WWE Hell in a Cell 2011: Why Del Rio Will Upset Punk and Cena for the Title

This Sunday, at WWE's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, Alberto Del Rio will take on CM Punk and John Cena in the first ever Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Title. Considering the talent involved, as well as the extra, unknown dynamic of having a third man, it promises to be a gripping, entertaining bout that may even steal the show.

But who will emerge victorious from the carnage and win the biggest prize in the game?

Well, for reasons I will discuss, I feel it is very likely that Del Rio will defeat Punk and Cena and regain his world title. The conniving wrestler may triumph through some sneaky assistance from his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, or he could win clean if the booking team wants to augment his credibility with fans. But regardless of how he achieves victory, it seems likely the Mexican aristocrat will walk out of the New Orleans Arena as champion and continue his ascent to main event stardom.

As most know, John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio and won the WWE title at WWE's Night of Champions PPV less than two weeks ago. It was a shocking result because Del Rio, whom WWE had been grooming for a main event spot for well over a year, had just won the title at WWE SummerSlam four weeks earlier. Going into Night of Champions most observers were not expecting the new champion to drop the belt and wondered why WWE felt the need to cut the new champion's title reign short so soon.

So, what happened? Did WWE lose faith in their Mexican star? Were they displeased with his performances? Did Del Rio garner a ton of heat for himself by forgetting to shake people's hands backstage (in the highly strung WWE locker room, this is a truly heinous and unforgivable infraction; just ask Sin Cara)?

The best bet, and most likely theory, is that the erratic booking decision was brought on by the abysmally low 2.7 rating WWE Raw accomplished prior to Night of Champions. By this thinking, a panicked WWE management then threw out their long term plans (all indications leading up to the event were that Del Rio would retain) and decided to put the strap back on John Cena, a proven commodity and reliable ratings draw.

I believe Del Rio will emerge triumphant from the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view because Cena regaining the title was clearly meant to be a short-term ratings boost for the stagnant company. Indeed, a large part of the current corporate conspiracy angle in WWE regards who exactly put Kevin Nash up to running in and taking out Punk at WWE Summerslam, allowing Del Rio the perfect opportunity to cash in on his Money in the Bank title shot and take advantage of a vulnerable competitor.

As the storyline strongly hints, it seems there is some mysterious, scheming figure high up in WWE who wanted Del Rio to cash in his shot at SummerSlam and recruited Nash specifically for that purpose. No one can be sure who this person is. That said, many fans have pointed the finger at WWE's Head of Talent Relations, the conniving John Laurinaitis, as the one responsible for it all. At present, however, he does appear to be the most obvious suspect.

Of course, for the storyline to work and develop as planned, Del Rio, in order to be a true "Corporate Champion," has to regain the title from John Cena at the pay-pay-view.

There's also the fact that Cena (currently on his 10th title run) really doesn't need to hold the championship to get over. Indeed, many disgruntled fans are becoming increasingly frustrated with what they see as Cena's constant hogging of the title. The criticism of the latest switch was so scathing, Cena even acknowledged the fan unhappiness on his Twitter account. Cena may be a huge draw with women and kids (who buy his gaudy merchandise by the truckload), but he is also driving away a large number of adult males, who long for something different and edgier. WWE may have seen Cena as the solution to their short term ratings drop, but he is also a big part of the problem.

The other competitor in the match, CM Punk, is not, at this point, a smart choice for champion. Regrettably, he's lost a great deal of steam since the summer, when he was tearing up WWE and exciting the fan base with his shocking and taboo-breaking promos. Marginalized as a supporting player in the current corporate power struggle, Punk has become almost a parody of himself, reduced to spewing out shoot names and non-stop insider references to gain attention (Phil Brooks! Paul Levesque!).

He may also  have shouldered some of the blame from management for the deeply disappointing SummerSlam buy-rate. This certainly didn't help him with critics who claim he's not a draw to anyone but smark fans. While the talented Punk can still be rebuilt, and probably will win the belt at some point in the future, right now does not seem to be the time to give him another title run.

Giving the title back to Del Rio on Sunday will greatly help WWE mend some fences with frustrated fans who have grown tired of John Cena constantly hogging the spotlight, as well as getting the long term plans for Del Rio on Raw back on track. Even the often misguided WWE booking team must realize this, which may be the main reason Del Rio emerges from the PPV match victorious.