WWE Hell in a Cell 2011: Alberto Del Rio Must Impress During Second Title Reign

Lost in the shuffle of the madness that was the end of WWE Hell in a Cell, Alberto Del Rio regained the WWE championship by pinning CM Punk in a triple threat Hell in a Cell match that also featured John Cena.

This will be Del Rio's second chance to prove himself as WWE champion, and it has to go better than his first reign, both for WWE and Alberto Del Rio.

Vince McMahon likes Del Rio as a performer. He likes his look, ring work, microphone skills and strong international appeal. But he took his time giving Del Rio the championship because he changes his mind every second of every day.

Del Rio was finally given the championship at SummerSlam. It was the first sign that the faith McMahon showed in him was finally going to pay off.

Then he lost the title at Night of Champions to Cena by tapping out in the middle of the ring.

Now, just two weeks after that loss, Del Rio has the title once again. It is impossible to call his first reign a success or failure because he was only given four weeks to prove himself.

No wrestler, no matter how great they are, is going to be able to get over in just four weeks.

Del Rio has to shine, both on the mic and in the ring, during this second title reign. If he does, he will emerge as one of the biggest stars in the company. He has the right look and attitude to play either a heel or face—it just depends on how WWE wants to use him.

WWE has to help Del Rio this time, because eventually fans reach a point where they see a performer at a certain level for so long that it is impossible to take them seriously in any other role.

Del Rio is still new enough that it hasn't happened yet, but if he keeps getting beaten by main event workers without any victories of his own, he will get there in a hurry.

The way Sunday's match finished, with Punk being pinned and Cena being locked out of the cell, it would make sense for Cena and Del Rio to continue their feud at Vengeance.

But this time, Del Rio has to be the one to go over cleanly.

Cena doesn't need the rub, and Del Rio's star is on the rise. Why would WWE want to risk that just to give Cena another ill-advised title reign.

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