According to a report by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a decision was made the afternoon of 10/15 at the Monday Night Raw taping in Nashville that Ryback would be getting the nod to face CM Punk at Hell in a Cell for the WWE Championship. The decision was made after John Cena underwent an examination that day and although it was determined his right arm had “improved significantly”, doctors could not assure WWE officials that he would be ready by 10/28. Two different scripts were written over the weekend for Raw building things up either Cena or Ryback as the challenger. Ryback had been working with CM Punk in recent weeks at house show events in preparation had they needed to make the change as Punk vs. Cena was the prior plan.
Backstage notes on Hell in a Cell main event decision
