success in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is a former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion.

Son of noted luchador Dos Caras, nephew of Mil Máscaras and Sicodelico, and cousin to Sicodelico, Jr. and Hijo de Sicodelico, Rodríguez is part of one of the most well known Mexican wrestling families.^[5] The name Dos Caras translates to Two Faces, referring to the symbol of a double headed eagle on his mask.^[1]

Amateur wrestling[link]

Born in San Luis Potosí as the son of luchador Dos Caras.^[5] Rodríguez graduated from Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosí where he earned a degree in architecture.^[5][7][10] Growing up in a family of wrestlers Rodríguez decided to take up Greco-Roman wrestling, training under Leonel Kolesni and Juan Fernández.^[1][5][10] He earned a place on the Mexican national team in Greco-Roman wrestling and while competing on the national team obtained several accomplishments.^{[12][unreliable source?]} In 1997, he placed third at the World Junior Championships, in the Czech Republic.^{[12][unreliable source?]} He also won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games. Rodríguez was on track to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but due to a lack of funding and support, Mexico did not send a wrestling team that year.^[7]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (2000–2002)[link]

After not competing at the 2000 Olympic games, Rodriguez turned to the family business, and trained with his father to become a professional wrestler. Caras made his debut appearance on May 9, 2000 as he ran in during an Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) show to save his father from a beat down from El Texano, Pirata Morgan and Espectro, Jr.^[5][10] After making follow up TV show appearances Caras did not make his in ring debut until September 29 of that year when he teamed with Sangre Chicana, El Alebrije and La Parka, Jr. to defeat Los Consagrados (El Texano, Pirata Morgan, Espectro, Jr. and El Cobarde) at AAA's summer event Verano de Escándalo.^[5][11] After his debut Rodriguez would travel to Japan to compete as well, making his Japanese debut on October 11 by teaming with his father to defeat the team of El Azteca and Chiba.^[5][10] Caras continued his AAA storyline with Los Consagrados, teaming with Octagón, La Parka, Jr. and Hong Kong Lee to defeat Los Consagrados by disqualification.^[13] Over the next couple of years Caras would work both in Mexico and Japan to gain experience in the ring. In Mexico he worked exclusively for AAA making appearances at shows such as the 2002 Verano de Escándalo, where he teamed with Gronda and El Hijo del Solitario to defeat the trio of Pirata Morgan, Sangre Chicana and El Brazo.^[14]

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre[link]

Técnico (2005–2009)[link]

In 2005, Rodriguez was signed to a contract with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In his first test in the company, Caras competed in the 2005 Copa Jr., but the storyline of the tournament saw him defeated in the semi-final by Dr. Wagner, Jr.^[5][15] Caras's advancement to the semi-final of the cup, mere months after signing with the company was an indicator that the bookers were interested in elevating him up the rankings, this was further supported when he received matches for both the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship inside a three week period.^[5][16][17] The following year on March 31, 2006 Caras was entered again into the Copa Jr. tournament and earned a return victory over Dr. Wager, Jr. who knocked him out of the tournament the previous year.^[5] He also won against Heavy Metal and Apolo Dantes to gain a place in the final, defeating Héctor Garza to win the prize.^[18] While working in Japan, Caras had taken to teaming with another second generation wrestler, Lizmark, Jr., and when both found themselves in CMLL they were teamed up once again with the team's famous fathers being the selling point. Over the next year Caras found himself without much direction, he worked storylines with Último Guerrero and Kenzo Suzuki but nothing long term came of it. Caras received two opportunities to challenge Universo 2000 for the CMLL World Heavyweight title but came up short until his third attempt on July 8, 2007 when he became the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion.^[16] While in wrestling promotions outside of Mexico the Heavyweight title would indicate that he was the top man in the federation, Mexican wrestling promotions tend to put more emphasis on the lower weight divisions over the heavyweights.^[19]

Caras's run with the CMLL World Heavyweight championship remained largely uneventful with only four title defenses in the 533 days that he held the championship.^[5][16] After defending against Lizmark, Jr. and former champion Universo 2000 it would be 9 months before his next defense.^[16] By the fall of 2008 a story broke that Rodriguez had wrestled a dark match for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and that they had offered him a contract.^[5][20] Over the following months conflicting reports of whether he had signed or not arose but he remained CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. When Caras lost the title to Último Guerrero it was believed that he had indeed signed with WWE,^[16] with him being rumored to be a surprise participant in the 2009 Royal Rumble. However, Rodriguez remained with CMLL and stated that he signed a four year deal and chose CMLL because they offered him a better deal than WWE.^[5][21]

