Alberto Del Rio is back!

The big story going into Hell in a Cell last night was the mystery of who would be John Cena's open challenge opponent on the card. Dozens of names were put forward, but WWE made the decision not to make fans wait long as John kicked off the pay-per-view.

The man that answered pretty much proved a surprise to everyone.

Image credit: WWE.com.

Alberto Del Rio left WWE under less than favorable conditions, fired after punching a backstage worker after the worker allegedly made a racist joke. WWE showed zero tolerance and released him just weeks short of his contract expiration. Suddenly the four time World champion was gone from the promotion that made him a huge star.

But he didn't stay down. He quickly signed with AAA in Mexico where he would win their top singles prize, the AAA Mega Championship just a few months after his debut. He worked for Ring of Honor for the first few months of the year before joining Lucha Underground thanks to AAA's working relationship with the company. As Alberto El Patron he showed off how good of a face he could be, a role WWE desperately wants him to be in the future.

With a limited roster of Latin American stars, WWE has made no secret that they were actively seeking a world class Hispanic star. Rumors of Carlito's return swirled, but WWE found they could make a deal with a far bigger and stronger star in the form of Del Rio.

Zeb Colter also made his return at Hell in a Cell, forming a new international alliance of true North Americans, as he became Alberto's new manager and ring announcer. And while the match was short, it cemented Alberto as a man to beat as his return to WWE continues.

The rest of the Hell in a Cell card was an interesting mix of predictable finishes but solid matches, even if the consistently clean victories seemed strange, especially The New Day's continued winning streak against the Dudley Boyz. Seth Rollins and the Demon Kane put on a great battle while the main event of Undertaker and Brock Lesnar was the best of the three matches between the two men by far.

Strangely, only one major angle came out of the event to promote next month's Survivor Series. Bray Wyatt and his Wyatt Family attacked Undertaker after his loss to Lesnar, beating him down and carrying him off. Many suspect this is the start of this year's Survivor match with an Undertaker lead team taking on the combined Wyatt Family. I suspect they are right, but I also wonder if we might not see the retirement of the Undertaker on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his debut.

Hell in a Cell is worth a watch on replay for match quality alone. Give it a view on the WWE Network as the path to Survivor Series kicks off tonight.