WWE Hell in a Cell: How Cena, Del Rio or CM Punk Could Each Win the WWE Title

In just 72 hours, Hell In A Cell will house three men for the very first time as John Cena defends his WWE Championship against former champions CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio. The match satisfies both men's rematch clauses. Punk was WWE Champion at the end of SummerSlam until Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, winning the title from Punk. Del Rio would lose the title just five weeks later at Night of Champions to Cena.

All three men have had WWE Championship reigns in the last seven weeks, so gold isn't exactly unreachable to any of them. Hell In A Cell matches, however, aren't one of the strong suits to any of the men. Sunday marks just the three match inside the cell for both Punk and Cena, while it will be Del Rio's second time inside the cell.

This is due to a dark-match Hell In A Cell match this past Monday following RAW. In that match, Cena defended his WWE Championship against Del Rio, Punk, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. The 5:03 match was the shortest of its kind in history.

That match aside, Punk and Del Rio still have their title shot at Hell In A Cell against WWE Champion John Cena. It will be the seventh time the WWE Championship is defended inside Hell In A Cell and only once previously has the title changed hands. That happened two years ago at the very first Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, when John Cena lost his title to Randy Orton. Ironically, CM Punk went into that event as World Heavyweight Champion and lost it to The Undertaker. The two matches are the only times that title have changed hands with a match in the cell.

So what do Punk and Del Rio have to do in order to achieve the feat that few have been able to accomplish? Furthermore, how does John Cena avoid a repeat of two years ago, when he lost the WWE Championship inside Hell In A Cell? Here are some thoughts on how each man could prevail in the match.

John Cena

Let's begin with the current 12-time world champion. Cena has enjoyed his newest title reign for not even two weeks now. Cena combines his recent feud with Alberto Del Rio with the white hot feud with CM Punk that drove WWE throughout this summer. Cena can put on a fantastic match, but this likely won't be one of those for Cena. Cena may be the champion, but he may uncharacteristically have the focus of the match shifted to Punk/Del Rio. Cena has an important match nearly six months to the day of Hell In A Cell and WWE should take no chances in keeping Cena away from injury.

Cena can stay unscathed and still walk out as champion if Del Rio and Punk beat each other up enough. Cena can't just sit back because he can lose the title without being involved in the decision. Besides, it it never Cena's style to sit back and relax. You know that Cena will be front and center, but you can hope that Punk and Del Rio will do most of the heavy lifting.

Cena will likely hit an Attitude Adjustment on an opponent, possibly Del Rio, to retain the title. It will then give Punk a gripe to get another title shot at Vengeance.

Alberto Del Rio

For Del Rio to walk out of the cell with the WWE Championship, I think he really needs to impress fans. His build up to a world title was done well, but grew tiresome over time. His Money in the Bank cash-in was a nice moment at a big-time venue. The five weeks he had as WWE Champion left a lot to be desired and even angered many fans. He actually looked stronger in the last five minutes of RAW this past week than in any of the five weeks he held the WWE Championship. Del Rio could win the belt back, but he needs to do something that nobody else has ever done.

Unfortunately, Del Rio has never risen to the occasion and impressed us when he had to. Del Rio will have Ricardo Rodriguez to help, but little can be done by the ring announcer. What Del Rio needs to win is the help of other people. Since they are so common in this type of match, imagine a referee bump with a kayfabe injury. It leads to one of the rare reasons that the cage door will open. At that point, people can run in to help Del Rio win the title.

There are no disqualifications and if Del Rio is as rich as he acts like he is, he can pay people off to help him. It might even come from John Laurinitus, who would love nothing more than to ruin Triple H's main event and screw both John Cena and CM Punk. Whoever forms the team, Del Rio could use that team in a future Survivor Series elimination match, since I feel there may be multiple teams this year.

That could even be the opponents for the team with The Rock and John Cena. The only reason the two could team up is to get back at Del Rio. If Cena doesn't lose the title before WrestleMania, The Rock would have a title shot essentially.

CM Punk

There are 22 Hell In A Cell matches in WWE history prior to this upcoming Sunday. In all of those matches, not one of them has ever ended with a submission, despite it being a legal way to end the match. CM Punk is the best in the world right now and hasn't used his Anaconda Vice finisher too often lately. We know that Cena won't tap to the move, but Del Rio certainly could. Despite being the most removed from a title reign, Punk could actually be the favorite on Sunday.

The match gives Punk the title rematch he is owed from SummerSlam. He pinned John Cena at both Money in the Bank and SummerSlam, a feat that not too many men have been able to accomplish. As for Del Rio, that feud may be developing for the next few months as Cena shifts to The Rock. Punk has been almost untouchable in recent weeks and hasn't really lost matches clean. Pending an absolute ambush during the match, Punk seems to be the person to win this match.

Whatever Punk does, he seemingly forces a rematch with John Cena. Assuming we will see Cena/Punk III at Vengeance, the telling part of Sunday will be what happens to Alberto Del Rio. Since Cena is disappearing from the title picture, can you really afford to bury Del Rio even more? For Punk, it is either pinning Cena for the third time in 2011 or making Del Rio tap for the first submission victory in Hell In A Cell history. It's hard to say which is more unlikely, but if anyone is going to pull off one or the other, Punk can do it.