Who will Punk defend against at Hell in a Cell?

If you watched RAW this past Monday night, you know that WWE Champion CM Punk was given an ultimatum. Vince McMahon, the CEO of WWE had just fought Punk in what was supposed to be a match, but turned out to be more of a street fight than anything else. Towards the end, Ryback, who has been crossing Punk’s path as of late, hit the ring on behalf of McMahon, causing Punk to flee in the process. Before he was able to get too far, however, John Cena appeared and threw Punk back in the ring, where he received a Meat Hook from Ryback. Just as Ryback was about to connect with Shell Shocked, Punk escaped and attempted to leave the building through the crowd.

Before he got too far up the steps, McMahon got a microphone and told Punk he now had a choice to make: at Hell in a Cell, he could either face John Cena or Ryback in a HIAC match with the WWE title on the line, and he had a week to make his decision. That gives Punk until this coming Monday Night RAW to make his decision, and if he is unable to do so, Vince McMahon will make the decision for him.

So, who should Punk face? On one hand, Ryback is a fresh face to the main event scene, he’s never had a title match in his time in WWE yet, and he’s never faced Punk in any kind of match, let alone Hell in a Cell. This would be a completely new match that we’ve never seen before, something that is harder and harder to come by in this day and age. At the same time, while Ryback is still planned for a major push, Vince and Triple H are planning a slow build for him, which should see him continue an Golderberg-like undefeated streak for a while longer. I don’ t see him winning the title just yet, and at the same time, I don’t see Punk ending his undefeated streak either.

John Cena is a much safer choice, as Punk has faced him many times, and likely won’t be dropping the belt to him either. However, there is a problem with going with Cena. As of this writing, he has still not been medically cleared to return to action following his shoulder surgery. Now, he still has about 2 weeks until the PPV, which could be enough time, but that’s no guarantee.

Having said that, I have a prediction, and it’s a very likely scenario. Not guaranteed, but still very likely. Cena gets cleared before the PPV, and next week, when it’s time for Punk to make his decision, he decides not to. So, Vince McMahon makes the decision for him, and decides that Punk will defend the title against both men in a Triple Threat Hell in a Cell Match. With this scenario, Ryback can still stay involved in this storyline, and still stay undefeated even if he doesn’t win the match. Punk could walk away retaining, but by pinning Cena, thus leaving Ryback out of the end of the match and technically keeping his undefeated streak in tact. This also helps keep Punk’s momentum going towards the Royal Rumble in January, where he will be the likely one defending the WWE title against The Rock.