WWE Night of Champions: Why Alberto Del Rio Will Retain His Title and Smash Cena

WWE's upcoming Night of Champions pay-per-view features an intriguing main event matchup for the WWE title: new champion, and super cool, heel Alberto Del Rio will take on top star John Cena in the first match of what will, presumably, be a long program.

Considering most PPV main events are usually dull and tired repeats (just how many times have we seen Christian vs. Orton, anyway?) this is a refreshingly new matchup for fans to sink their teeth into.

Helpfully, there's an appealing clash of personalities, too: Del Rio, the suave, well-dressed, flashy newcomer taking on the goody-two-shoes Cena, whose image has often been adapted to promote his working class roots, his humbleness and refusal to forget where he came from.

Throw in Del Rio's villainous personal ring announcer, the wonderfully slimy Ricardo Rodriguez (who really is a wrestling version of a Bond villain henchman) and you've got the perfect crop of contrasting personalities for an entertaining main event feud.

But, what will the result of the match be, when it takes place in Buffalo, New York on September 18th? Will Del Rio fall to Cena, and be sent packing back to the Raw mid card, like so many other promising heels have in the past years?

While this is a valid concern for fans (after screwing up spectacularly with Jack Swagger, Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler and plenty of others, the WWE booking crew lose faith in yet another new star and speedily demoting him would not be a shock to anyone) I still feel I can safely say that will not happen and Del Rio will emerge triumphant from his bout with Cena at the PPV. It may not be a clean victory, and considering it's Cena who rarely loses fair and square, a screw job of some sort is not only likely but probable. Regardless of how he accomplishes it, most fans can expect Del Rio to walk out of Buffalo, New York with the title.

Why? Well, there are a few reasons.

First of all, Del Rio has had the full backing of management for his entire WWE career, unlike Swagger, Ziggler, Sheamus, etc. who have had their various up and downs with management and encountered their fair share of political problems. Ever since Del Rio's grand debut last year, WWE have clearly had big plans for the wrestler, hoping to turn him into a star. Both he and Mistico (or whoever is under the mask these days) have greatly benefited from Rey Mysterio's winding down and sabbaticals for various injuries, as WWE realized they need new Mexican stars to appeal to what is a growing Hispanic market after Rey is finally gone for good. Long marked for greatness, it was never a case of "if" Del Rio would win the title, simply "when."

Of course, it took WWE a little longer than originally planned (many predicted Alberto would win the title at this year's WrestleMania, but ultimately he lost to Edge in what was a rather flat and anti-climatic bout), and Alberto's heat may have suffered for a while due to a lack of direction. In the end, though, with the help of Kevin Nash, he did win the championship after cashing in his Money in the Bank title shot on an injured and vulnerable CM Punk.

So, with WWE's desperation to create a fresh Mexican star (and Mistico's future up in the air due to a litany of political problems) Alberto's big push will almost certainly continue and, unlike many aspiring mid-carders before him, he will not have his credibility destroyed by losing so early to John Cena. It is simply too soon to change the title right now.

Another reason is that Cena doesn't need the title to get over. Del Rio, whose place in the main event scene is still far from established, does. Cena will continue to generate huge reactions—positive or negative—wherever he goes, and he's won the title so many time that most have lost count of his title reigns (for the record, he's won the WWE championship a whopping nine times and the World Heavyweight Championship twice). Del Rio, on the other hand, is still trying to gain traction as champion, and desperately needs to hold onto the title a while longer before losing it.

Additionally, it greatly aids the feud between the two if Cena is "screwed" out of the title at Night of Champions. Maybe Del Rio's manager Ricardo will interfere on his boss' behalf. Or one of the McMahon family, or maybe corrupt executive Johnny Ace, will get involved in the finish and help Del Rio retain.

Hey, it has never been firmly established whether Del Rio was simply opportunistic at Summerslam, or whether the McMahons had planned for him to be the beneficiary of Nash's run in after the title match between Cena and Punk. With this in mind, is a run as "corporate champ" a possible role for Del Rio in the future?

Frankly, Cena needs to be the victim of a screwjob to endear him more to fans. So far Cena has come off as rather unsympathetic in this feud. He berates Del Rio for winning the title through nefarious means, conveniently forgetting that back in July he happily took a match with Rey, and beat him, for the title after Rey had just had a long, grueling match with The Miz an hour earlier. Not to mention, Cena has a nerve lecturing anyone else about dishonour after flagrantly going back on his word too many times to count. The most blatant example being after the Survivor Series PPV last year when he was fired, and per the match stipulation agreed to leave WWE forever, but kept coming back till Wade Barrett agreed to rehire him..

In summary, it is far too soon and makes little sense to take the title off Del Rio and makes little or no sense in the story-lines. Of course, management have made plenty of unwise decisions before, but something tells me the booking team will stick with their new champion, for now anyway.