The 2011 Hell in a Cell was the third annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on October 2, 2011, at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Seven matches took place at the event. The event received 182,000 pay-per-view buys, down from 210,000 buys the previous year. Eight matches took place at the event, including one match on the pre-show. In the main event, Alberto Del Rio defeated CM Punk and defending champion John Cena in the first-ever Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match to win the WWE Championship. The event also featured a second Hell in a Cell match in which Mark Henry defeated Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Production Background Hell in a Cell is a gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) event produced annually in October by WWE since 2009—in April 2011, the promotion ceased going by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, with "WWE" becoming an orphaned initialism. The concept of the show comes from WWE's established Hell in a Cell match, in which competitors fight inside a 20-foot-high roofed cell structure surrounding the ring and ringside area. The main event match of the card is contested under the Hell in a Cell stipulation. The 2011 event was the third event under the Hell in a Cell chronology and was held on October 2 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the first Hell in a Cell event held since the end of the first brand split in August. Storylines Hell in a Cell featured professional wrestling matches which involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The main rivalry heading into Hell in a Cell involved the WWE Championship. On September 18, 2011, John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio at Night of Champions to become the ten-time WWE Champion. On the following night's episode of Raw, WWE COO Triple H announced the first-ever Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match, in which Cena would defend his title against Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk, giving Punk the rematch clause he never received. Another rivalry involved the World