Rudo (2009)[link]

Throughout his entire career Dos Caras, Jr. had always played a heroic character, known in Mexico as a técnico. However, after the contract dealings with WWE surfaced he began showing signs of becoming a villain, known as a rudo. He would turn his attention away from the matches and instead try to win the approval of the fans, often costing his team the match because he was distracted. Caras himself explained this behavior by stating that he "hurt his shoulder, but bravely stayed in the arena".^[22] After hinting at a change for weeks Caras finally cemented his villainous persona on April 11, 2009, the first member of the Rodríguez family to be a heel.^[23] After becoming a rudo, he began working a storyline with Shocker.

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE[link]

Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2010)[link]

On June 17, 2009, Rodriguez confirmed that he had signed a three-year contract with WWE, stating that he would not have to go to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, but would go directly to the main roster.^[5] Furthermore, he would retain the rights to his name, mask and image but allow the WWE to use it for promotional purposes while he is under contract with them. He agreed to the contract since it addressed the main reasons why he turned down the WWE's offer in January 2009.^[24] Despite his claims, he had a match with Kris Logan at FCW wrestling under the name Dos.^[25] He later also went on to wrestle under the ring names Dorado and El Dorado.^[1] During a segment on the Abraham Washington show at the August 6 taping, Rodriguez revealed a new, unmasked wrestling character named Alberto Banderas.^[2] During Raw's WrestleMania Revenge tour of Europe in April 2010, Caras made numerous appearances in untelevised matches for the Raw brand. One night he wrestled as Dos Caras, but he did not wear his mask. He was presented as a villain in a losing effort against Christian.^[4][26] The following month Caras put his mask back on for WWE's tour of Mexico and worked as a hometown hero, prior to returning unmasked during untelevised matches for subsequent Raw and SmackDown shows.^[27][28]

SmackDown (2010–2011)[link]

Del Rio in December 2010.

On the June 25, 2010 episode of SmackDown, Rodriguez debuted on a pre-taped promotional video as the unmasked Alberto Del Rio.^[3] Thereafter, a vignette aired every week on SmackDown promoting his character as an arrogant rich Mexican aristocrat, espousing his own virtues of honesty, integrity and mental faculties. After two months, he debuted on the August 20 episode of SmackDown by defeating fellow luchador Rey Mysterio in the main event using his new cross armbar submission.^[1][29] As part of his act, Del Rio makes his entrances in an expensive car, while he is being introduced by his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez.^[29] The following week, Del Rio continued the storyline with Mysterio by attacking him after his match with Kane, giving him a storyline injury by refusing to relinquish his armbar.^[30] Two weeks later he defeated Matt Hardy via submission in Hardy's last appearance with the company^[31] causing Hardy's friend Christian to challenge Del Rio to a match at Night of Champions.^[32] Although he declined the match, on the September 24 episode of SmackDown Del Rio attacked Christian and injured him the same way he did Mysterio the previous month, marking the third successive wrestler Del Rio was scripted to injure.^[33] This was done to write Christian off television, as he had suffered a torn pectoral muscle.^[34] Mysterio returned on the October 8 SmackDown episode and handed Del Rio his first defeat in the main event match.^[35] In October Del Rio defeated Chris Masters to represent the SmackDown brand at Bragging Rights, but during the pay-per-view event he attacked teammate Rey Mysterio, before being eliminated from the match by Team Raw's CM Punk.^[36][37] At Survivor Series, in the traditional five-on-five elimination match, Del Rio captained a team against Rey Mysterio's team. Although Del Rio's team lost he was never technically eliminated, instead Big Show knocked him out with a punch and he was removed from the match.^[38] On the November 26 SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Big Show via countout to qualify for the 2010 King of the Ring tournament.^[39] In the tournament the next week on Raw, he made United States Champion Daniel Bryan submit in the first round, but would be defeated by John Morrison in the semi-final after being distracted by Mysterio who was inside his car.^[40] On the November 30 episode of WWE NXT, it was announced that Del Rio would be a mentor to Conor O'Brian on the fourth season of NXT, starting the following week.^[41] On December 19 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Del Rio competed in a Fatal-4-Way Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Edge and also included the then champion Kane and Rey Mysterio.^[42] On the January 7, 2011 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Mysterio in a Two Out of Three Falls match, with help from Ricardo Rodriguez to end his long feud with Mysterio.^[43]

Del Rio mocking John Cena in September 2011.

