WWE Hell in a Cell 2011: 10 Reasons Randy Orton Will Regain the World Title

Mark Henry is your new World Heavyweight Champion, and his title win came at the expense of Randy Orton.

Though Orton battled Christian for the belt numerous times throughout the summer and only lost it once because of a dirty finish, it took Henry just one pay-per-view match to beat Orton for the strap. Clean.

The World's Strongest Man is on the roll of his career right now, and it doesn't look like anyone's going to be able to beat him for the World title.

That just isn't the case, though.

Orton has been on quite the roll himself over the last several months, and if anyone can rid Henry of the World championship, it's none other than The Viper.

Here are 10 reasons why Orton will beat Henry at Hell in a Cell to regain the World Heavyweight Championship.  

10. He Is the Face of Smackdown

Telling you that Randy Orton is the face of SmackDown is like telling you that David Otunga can't wrestle—you already know it.

Nonetheless, Orton is the face of the blue brand because he's the most over baby face on the roster, and thus, he's not going to stray to far away from the World title picture.

Like John Cena on Monday Night Raw, the creative team has an obsession with booking a brand's top star in countless World title feuds. Orton and Cena are almost always headlining pay-per-views in World Heavyweight or WWE Championship matches.

And guess what? That's not going to change anytime soon.

Until someone seriously steps up their game on SmackDown and is able to rival Orton's popularity, then he'll be the face of the brand and the guy who wrestles for World titles every month. 

9. The Lack of Other Options on Smackdown

On Monday Night Raw, you have a ton of wrestlers who are worthy of holding the WWE Championship: John Cena, CM Punk, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, R-Truth, Triple H and a healthy Rey Mysterio.

But, thanks to the questionable booking on Friday Night Smackdown, the blue brand essentially has only four legitimate contenders for the World Heavyweight Championship: Christian, Sheamus, Randy Orton and Mark Henry.

Thus, the obvious imbalance of main event caliber talents on the brands gives Raw the luxury of being able to book a wider variety of feuds. Smackdown, on the other hand, doesn't have the ability to do that.

That's why we've basically seen rotating feuds between those four aforementioned competitors since Wrestlemania, and until a new talent is elevated to the main event scene (like Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett or Daniel Bryan), then we're probably going to see Orton hog it for the foreseeable future. 

8. To Improve the Match Quality of Smackdown's Main Event Scene

It's no secret that Mark Henry will never be confused for Bret Hart or Kurt Angle in the ring.

That's not a knock on the guy. It's just that he always has been and always will be a powerhouse wrestler rather than a great in-ring technician.

Still, you really don't want someone like Henry dominating the World title scene for an extended period because it's going to turn off a lot of viewers who are more worried about the quality of wrestling than the quality of the storylines.

It's going to be hard to sell a pay-per-view that features Henry wrestling Kane for the World Heavyweight Championship as Smackdown's main event.

No one, other than maybe diehard Kane or Henry fans, is going to want to spend their hard-earned money to watch two-star World title matches.

That's why a guy like Randy Orton, who's really excelled in the ring lately, will stay around the World title--because he can actually wrestle.

7. He's at the Peak of His Career

Maybe you'd rather watch Randy Orton as "The Legend Killer," or you really enjoyed what he did as a heel back in 2008 and 2009.

But Orton is undoubtedly at the peak of his career. Right now.

Since being drafted to Smackdown earlier this year, Orton has stepped his game up in just about every aspect. He's cutting decent promos (even though they're far from great), he's putting on better feuds (against both Christian and Mark Henry) and, most importantly, he's delivering the goods in the ring.

His World Heavyweight Championship matches with Christian were all great, and he's earned some high praise from one WWE Hall of Famer as a result.

Now, I don't know about you, but I tend to think Bret Hart is probably a pretty good judge of someone's technical ability. And I tend to agree with what he says.

Orton is doing great things in the ring right now, and the WWE will almost certainly want to capitalize on that given that he's only 31 years old. 

6. He Has No One to Feud with If the World Title Isn't Involved

Aside from a few notable non-title feuds against CM Punk and Legacy (Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes), almost every single one of Randy Orton's rivalries in recent years has involved a World title.

Whether he was batttling Sheamus, John Cena or Triple H, Orton was almost always going after the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship.

Now, I pose a question: Do you really think that's going to change any time soon? I sure don't, especially when you take an in-depth look at the Smackdown roster.

If Orton isn't challenging someone like Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight title, then what's he going to do? Feud with Wade Barrett over nothing?

Highly doubtful.

Orton is not going to be inserted into a meaningless feud on Smackdown--he's going to be fighting for the World title because that's all he cares about.

5. To Set Up a World Title Feud with Cody Rhodes

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I see the current TV feud between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes as a precursor to another main event level feud between those two down the road.

Only, that one will be for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Rhodes has been booked like a top contender as of late, by hanging with Orton in the ring (even getting a victory over him) and outlasting nine other stars in a Battle Royal for the Intercontinental Championship on Monday's Raw.

The creative team is clearly trying to build Rhodes up as the future of the blue brand, and there's no one better for him to feud with than Orton if they want to truly accomplish that.

Imagine what a huge rub it would be for Rhodes if he was able to beat Orton to win the World Heavyweight Championship. But, in order for that to happen, Orton has to win the title back first.

4. Survivor Series Is Right Around the Corner

Survivor Series is less than two months away, and the "Big Four" pay-per-view usually features some big main events.

Just go back and look at the show's cards from recent years, and you'll see that the names who are wrestling for World titles are generally future WWE Hall of Famers.

You've got the likes of Chris Jericho, John Cena, Triple H, Edge, Shawn Michaels, Batista and, yes, Randy Orton all competing for either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship at the show. So, it's fairly obvious that the WWE likes to load its card with the top guys in the business.

With all due respect to Mark Henry, I don't think he exactly fits that bill.

The World title matches at this year's Survivor Series will feature names that fans want to pay to see, and they're willing to spend their money on Orton.

3. He Hasn't Been Away from the World Title Since Moving to Smackdown

Where has Randy Orton consistently been since moving to Smackdown in April?

Oh yeah, that's right--the World title scene.

Orton literally has not been away from the World Heavyweight Championship since being drafted to the blue brand. He instantly earned himself a title match against Christian, beat him for the strap and then feuded with him over the belt all the way through SummerSlam.

Then, he transitioned into another World title feud with Mark Henry, one that's still going on.

See the trend here? Orton's almost always going to be around the World Heavyweight Championship, and he probably needs to beat Henry at Hell in a Cell for that to remain true.

2. Mark Henry Is a Transitional Champion

Mark Henry's title win is a tricky one.

On one hand, I never thought I'd actually see Henry win the World Heavyweight Championship, much less by beating Randy Orton clean.

But, on the other hand, I think having Henry lose to Orton at Hell in a Cell would kill most of the momentum he's built up since moving to Smackdown back in April. Thus, I could see Henry holding onto the belt for longer than most of us ever thought he would.

Still, I'm going to go with what I think is the likeliest scenario, and that's Henry being a transitional champion.

He's been with the WWE since 1996, and I honestly don't see his World Heavyweight win as anything more than a reward for contributing to the company for 15-plus years.

1. History Says so

Take a wild guess how many times the World Heavyweight Championship has changed hands since the beginning of 2009.

Wrong. Try 29. Yes, 29 freakin' times.

That's nearly one title change a month, which is absolutely insane when you think about the old days when title reigns would last for more than a year.

Given the rapid pace at which titles change hands today, though, I wouldn't be surprised to see Randy Orton win back the World Heavyweight Championship just 14 days after losing it.