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9-A World's Greatest Fighters Tournament: Shadowman vs Alberto Del Rio (Round 1)

In 1997, he placed third at the World Junior Championships, in the Czech Republic. He also won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games. Del Rio also has experience in MMA, which was mentioned by commentary, having a record of 9-6.

Del Rio defeated Rey Mysterio in his debut match. Rey Mysterio has defeated the likes of Chris Jericho. Chris has shown to fight on instinct, a prime example being when he instinctively hit a Codebreaker on Rey Mysterio himself after getting hit by Rey's finisher prior. Chris has also shown to have expert timing, being able to catch opponents mid-air with his patent Codebreaker. He’s even shown to bust out a springboard Codebreaker if need be.

Del Rio has traded wins with the likes of Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler has a great amateur wrestling background. Ziggler set the record for most pins in St. Edward High School with 82 pins. When he was a wrestler at Kent State University, he at one point, held the record for most career wins in the team's history, earning 121 wins.

Del Rio has also fought on par with the likes of John Cena on numerous occasions. Cena is the same guy who was able to beat Bobby Lashley. Bobby Lashley has a very good mixed martial arts background, having a record of 15-2, defeating the likes of Joshua Franklin in 41 seconds (TKO), and Mike Cook in 24 seconds (Submission). He even defeated James Thompson, who at that point, had over a decade of experience in mixed martial arts. Lashley defeated him in 54 seconds via TKO. Lashley has also demonstrated to have military training due to his service in the army. He competed in amateur wrestling in the army's World Class Athlete Program. During three years in the Army, he won a gold and silver medal in the International Military Sports Council senior freestyle wrestling event.

Del Rio is leagues above the likes of Axiom. Thanks to his gift for mathematics, Axiom believes that anything can be broken down into a formula. He states that he can quickly analyze and react to anything. He uses his gift for mathematics, as well as his natural technical skill to quickly counter submission maneuvers, pinning positions, and grapple maneuvers. His natural athleticism, mixed in with his technical ring prowess, allows him to be creative with his submissions. He also makes his speed to good use by quickly dodging countering his opponents offense. He’s also shown to have really good timing, as he can catch people with his offense while they're in mid-air. Despite this, the guy struggles with NXT level wrestlers, while Del Rio has consistently shown to fight on par with some of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

To add on, Del Rio is significantly above the likes of Dexter Lumis, who’s able to fight competently despite being blindfolded. Del Rio has also fought on par with and even defeated the likes of Christian, who is also able to avoid attacks on instinct alone.

Del Rio has also defeated the likes of John Morrison. John Morrison is knowledgeable about multiple martial arts. He stated in an interview that he was a former amateur collegiate wrestler and gymnastic, and he's studied kung fu, boxing, capoeira, and parkour, and that he applies all of these forms of martial arts in his fighting style. He uses his parkour to pull extremely acrobatic maneuvers, as well as to use the environment around him to execute his moves as well. He can switch to capoeira kicks and feint kicks to stun and throw his opponents off game, and he’s efficient enough with amateur wrestling to the point where he can hold his own against the likes of Dolph Ziggler in that respective discipline.

Del Rio’s instincts, while not as impressive as Christian’s or Jericho’s, aren’t too shabby. His instincts somewhat intertwine with his willpower, a prime example being when he instinctively beat the 10 count after getting hit by Big Show's KO Punch. The KO Punch is by far one of the most powerful and destructive finishers in the WWE, as it took down some of the top stars in the WWE. It was even show to be superior to Sheamus' Brogue Kick. A referee suffered chronic neck pain when hit with the move. The Brogue Kick was stated to cause extreme nerve damage and tingling in the extremities of the victim. Even a top tier talent such as Christian has stated that since he got hit with the Brogue Kick last year, he hasn’t been the same since, and the nerve damage it caused forced him to get shoulder surgery. Here's a visual of the damage caused by the Brogue Kick. Big Show’s KO Punch is canonically stronger than the Brogue Kick, yet Del Rio was still able to beat the 10 count on instinct alone, and he had the will to fight on and even win.

Del Rio was at a big disadvantage there in that fight, as his opponent, that being the Big Show, had roughly 200+ pounds on him (Del Rio is 239 lbs and Big Show was 441 lbs at the time), and Show was leagues stronger. He has superhuman feats of strength, such as when he tipped over a 4400 pound Jeep, and is comparable to other strongmen in the WWE such as Mark Henry, who is able to lift a 4600 pound car off the ground, bent a steel pan, bent a steel rod, and can break chains, which proves that Del Rio can win fights against people who are much bigger and stronger than him to a degree Shadowman can’t reach (specifically in LS terms).

Not only that, but Del Rio is more than capable of locking in submissions on fighters far stronger than him. an example being here with Big Show and The Great Khali, so while LS will play a factor here, Del Rio is more than skilled enough to somewhat circumvent it.

As for what strategy Del Rio will employ, he’ll stick to what he usually does. He will primarily target the arm of his opponent. He has no remorse applying this strategy on his opponents, as he’s more than willing to severely injure his opponents arm. He’ll utilize strikes, throws, grappling maneuvers, and his patent submission finisher, the Cross Armbreaker. His secondary strategy is to target his opponents head, and while he’s not quite as versatile with this strategy as he is with targeting the arm, he still utilizes whatever he can in order to take his opponents out. He mainly relies on aggressive strikes, suplexes, and most importantly, his finishing maneuver, his Superkick, which has put away many top tier talents in the WWE such as Dolph Ziggler and John Cena.

So as you can see, Del Rio is primarily a technician/precision based fighter, relentlessly and aggressively targeting the body parts of his opponents. This way of fighting has scored Del Rio wins over people much bigger and stronger than him, even people who are much stronger than Shadowman from a lifting strength perspective. Another thing to not underestimate is Del Rio’s willpower, and while it’s not on the level of Shadowman’s, it’s not something to look over.
On a good note, at least I'll be able to use these for future debates.
 
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