WWE Hell in a Cell 2012: Both Ryback and CM Punk Need to Win This Match

The WWF had a penchant for taking two popular wrestlers, put them in a title match and watch fans pull their hair out over who they want to win the title.

Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior. Bret Hart and Roddy Piper. the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

If there is one thing I can say for this upcoming match up between Ryback, the virtual unknown, and CM Punk for the WWE Title, it is that the winner may not gain as much as the loser. The circumstances of the match (a lot, due in part to John Cena’s elbow injury) leave me thinking a few things about the outcome, which WWE fans and the IWC may not like.

There is a distinct possibility that this match may fail. The WWE does not need another poor PPV.

Punk makes almost everyone he faces look good, like Dolph Ziggler, Big Show and Alberto Del Rio to name a few.

Ryback is a virtual unknown, and while he looks and acts a lot like Goldberg when he captured the WCW World Title from Hulk Hogan, Goldberg faced a higher caliber of talent.

Ryback has been beating on mediocre talent up until late. I don’t think David Otunga is in CM Punk’s league.

This may be a situation that the WWE cannot win with who they decide to put the strap on. Here’s something to think about.

And for this writer, it is really frustrating.

What if CM Punk loses the title? What if Ryback wins, only to face someone like Brock Lesnar? What if Lesnar joins Paul Heyman’s stable? Does it cause a rift in the relationship between Heyman and Punk?

What if Ryback loses his chance at the title? Does he get another title shot? What happens when John Cena returns to wrestling? Does someone like Batista return to the WWE, or could someone like Big Show take on Ryback? Maybe Kane, at some point?

The WWE cannot afford to slow Punk’s “disrespect” angle down, but having him lose a match to Ryback in a short match (I do not see this as a 30-minute marathon) only makes the title match look cheap.

It also cannot afford to give this neophyte only one chance. Jack Swagger held the title and then fell off the earth. Dolph Ziggler looks to be the real deal with his MITB title shot, but he also looked lost for a bit. Both are better performers than Ryback, and no matter how we want him to be Goldberg or Batista or Vader, for that matter, he still needs to prove he can be better than he is right now.

If not, the loss by Punk may be horrendous for the beast. Feed him more, but pray to the WWE and wrestling gods that this match can live up to its billing.

Right now, I just don’t see it.