WWE Vengeance 2011: Alberto Del Rio Retains Title with the Help of 2 Friends

There's nothing like having friends on your side.

Despite a previous match between The Big Show and Mark Henry having destroyed the ring, WWE officials still wanted to give the fans the highly anticipated John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio match.

From the beginning this match was testy.

Ricardo Rodriguez tried to interfere on Del Rio's behalf after the bell rang, and Cena picked him up, put him over his shoulders, and put him directly in the path of Del Rio's offense.

This allowed Del Rio to take control early, as he proceeded to institute a dropkick and three suplexes in a row to a vulnerable Cena.

Cena was down for 5-8 seconds multiple times, as Del Rio hit him with a ruthless combination of body blows, before lifting up his battered body.

Del Rio looked like he had all of the momentum in the world, and would easily retain his belt. Yet, Cena isn’t described as one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation for nothing.

Cena led a furious comeback by forcing the fight into a backstage area, away from the broken-down ring. Cena used blunt objects to beat Del Rio and threw him through a wooden table.

Then, as Paul Brown of suite101 puts it, Del Rio got some help:

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Del Rio hurled Cena over the announcer table. As the commentators fled, Del Rio cleared the Spanish announce table.

Cena attacked him before he had the chance to use it, slamming his foot into the steel steps. He then set the steps next to the Spanish announce table and lifted Del Rio over his shoulders. He threw Del Rio off the steps and through the table.

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It sounds like Cena was about to win, right? Not so fast:

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Before the referee could start the count, The Miz and R-Truth ran out and attacked Cena. Del Rio rose to his feet as the referee started counting, and Cena made it up just before he reached ten. Another attack from Del Rio left both men down. Del Rio used the barricade to make it up where Cena failed, retaining the championship.

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Would have Cena pulled off the comeback without two guys crashing the party?

I think so.

It’s a travesty. The fans deserve a rematch. Cena showed his ability to stave off blow after blow and was wearing Del Rio down.

It was Cena’s match to lose at the end.

Let’s hope Cena and Del Rio meet again very soon, because next time the results will be different.

I’m putting a big asterisk next to this Del Rio victory.