Former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio has broken his silence about the incident that led to his release from the company this summer. In an exclusive interview with WrestleTalk TV, Del Rio spoke about what happened on camera for the first time.

Del Rio confirmed online reports that there was an altercation with a WWE employee, believed to be (recently released) social media manager Cody Barbierri. As the story goes, Barbierri made a racist comment to Del Rio backstage, who demanded an apology. When Barbierri refused and gave him a smug smile, Del Rio slapped him in the face.

According to Del Rio, he was sent home and received a call from a top ranking WWE official. Del Rio was told he’d be suspended for 3 weeks without salary and after that, everything would go back to normal. However, the WWE employee threatened to sue WWE, which resulted in Del Rio getting fired.

Del Rio says he told WWE that he’s not one of their “kids from NXT.” He was someone before WWE and he’ll be someone after WWE. He doesn’t need them and they don’t need him. He feels bad for people still stuck in the WWE system, but he’s already moved on and plans to continue wrestling in Mexico and Japan.

He also dropped a bombshell announcement, revealing that he’ll be joining Lucha Underground next year.

* DAMIEN SANDOW: Who Did This Guy Piss Off? (Editorial & Discussion)