On January 18 Del Rio's NXT rookie Conor O'Brian became the second contestant eliminated from the competition.^[44] The following week the rookies competed in a fatal four way match in which the winner would be able to change their pro. Brodus Clay won the match and chose Del Rio as his new pro.^[45] After the conclusion of NXT, Clay was hired as the bodyguard of Del Rio.^[46] On January 30, 2011, Del Rio defeated 39 other participants to win the 2011 Royal Rumble and earn the right to compete for either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVII by last eliminating Santino Marella.^[47] The following night on Raw, Del Rio chose to compete for the World Heavyweight Championship, which, at the time of his choosing, was held by Edge.^[48] At Elimination Chamber, Del Rio attacked Edge, after he had successfully defended his World Heavyweight Championship and solidified his spot as Del Rio's opponent at WrestleMania. However, Edge managed to come out the exchange victorious, after Christian made a return from his injury and attacked Del Rio.^[49] On the March 18 episode of SmackDown, Del Rio and Christian finally had their first one–on–one match inside a steel cage, in which Christian was victorious.^[50] At WrestleMania XXVII, Del Rio was unsuccessful in his World Heavyweight Championship match against Edge.^[51] On the following episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Christian to earn a rematch against Edge at Extreme Rules.^[52] However, when Edge unexpectedly announced his retirement from professional wrestling on the April 11 episode of Raw, Del Rio was instead booked to face Christian in a ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.^[53]

Raw and WWE Champion (2011)[link]

Del Rio as the WWE Champion.

On the April 25, 2011, episode of Raw, Del Rio was drafted from SmackDown to Raw.^[54] Ricardo Rodriguez moved to Raw with him, while Brodus Clay remained on SmackDown. On May 1 at Extreme Rules, Christian defeated Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.^[55] On the May 23 episode of Raw, Del Rio slapped the Big Show after he had gotten into a confrontation with Ricardo Rodriguez. After competing in a match, Show was run over by Del Rio's car, being driven by Rodriguez, leaving him sidelined with a storyline knee injury.^[56] Big Show made his return three weeks later, chasing Del Rio out of the ring and beating Rodriguez down.^[57] On June 19 at Capitol Punishment, Del Rio defeated Big Show via referee stoppage, when Show was unable to continue the match as a result of a pre-match assault by Mark Henry.^[58] On the June 27 episode of Raw, Del Rio defeated Big Show in a steel cage match, again with help from Mark Henry.^[59] On July 17 at Money in the Bank, Del Rio defeated Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, R-Truth and Rey Mysterio in a Money in the Bank ladder match to earn the right to challenge for the WWE Championship whenever and wherever he wanted, while also becoming the first wrestler in history to win a Royal Rumble and a Money in the Bank match in the same year. Following the orders of Vince McMahon, Del Rio attempted to cash in his contract later that same night on CM Punk, who had just defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship, but was attacked and laid out by him before he could do so.^[60] Del Rio eventually cashed in his contract on August 14 at SummerSlam, challenging CM Punk after the main event, where he had defeated John Cena to become the undisputed WWE Champion. Between the two matches, Punk was attacked by Kevin Nash, which led to Del Rio scoring a quick pinfall victory to win the WWE Championship for the first time.^[61] In winning the title, Del Rio became the first ever Mexican-born WWE Champion.^[62] On September 18 at Night of Champions, Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to John Cena.^[63][64] Del Rio regained the title on October 2 at Hell in a Cell by defeating Cena and CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell match.^[65] On October 23 at Vengeance, Del Rio successfully defended the WWE Championship against John Cena in a Last Man Standing match, following interference from The Miz and R-Truth.^[66] On November 20 at Survivor Series, Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to CM Punk.^[67] Del Rio received a rematch for the WWE Championship on the November 28 episode of Raw, but was defeated after CM Punk dropped him onto an exposed turnbuckle, managing to avoid a disqualification, which would have cost him the title, in the process.^[68] On December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Del Rio failed again to recapture the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, also involving CM Punk and The Miz.^[69] The following night on Raw, Del Rio suffered a torn groin muscle, which would require surgery and sideline him for four to six weeks.^[70]

Return to SmackDown (2012)[link]

