WWE Night of Champions 2011: Del Rio Will Retain and Cena Will Get Angrier

This coming Sunday, September 18th, we will see the WWE champion, Alberto Del Rio (say it loud and long) take on the franchise, John Cena....but you already knew that. Del Rio won the championship at Summerslam when he cashed in his Money in the Bank brief case and pinned CM Punk. Why CM Punk would rather pursue Triple H and Kevin Nash over his belt is beyond me, (and an article for another day aka tomorrow) but as it goes, John Cena will once again be going after the gold. But he's not going to win.

Week after week, Cena comes on television and has expressed his anger, saying he can't wait to fight Del Rio, going on about how he will destroy him and win the WWE Championship because Del Rio is a coward and unworthy of the title.

To follow that up, week after week, Del Rio comes out and acts cowardly, offers excuses and sacrificial lambs to take his beatings for him. Thus continuing Cena's rage to grow and grow and have more passion on taking Del Rio out. Leading us, the fans, to believe that Del Rio will most likely lose this Sunday here in Buffalo, NY and Cena will once again use his Hulk abilities to be the WWE champion.

If WWE uses a previous formula, however, Cena's not going to win. In fact, what this is doing is giving us what it should have given us with the CM Punk vs. John Cena story line. It's giving us a darker, angrier Cena, possibly even leading to what the internet junkies are constantly clamoring for—a Cena heel turn.

CM Punk vs. Cena gave us a man who understood where Punk was coming from. Punk was supposed to be the Heel in the situation but the crowd was far too behind him to let that play out. Cena approached the feud with respecting Punk and looked forward to the match, it kept him in his baby-face role. 

But up against Del Rio, Cena is angry. This anger, compiled with essentially being robbed of the title at Summerslam due to a bad call by Triple H, might push him over the edge and take that anger out in a very heel fashion—pushing the ref or maybe punching Jerry Lawler in a post interview. He can come out next week and apologize, but then have it build up some more, little by little, becoming that heel so many fans want him to become. It's the Batista formula, slowly make yourself a jerk and then top it off with one huge act of destroying a fellow good guy to seal the deal.

Cena losing at NOC will continue the feud in a more positive way for the story line. Cena can demand a rematch at Hell in a Cell and deliver a brutal beating to Del Rio, increasing that anger, only to lose. Then he could go on to demand vengeance at Vengeance where he could lose again, to take the two of them into Survivor Series in possibly an Iron Man or Submission Match to see if Del Rio would 'survive.' All along building that anger, that determination to get Del Rio, and slowly becoming that which he hates. 

While Cena takes this path, we must remember that he will be facing The Rock at Wrestlemania. With the popularity of The Rock, there is no way he can be the heel of the match. Cena will no doubt be booed and the Rock will be cheered, so why not make those boos intentional and really have Cena be the bad guy he once was and do it to the max?

Cena will not be the only one to benefit from a long feud like this. Del Rio is playing his role perfectly in all of this. He is building his character and really growing as a superstar. He, in my opinion, is a combination of JBL and Eddie Guerrero, and those men were two of the finest heels the industry has ever seen. If he plays this right and continues to carry that person, he will turn himself into someone who will be considered a top-tier champion from now on. 

Del Rio has the skills in the ring, check out my article over at The BOOM Page for more on Del Rio.

Check out my other NOC article on why its Mark Henry's Time here on Bleacher.

And tune in tomorrow for my view on the CM Punk, Triple H, Kevin Nash love triangle.