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To the victor, belong the spoils.
With an all-important win in a Beat the Clock Challenge on the Oct. 14 Raw, CM Punk’s wish of demolishing Paul Heyman could become reality at WWE Hell in a Cell. There will be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide for Heyman when he and his protector, Ryback, step inside Hell in a Cell to face The Second City Saint in a grudge Handicap Match.
“The Big Guy” and The Best in the World were already scheduled to collide at the event, but The Best in the World earned the added right to name a match stipulation after besting Ryback in the Beat the Clock Challenge. An elated Punk then opted to invoke WWE’s sinister structure and try to drag his mentor-turned-tormentor, Heyman, to “Hell” with him.
If Punk’s risky strategy of voluntarily entrapping himself with both Ryback and Heyman pays off, the WWE Universe may just witness the end of one of the most intense conflicts to play out in many years.
Punk slyly defeated Ryback at Night of Champions, but even he admitted the victory did not bring vindication. He has also confessed that his ongoing rivalry with Heyman is taking its toll.
“I’m damn near broken,” Punk told Renee Young after his Night of Champions win. Since splitting ways with Heyman, The Second City Saint has been slammed through tables, lacerated by Kendo sticks and blasted in the skull with a ladder. He has wondered aloud whether he’ll last long enough to seize the retribution he seeks.
See photos from WWE Battleground | Watch CM Punk exclusive
On Oct. 27, roughly one year after ending Ryback’s undefeated streak inside the Hell in a Cell, Punk looks to repeat history, only with the added bonus of getting his hands on Heyman inside an enclosed cage. Cathartic though it may be for The Straight Edge Superstar to envision trouncing his former advocate, he would be unwise to lose sight of the 291-pound Human Wrecking Ball who will be alongside with him.
What will happen when Punk faces off with Ryback and gets hold of Heyman in an encounter of his own creation? Will The Best in the World regret letting the numbers game work against him? Or will Punk succeed in turning Hell in a Cell into a walrus trap? To find out, watch WWE Hell in a Cell 2013 when it airs live on pay-per-view Sunday, Oct. 27, at 8 ET/5 PT.
MIAMI — Paul Heyman tried running from CM Punk, but in the end, the managerial mastermind simply couldn’t hide.
In a wild Handicap Hell in a Cell Match pitting the vainglorious advocate and his caged monster, Ryback, against The Best in the World, the outnumbered Punk scored some well-earned vindication, not only pinning The Human Wrecking Ball nearly 14 minutes in, but also finally dishing out punishment to the man who betrayed him months ago.
Check out photos from "Hell" | Full Hell in a Cell 2013 results
From the get-go, it was clear Heyman had no interest in being locked in the merciless structure with The Second City Saint. After Ryback entered the Cell by himself, Heyman rode to ringside in a motorized scissor lift. Microphone in hand, Heyman boasted about being “Satan himself” while the lift rose the extreme architect to the top of the Cell, where he remained for the duration of the match.
With Heyman glaring on from overhead, Ryback plowed into Punk with his high-power offense. “The Big Guy” tried squeezing the air from Punk’s lungs with a tight bear hug, and once he got hold of a kendo stick, the juggernaut teed off on The Straight Edge Superstar. Ryback repeatedly suplexed his outsized opponent into the Cell’s chain link wall and dropped Punk with the over-the-shoulder Boulder Holder.
Savvy as ever, Punk survived the early onslaught and fought back with kendo stick strikes of his own, as well as hauling off with his running knee in the corner. The point of no return for Ryback, however, may have been when Punk connected with a low blow, harkening back to their match from WWE Battleground, and then drove Ryback through a table with a flying elbow drop. After connecting Ryback’s chin to his knee with a GTS, Punk scored the pin.
Then, the real fun began.
With the match result no longer in doubt and a look of disbelief plastered on Heyman’s face, Punk pointed skyward. The crowd inside Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena, sensing what was to come, swelled with anticipation as Punk tucked another kendo stick into his trunks and began climbing the Cell.
With Heyman looking very much like a stranded walrus atop the structure, Punk stalked his prey. The advocate begged off but Punk would have none of it, and after planting an ominous peck on Heyman’s cranium, The Best in the World slammed the kendo stick into his ex-mentor’s midsection.
Unrelentingly, Punk continued striking Heyman with the cane in a cathartic moment for the entire WWE Universe. Pressing his hands together and nestling them next to his cheek, Punk signaled for the GTS, which the WWE faithful in Miami welcomed with chants of “Go to Sleep.”
For the second time Sunday night, Punk hit his finishing maneuver — this time, perhaps, being the most gratifying one of all. Showered with cheers and shouts of support, Punk stood over Heyman’s motionless body and embraced the moment.
Now that he has dealt yet another beating to his former advocate, has Punk’s war with Paul Heyman come to an end? Or, with the man who claimed to be The Best in the World suffering a major setback, is it only a matter of time before The Second City Saint again finds himself a target for Paul Heyman Guys?