Del Rio made his return at a WWE house show in San Francisco on February 11, 2012, arm wrestling Sheamus to a no contest.^[71] On February 19 at Elimination Chamber, Del Rio made an appearance to show support to Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis.^[72] Del Rio returned on the April 2 episode of Raw, confronting World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and vowing to become the next champion.^[73] On the following episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Sheamus via disqualification in a non-title match to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship.^[74] On the April 20 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez had been officially traded from Raw to SmackDown.^[75] On May 20 at Over the Limit, Del Rio failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a Fatal Four-Way match, also involving Chris Jericho and Randy Orton.^[76] On the following episode of SmackDown, Del Rio defeated Kane and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat match to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at No Way Out.^[77]

Mixed martial arts[link]

After making his professional wrestling debut in 2000, Dos Caras, Jr. decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts (MMA). After training with MMA fighter and trainer Marco Ruas, Caras, Jr. made his debut for Japanese MMA organisation Deep using both his wrestling name and luchador mask.^[7] In his first match he demonstrated his professional wrestling background by executing a belly-to-belly suplex on opponent Kengo Watanabe, a move that broke Watanabe's arm to end the match.^[79] In Caras, Jr.'s second match he lost to Watanabe by submission in the second round.^[79]

In 2003 Japanese MMA organization Pride Fighting Championships put out an open challenge for anyone to face their top star Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović in a match. Over 50 competitors stepped forward, including a couple of Japanese professional wrestlers, out of the group Dos Caras, Jr. was chosen since he had an MMA background and also a "name" due to his and his father's association with professional wrestling. Pride rules were amended to allow Dos Caras, Jr. to wear his signature mask in the match against Filipović.^[80] On October 5 Dos Caras, Jr. faced Cro Cop with his father, Dos Caras, and his cousin, Sicodelico, Jr. in his corner. The match lasted 46 seconds before Filipović hit Dos Caras, Jr. with one of his signature moves, the left high kick, and knocked him out.^[81] Following the quick loss, Dos Caras, Jr. has competed in eight further MMA matches, attaining six wins and only two defeats with seven overall wins coming via submission.^[79]

Mixed martial arts record[link]

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	9-5	Yamamoto Hanshi	TKO (punches)	Cage of Combat 4 - Spanish Bombs	02010-02-27February 27, 2010	2	2:47	Madrid, Spain
Win	9-4	Arthur Bart	KO (head kick)	Cage of Combat 3 - San Vale Todo	02010-02-13February 13, 2010	1	3:51	Torreón, Mexico
Win	8-4	Toshiyuki Moriya	Submission (neck crank)	COC I - Cage of Combat I	02009-12-26December 26, 2009	1	3:17	Veracruz, Veracruz
Win	7-4	Ignacio Laguna	Submission (rear naked choke)	Berkman MMA Promotions I	02008-12-15December 15, 2008	2	2:36	Mexico City, Mexico
Win	6-4	Hato Kiyoshi	Submission (rear naked choke)	MMA Xtreme 17	02007-12-15December 15, 2007	2	2:31	Honduras
Win	5-4	Joao Tua	Submission (guillotine choke)	MMA Xtreme 14	02007-10-13October 13, 2007	1	2:41	Honduras
Win	4-4	George King	Submission (rear naked choke)	VFX: Vale Tudo Fighters Mexico	02007-05-27May 27, 2007	1	4:00	Tláhuac, Mexico
Loss	3-4	Kazuhiro Nakamura	Decision (unanimous)	Pride 27	02004-02-01February 1, 2004	3	5:00	Osaka, Japan
Loss	3-3	Mirko Filipović	KO (head kick)	Pride Bushido 1	02003-10-05October 5, 2003	1	0:46	Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Win	3-2	Brad Kohler	Submission (shoulder injury)	Deep (mixed martial arts): 12th Impact	02003-09-15September 15, 2003	1	1:25	Tokyo, Japan
Loss	2-2	Hiroyuki Ito	DQ (grabbing the ropes)	Deep (mixed martial arts): 9th Impact	02003-05-05May 5, 2003	1	3:21	Tokyo, Japan
Win	2-1	Tatsuaki Nakano	Submission (rear naked choke)	Deep (mixed martial arts): 6th Impact	02002-09-07September 7, 2002	1	4:05	Tokyo, Japan
Loss	1-1	Kengo Watanabe	Submission (rear naked choke)	Deep (mixed martial arts): 4th Impact	02002-03-30March 30, 2002	2	3:52	Nagoya, Japan
Win	1-0	Kengo Watanabe	TKO (broken arm, due to belly to belly suplex)	Deep (mixed martial arts): 2nd Impact	02001-08-18August 18, 2001	1	0:50	Yokohama, Japan

