WWE Hell in a Cell: Will Mark Henry Retain the World Heavyweight Championship?

Night of Champions sent shock waves through the WWE Universe as Mark Henry picked up his first ever World Heavyweight Title after defeating champion Randy Orton.

Maybe one of the most shocking aspects of this victory was that he pinned Orton clean. There was no outside interference, no cheap tactics, no weapons while the referee was blindsided, nothing. Mark Henry was just too much for Orton.

This is a big step forward for the WWE because as the WWE Universe knows, there are two superstars who never lose clean: John Cena and Randy Orton.

So we move onto Hell in a Cell, where Randy Orton will be cashing in his rematch clause to face Henry inside the cell. Will this be an opportunity for Mark Henry to assert his monster heel persona? Or is it more likely that this will be where Orton gets back on top and regains the title? Let's explore the options...

Let's say that the end product is that Randy Orton regains his championship at Hell in a Cell, which could potentially happen via a couple of different outcomes.

The most mentioned around the IWC is that Kane and Big Show are due to return, not only because their kayfabe injuries should have subsided by now, but also because Smackdown's roster is looking very depleted. The scenario would be that Kane and Big Show storm the cage while Mark Henry is on top, unleash their revenge and Orton picks up the 1-2-3.

Alternatively, Show and Kane could just provide a distraction, giving Orton enough time to hit an RKO, picking up the win before Show and Kane exact their revenge.

The third option would be that Orton could win clean, meaning that his loss at NOC was a fluke and we're back to Super Orton.

So what is the benefit on Randy Orton regaining the championship? To the WWE, they keep their top guy on top and continue to reap the benefits of merchandising. However, to the fans, the benefits aren't so obvious.

I wouldn't like to say I'm speaking for everyone when I say that I'm bored of seeing Orton consistently in the championship picture. I don't want the next couple of months to be Orton/Henry, Orton/Christian, Orton/Sheamus or Orton/Barrett for the WHC, because it just gets boring.

Up until NOC, I can't say that I had watched a Randy Orton match in the recent past when I wasn't fully aware that an RKO was going to come out of nowhere at some point and lead to the victory, and while the fans in the arena are going wild, I sit in front of my TV sighing because a Randy Orton match has ended like every other Randy Orton match before it.

Now let's imagine that Mark Henry retains the championship.

I think we all know that if this was a real fight, Orton wouldn't stand a chance against someone of Mark Henry's size, and maybe it's time that this new "Reality Era" reflected this.

A Mark Henry win could bring real credibility to the WHC because, let's face it, if Randy Orton can't beat Mark Henry, then who can? Henry could enjoy a long title reign that his 15-year career has merited. Leading up to WrestleMania, he could feud with a number of people: Sheamus, Barrett, Christian and Rhodes. But the road to WrestleMania would obviously centre around the title challenge of Daniel Bryan and his MITB briefcase.

Daniel Bryan versus Mark Henry; would this be a match worthy of a WrestleMania main event? Unlikely as it may sound, I think it could be. It would be a David versus Goliath match. The seemingly unbeatable Mark Henry against the underdog Daniel Bryan.

How would Orton be put out of the title picture, though? There's two possible scenarios.

The first option, and albeit less likely, is that Mark Henry puts Orton on the shelf for a couple weeks following his patented splash onto a chair. The reason this is unlikely is that WWE would not want to lose Orton for an extended period of time and even if this did happen, the Henry/Orton feud would resume once Orton returned.

The more likely option is that Orton will go straight into a feud with Cody Rhodes, thus eliminating him from the title picture. Some of you may have read that Cody Rhodes got busted wide open by Orton at the SD tapings this week, therefore giving a legitimate reason for this feud to fire up because Orton has further damaged Cody's dashing looks.

Personally, I'm looking for the Henry win, but hey, I've got a lot of hate for Orton because I find him boring. I understand that that's not everyone's opinion.

Who do you want to see win at Hell in a Cell? Who will be the next challenger for the WHC? Do you think this feud is over? Get commenting.