WWE Survivor Series 2011: 10 Reasons the Rock Shouldn't Return to the Ring

Finally, The Rock has come back to Survivor Series.

After seven long years, the most electrifying man in sports entertainment will return to the ring next month as he teams with his WrestleMania 28 opponent, John Cena.

Admittedly, I'm excited to see The Rock in a WWE ring. But wrestling before the granddaddy of them all?

No thanks. We don't need The Rock to wrestle then—he's already competing next year in Miami.

Here are 10 reasons why The Rock shouldn't return to the ring at this year's Survivor Series pay-per-view.

10. He's Partnering with His Enemy, John Cena

How many times have we see John Cena team with the guy he's feuding with?

He won two World Tag Team Championships with Shawn Michaels and Batista and two WWE Tag Team Championship with The Miz and David Otunga, and all of those came in the midst of big rivalries with those guys.

The whole "what will happen when Cena teams with his enemy?" deal is old, boring and repetitive.

Even if he's teaming with The Rock this time around, I can't see how it's going to be any different. It'll be a short-lived pairing in which the announcers wonder how they'll be able to work together when they're obviously not on the same page.

9. It'll Likely Be His Last WWE Appearance for a While

So, The Rock returns for one episode of Monday Night Raw and the Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Then what? He goes back to Hollywood—that's what.

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's going to be a total buzz kill to see The Rock come back for two shows only to disappear for the next couple of months after that.

I know he's a busy man, and he's got movies to film. But it just seems too random for him to return, and then go away. 

Other than the Survivor Series buy rate, there's no real payoff there.

8. He Doesn't Fit in the WWE's Current Storylines

If The Rock were appearing on every episode of Raw between Vengeance and Survivor Series, then the WWE would have enough time to build up to his match at Survivor Series.

But given that he's appearing on only one episode of Raw, the buildup is likely going to be, "Hey, John Cena, I don't like you. I'm facing you at WrestleMania and I just wanted to come back for this pay-per-view so we can team together and squash whoever we're facing."

OK, maybe not quite like that, but something along those lines.

Quite simply, The Rock just doesn't fit into the WWE's current main event storylines—the feud between Cena and Alberto Del Rio, the beef between Triple H and John Laurinaitis, etc.

So, why bring him back if he really isn't going to serve much of a role in any current angle?

7. Fans Will Still Buy the Pay-Per-View If He Only Appears

As evidenced by the WrestleMania 27 buy rate, an appearance by The Rock is going to generate a ton of interest. No matter what.

He doesn't have to wrestle.

Just seeing The Rock advertised to appear in a WWE ring in Madison Square Garden—where he made his debut with the company—is reason enough for fans to buy the Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Sure, the fact that he's wrestling might make the buy rate go up a bit, but it won't be an astronomical difference like the WWE brass think it will.  

6. It Will Overshadow the Rest of the Card

The Rock is teaming up with John Cena at Survivor Series, and that's all anyone will remember or care about.

If Mark Henry's wrestling The Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship or Team Orton is facing Team Rhodes, no one is going to care all that much because they're simply going to be waiting to see what happens with The Rock and Cena later in the night.

The entire card will suffer because no match is going to have the hype, the energy and the crowd involvement that The Rock-Cena bout will have.

That's fine with me for one show, especially one as big as WrestleMania, but being that The Rock is not a full-time wrestler anymore, he doesn't need to be stealing the spotlight on two of the WWE's "Big Four" pay-per-views.

5. He's Going to Squash Whoever He Wrestles

Do you really think that The Rock is going to take a pin or lose his match?

Hell no.

Especially since he's teaming up with WWE's resident Superman John Cena, it's an absolute inevitability that The Rock will completely squash whoever he gets in the ring with. That's a damn shame.

Let's say The Rock gets tagged in, hits Dolph Ziggler with the Rock bottom, eliminates him and then does the same to Jack Swagger.

All that accomplishes is burying two up-and-coming stars who should be going over at Survivor Series, not losing at the pay-per-view.

Fail. 

4. It Makes the Outcome of the Match More Obvious

If you have two of the most popular superstars in professional wrestling history teaming together in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match, you know that one of two things is probably going to happen.

Either John Cena will purposely get The Rock eliminated (or vice versa), or they will be the two surviving members of their team. That's about it.

They're not both going to get eliminated, they're damn sure not going to lose the match and they're not going to put anyone else ever.

That's far too obvious for my taste.

When I watch a "Big Four" pay-per-view, I do it because of the unpredictability that comes along with it. With The Rock and Cena teaming together, that goes right out the window. 

3. The Rock Can Work off Ring Rust on His Own Time

I've heard proponents of The Rock wrestling at Survivor Series say that he should do so to knock off the ring rust.

In the words of The Miz, really?

The Rock is one of the greatest performers in wrestling history, and though he will certainly have some ring rust, he can work that off in a private gym on his own time. It's not like performing in front of a packed crowd is an issue, so just get him in a ring in an empty building and let him train there.

Better yet, put him in the ring at Raw tapings and let him get some work in an empty arena.

This is The Rock we're talking about—he's not going to be nervous if he wrestles his comeback match at WrestleMania, and he's not going to be rusty as long as he's training hard behind the scenes.

So, why have him come back before the granddaddy of them all?

2. The Rock's Return Means Even More Boo Birds for Cena

Given that Survivor Series takes place in Madison Square Garden, the boo birds will already be out in full force for John Cena.

But couple that with the fact that he's going to be beefing with The Rock, and the crowd will shower Cena with boos no matter what he does.

That's fine...if you want to start a Cena heel turn. But I think we all realize by now that that's not going to happen.

So, all The Rock's appearance is going to accomplish is getting even more heat on Cena than he already has, when he's supposed to be the company's top baby face.

Call me crazy, but I'm not sure that's really a smart move.

1. It Will Take Away from His Match with Cena at WrestleMania 28

If for no other reason, I wish The Rock wasn't wrestling at Survivor Series because it will take away from his match with John Cena at WrestleMania 28.

You could originally bill the Rock-Cena match as "The Rock returns to the ring for the first time in seven years!" But that loses a lot of its luster when it changes to "The Rock returns to the ring for the first time in six months!"

Why would I be super excited about the WrestleMania match between two of the biggest names in WWE history when I already saw them wrestling in the ring together not that long ago?

I won't be.

That's the problem I see with Rock's Survivor Series in-ring return—it cheapens the hype and the excitement surrounding what should be considered the biggest match in WrestleMania history.