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • As Alberto Del Rio
    • Cross Armbreaker (Flying cross armbar)^{[1][5][6][82]}
  • As Dos Caras, Jr.
    • Military press dropped into a bridging German suplex^[83][84]
• Signature moves
  • Bridging / Release German suplex^[85][86]
  • Diving senton^[64]
  • Double knee armbreaker^[36][87]
  • Double knee backbreaker^[64]
  • Fireman's carry double knee gutbuster^[49][88]
  • Leapfrog body guillotine^[89]
  • Single arm DDT^[90]
  • Step-up enzuigiri,^[91][92] sometimes to an opponent on the top rope^[93][94]
  • Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker^[64]

• Nicknames
  • "El (Hijo del) Hércules Potosino" (Spanish for "The (Son of) Hercules from Potosí")^[95][96]
  • "The Essence of Excellence"^[97] / "La Esencia de la Excelencia"^[12]
  • "The Mexican Aristocrat"^[98]

• Managers
  • Brodus Clay^[46]
  • Dos Caras^[99]
  • Ricardo Rodriguez^[1]

• Entrance themes
  • "Realeza" by Jim Johnston featuring Mariachi Real de Mexico^[100] (WWE; August 20, 2010–present)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

Del Rio with the WWE Championship at a WWE live event in San Juan, Puerto Rico in September 2011.

Amateur wrestling[link]

• World Junior Championships
  • Third place (1997)
• Central American and Caribbean Games
  • First place (3 times)
• Pan American Games
  • Placed (1 time)

Professional wrestling[link]

• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • CMLL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[16]
  • Copa Jr. (2006)^[7][10]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #6 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011^[101]

• World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
  • WWE Championship (2 times)^[102][103]
  • Money in the Bank (Raw 2011)^[60]
  • Royal Rumble (2011)^[47]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Gimmick (2010)^[104]

Luchas de Apuestas record[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alberto Del Rio

• WWE Profile
• Online World of Wrestling Profile
• Debut in Japan - Gallery 1 / Gallery 2

City of Del Rio
—  City  —
Amistad Reservoir, popular for water sports, is located west of Del Rio
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Val Verde
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• City Council	Mayor Roberto 'Bobby' Fernandez Al Arreola Mary Ann Zepeda Mike Wrob Alfredo 'Fred' Contreras Reno Luna Tina Martinez
• City Manager	Robert A. Eads
Area
• Total	52.3 km2 (20.2 sq mi)
• Land	52.2 km2 (20.2 sq mi)
• Water	0.1 km2 (0.04 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	35,591
• Density	680/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CST (UTC-5)
Website	CityOfDelRio.com

Del Rio is a border city in and the county seat of Val Verde County, Texas, United States.^[1] As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 35,591.^[2] Del Rio is connected with Ciudad Acuña via the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing and Del Río – Ciudad Acuña International Bridge. Del Rio is also home to Laughlin Air Force Base, the busiest pilot training base in the United States Air Force.

History[link]

The Spanish established a small settlement south of the Rio Grande in present-day Mexico, and some Spaniards settled on what became the United States side of the Rio Grande as early as the 18th century. However, true development of the U.S. side of the Rio Grande did not begin until after the American Civil War.

The San Felipe Springs, about 8 miles (13 km) east of the Rio Grande on the U.S. side of the border, produces 90 million US gallons (340,000 m³) of water a day. Developers acquired several thousand acres of land adjacent to the springs, and to San Felipe Creek formed by the springs, from the State of Texas in exchange for building a canal system to irrigate the area. The developers sold tracts of land surrounding the canals to recover their investment and show a profit. These investors formed the San Felipe Agricultural, Manufacturing, and Irrigation Company in 1868. The organization completed construction of a network of irrigation canals in 1871. Residents referred to the slowly developing town as San Felipe Del Rio because local lore said the name came from early Spanish explorers who offered a Mass at the site on St. Philip's Day, 1635.

In 1883 local residents requested a post office be established. The United States Postal Department shortened "San Felipe del Rio" to "Del Rio" to avoid confusion with San Felipe de Austin. In 1885 Val Verde County was organized and Del Rio became the county seat. The City of Del Rio was incorporated on November 15, 1911.

