WWE Vengeance 2011: 5 Reasons Alberto Del Rio Must Retain Title

Sunday's Vengeance pay-per-view will feature Alberto Del Rio in a WWE championship match against John Cena. This time, these two Raw superstars meet in what will likely be a brutal Last Man Standing match.

But more important than the buildup, the match itself and either of the performers, is the result. Del Rio absolutely must defeat Cena and retain the WWE title at Vengeance.

John Cena Is Stale

Sure, this is like beating a dead horse, but there is no superstar on the WWE roster more stale than the leader of Cenation. He has been atop the company since 2005 and has, in the six years since, collected 11 championship reigns.

There is a reason Cena remains a part of the WWE championship picture. He sells a boatload of merchandise and he is one of the few, legitimate draws the company still has.

He is an undoubted ambassador for the company and his work with charities and the media are unrivaled. With that said, his constant placement in WWE title matches has created a stale product that fans have voiced their disapproval of for five years.

Alberto Del Rio, while poorly pushed and developed since arriving on Raw, is fresh.

He is a change from the status quo that Cena presents and, with the writing of the Raw program deteriorating on a weekly basis at this point, a champion without the last name of Cena would be a welcome gift.

John Cena vs. the Rock

The Rock is returning for the Survivor Series pay-per-view. That much we know and reports indicate he will be involved in the main event of the show, teaming with John Cena. The opponents are unknown.

The interactions between the Rock and Cena will likely dominate WWE television until the annual November event concludes.

With two wrestlers of that stature are engaged in a heated rivalry, a rivalry that will conclude at Wrestlemania 28, the WWE championship would become devalued, lost in the shuffle, as it becomes little more than a prop in a rivalry that is so large it does not need the prestige of the gold to validate it.

If Alberto Del Rio was to lose the WWE title to Cena, not only would the title suffer, but so would the Raw roster. Rather than being involved in a title feud with another Monday night star, Del Rio would be inserted into a rivalry with someone like CM Punk without much of a back story or any centerpiece to compete over.

It would further elevate a rivalry instead of two stars the fans are already invested in.

CM Punk

After the idiocy involving Triple H finally concluded, CM Punk will need something to do.

In the last seven months, the WWE fans have voiced their opinion and Punk has become one of the most popular stars on the entire roster. And, if Alberto Del Rio fails to retain at Vengeance, Punk's chances at once again becoming WWE champion are slim to none.

All signs point to Punk feuding with Del Rio over the title once the Rock returns and John Cena turns his attention towards the Great One. If the WWE championship is muddled in the ego-boosting that will be the Cena-Rock rivalry, Punk and Del Rio are left to feud over, well, nothing really.

The association with Triple H post-SummerSlam has done Punk no favors. Rather than being treated as the star, he has been relegated to a bit player in a storyline that revolves around "The Game."

If there is no title for Punk to feud with Del Rio over come Survivor Series, if in fact that is the direction the company takes, then it will be difficult for Punk to regain any momentum going into Wrestlemania.

Stability

The WWE's creative team has been under pressure to improve TV ratings as of late and, as a result, booking has been chaotic with little sense to be made of anything and constant championship swaps as it is determined who is best to carry the title.

Since SummerSlam, every pay-per-view event has featured a WWE championship change. Not one superstar has been allowed to establish himself as a viable and credible titleholder and, as a result, it has devalued the championship itself.

There is no denying that the title does not mean what it once did. But now, it means as little as it ever has. It is merely a prop to be traded between superstars in a rivalry.

For the belt to reestablish credibility, and for the booking within the company to stabilize to slow down and once again become coherent, Alberto Del Rio must retain and prevent the fourth title change in as many events.

Alberto Del Rio Needs Help

Alberto Del Rio is the latest in a line of fresh new faces brought into the company, pushed to the moon and then left to flounder on Raw underneath the mighty John Cena.

It was one year ago that Del Rio debuted on Smackdown and wasted no time in establishing himself as a top young talent. He cleanly defeated Smackdown stars, forcing them to tap out to the cross-arm bar.

He won the biggest Royal Rumble match in company history and was well on his way to becoming a champion at Wrestlemania 27.

But then he lost.

And he was drafted to Raw.

And then his push grinded to a halt. It appeared as if Del Rio and his push were sacrificed in favor of further focus on Cena and the CM Punk revolution that exploded over the course of the summer.

Sure, he won the Money in the Bank match, but it was with little hype and, when he cashed in and took the WWE title at SummerSlam, it was to little fanfare. As a matter of fact, since becoming champion, Del Rio has digressed as a character, becoming just another cowardly heel that needs to cheat to beat the top stars on Raw.

If Del Rio loses to John Cena again, it would be best for the creative team to admit failure and send Del Rio back to Smackdown, to rebuild his character and to reintroduce him as the smart and savvy technical wrestler that cleanly beat his opponents as the better fighter.

Del RIo needs to retain his title at Vengeance to help a character that, in the eyes of the casual fan, is on life support.