An exhibit at the Whitehead Memorial Museum in Del Rio

The San Felipe community was started by the Arteaga family. Arteaga Street and Arteaga Park are named after them.

The history of Del Rio, particularly from the 19th century, is preserved at the Whitehead Memorial Museum downtown.

Del Rio is known as the American address of legendary Mexican radio stations XERA and XERF just over the U.S.-Mexico border in Ciudad Acuña; their 500,000-watt signals could be heard at night as far away as Canada. Legendary deejay Wolfman Jack operated XERF in the 1960s, using a Del Rio address to sell various products advertised on the station.^[3]

Laughlin Air Force Base[link]

In 1942, the Army Air Corps opened Laughlin Field 9 miles (14 km) east of Del Rio as a training base for the Martin B-26, but it was deactivated in 1945. As the Cold War pressures built, Laughlin Field was rebuilt and renamed Laughlin Air Force Base. It was again used as a home for flight training. In the mid-1950s, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) noted Laughlin's remoteness that allowed for secret operations, and opened its strategic reconnaissance program there with the RB-57, a bomber modified for high-altitude reconnaissance. SAC soon transitioned to the high-altitude U-2 Dragonlady and based all of them in Laughlin AFB. In 1962, it was Laughlin-based U-2s that took the first photographs of land-based medium-range ballistic missile sites being constructed in Cuba. This was the photo intelligence that started the Cuban Missile Crisis. The U-2s were relocated to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona, in July 1963, and Laughlin's mission transitioned to the Undergraduate Pilot Training mission in the T-37 and T-38 aircraft. Laughlin AFB also provides training in the T-1A Jayhawk and the T-6A Texan II.

Laughlin plays a large part in the Del Rio community as the area's largest employer. The Border Patrol is the city's second largest employer (with two large stations along with the Sector Headquarters). At one time Del Rio was in the running to become the home of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for agents of the U.S. Border Patrol and Federal Air Marshal Service but lost to the current site in Artesia, New Mexico. The proposed site was located on property belonging to Laughlin AFB. Since the base has unused land, the Air Force is able to lease it to other federal law enforcement agencies for such projects. This benefits Laughlin AFB and the city of Del Rio both financially and economically. Del Rio was one of five cities in the United States selected for a FBI regional headquarters office; the building is currently under construction adjacent to the Roswell Hotel in downtown Del Rio and will be ready by 2011.

Geography and climate[link]

Del Rio is located at 29°22′15″N 100°53′45″W / 29.37083°N 100.89583°W / 29.37083; -100.89583 (29.370716, -100.895839).^[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.2 square miles (52.3 km²), of which 20.2 square miles (52.2 km²) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²), or 0.24%, is water.^[5]

Del Rio lies on the northwestern edges of the Tamaulipan mezquital, also called the south Texas brush country. It is also near the southwestern corner of the Edwards Plateau, which is the western fringe of the famous, oak savanna-covered Texas Hill Country; that area is dotted with numerous small springs; one of these is the San Felipe Springs, which provide a constant flow of water to San Felipe Creek. The creek supplied fresh water for drinking and irrigation to early settlers of Del Rio, and the springs are still the town's water supply.

The Del Rio region, west to about the Pecos River, has a mix of desert shrub and steppe vegetation, depending on soil type, with the gray-leafed Cenizo (Leucophyllum spp.), Acacia, and Grama grasses dominant members of local flora. The terrain is mostly level, but some areas are dissected with substantial canyons and drainages, though none of the upland areas are high or large enough in areas to be considered mountains.

Cactus grows in the semi-arid climate of Del Rio.

The climate is semi-arid in moisture and subtropical in temperature. Humidity is more often high than low, with periodic morning fog due to Gulf of Mexico air masses moving northwest into the area. This gives Del Rio and adjacent areas the effect of being in a coastal dryland area, even though the Gulf of Mexico is over 300 miles (480 km) away. Such humid periods alternate with periods of hot and dry desert air masses in the spring and fall, or cold and dry Great Plains air masses during winter months. Moisture rarely lasts long enough for weather systems to react with it to create much precipitation, as happens more frequently not far to the north and east of the area; there are exceptions during some autumns (tropical weather systems) and spring months (stalled fronts to the north).

Summers are long, hot, and frequently humid; winter months vary between sunny, warm, cloudy, and cool weather, depending on the wind direction and jet stream location. Snow or freezing rain is rare, about every 7 to 10 years, and such wintry precipitation does not occur most winters, or last long enough to be of consequence.