WWE Survivor Series 2011: 10 Ways John Cena Can Benefit from the Rock

John Cena is teaming up with The Rock at Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden.

Yeah, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.

Though I’m still a little disappointed that The Rock will get in the ring before his match with Cena at WrestleMania 28, that disappointment is slowly transitioning to excitement.

Why? Because the WWE has a huge opportunity here—not just because The Rock’s appearance will generate interest in the WWE product and a ton of pay-per-view buys, but because it could do even more for Cena than it will for the WWE.

Here are 10 ways that The Champ can benefit from teaming with The People’s Champ at Survivor Series.

10. Being out of the WWE Championship Picture

If The Rock wasn’t coming back for Survivor Series, do you really think that John Cena would be out of the WWE Championship picture?

Hell no.

The reason Cena isn’t competing for the WWE title at the pay-per-view is because the company wanted to pair him up with The Rock, and it would be pointless for Cena to hold the strap when he’s wrestling in a tag team match.

That’s a good thing for Cena, though.

We all like to complain about how he’s always competing for the WWE Championship, but thanks to The Rock’s involvement at Survivor Series and WrestleMania, it appears as if Cena is not going to be the titleholder or No. 1 contender anytime soon.

9. Cena Can Start Rapping Again

Some like John Cena’s rapping, and some think it’s absolutely ridiculous.

But after dealing with “Super Cena” for the last four or five years, I’m starting to realize what a welcome change it would be to see Cena start dropping lines again. While he’s obviously not the greatest rapper ever, I’ll admit that he usually is pretty clever with his rhymes, and the crowd typically pops for them.

If you think about it, Cena ripping on The Rock in rap form is just like you free-styling with your friends. You destroy your friend with a good flow, and everyone watching says, “Ohhhhhhhh!!!”

They start to cheer you, and you feel really good about yourself as long as you win the battle in the end.

Well, if Cena can hit The Rock where it really hurts and get the best of him in that rap promo battle, then it’s going to make Cena look a lot better to some of the older fans.

8. Being the Best Wrestler in a High-Profile Match?

John Cena is 10 times better in the ring than most people give him credit for, but there is some merit to those who say that his best matches come against his best opponents.

In my opinion, the three best matches of his career came against the best wrestler of all time, Shawn Michaels, (on Monday Night Raw in 2007) and arguably the best wrestler in the WWE today, CM Punk (Money in the Bank and SummerSlam).

So, how will Cena perform when he’s in the ring with The Miz, R-Truth and especially The Rock?

While The Rock obviously isn’t a slouch in the ring, he’s never really mentioned among the great in-ring competitors in WWE history because he was more known for his flair and charisma than his wrestling skills.

Thus, both Survivor Series and WrestleMania will give Cena a chance to prove that he can put on an epic match without it coming against one of the top in-ring technicians in the business.

7. Performing as the 2nd Most Popular Star for Once

Whenever John Cena feuds with a full-time wrestler on the current WWE roster, he is always the bigger star of the two.

Bigger than CM Punk. Bigger than Randy Orton. Bigger than everyone.

But Cena’s feud with The Rock is a rare opportunity for him to prove how well he can perform against someone who’s an even bigger star than he is—because, make no mistake about it, The Rock is more widely known than Cena may ever be.

Can Cena deal with being Option B for the first time in six years or so?

I guess we’ll find out.

6. Out with the PG Rating

In case you couldn’t tell by the last few times he was on WWE TV, The Rock can say just about whatever he wants as long as he’s not dropping F-bombs.

The WWE doesn’t filter his promos because that would be such a detrimental change to his character, and The Rock that wrestling fans fell in love with is the one who curses like a drunken sailor when he’s on the mic.

It’s time for John Cena to do the same.

If The Rock is going to say b*tch or a** on Monday Night Raw, then Cena better it, too. And when—yes, when—he does, we’re all going to be more excited than this kid.

5. He Can Develop More of an Edge to His Character

John Cena’s current character is about as edgy as that giant purple dinosaur we know as Barney.

It’s all bright colors, “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect,” never backing down from a challenge, doing everything for the WWE Universe. Blah, blah, blah.

Needless to say, it’s getting old. Really old. Really fast.

When Cena’s feuding with The Rock, however, Cena will have no choice but to drop the corny humor and try to go toe to toe with The People’s Champ in backstage skits, during promos and even in the ring.

It won’t be easy, but I fully expect Cena to stop with all the campy crap and show a bit of an edge, which is something he’s rarely done over the last several years.

4. He Can Begin Showing Heelish Tendencies

When The Rock and John Cena team up—especially because their match will take place in Madison Square Garden—it won’t be Cena who’s getting the majority of the cheers.

Yeah, the women and children will go nuts for him. But it will be The Rock who’s the bigger baby face of the two.

That could wind up being great for Cena, who for once in his life could actually show some heelish tendencies. Get pissed when the crowd boos him, refuse to tag in if The Rock is in trouble, do whatever he wants.

But if the fans want to treat him like a heel, then he can damn sure act like one. That doesn’t necessarily mean he has to turn heel, though.

Guys like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and CM Punk have excelled in that anti-hero/tweener role because they’re baby faces with very heelish tendencies.

Cena could do the same.

3. So Long, Super Cena

John Cena’s alter-ego—known by us fans simply as “Super Cena”—tends to destroy anyone in his path through some sort of magical force.

As proven by the Vengeance pay-per-view, it can take as many as four guys—Ricardo Rodriguez, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and R-Truth—to put a stop to Super Cena’s destruction.

Well, guess what? I don’t think we’ll be seeing much of Super Cena as long as The Rock is around.

The Rock isn’t going to let Cena steal the show at Survivor Series with one of his magnificent comebacks, and he’s damn sure not going to allow Cena to become Super Cena in their match at WrestleMania 28.

And if Cena can avoid those incredible comebacks for a while, then he’s probably going to gain some new fans who were previously fed up with his B.S. “Superman” persona.

2. Step It Up in the Promo Department

For my money, The Rock is the greatest mic worker in WWE history. Hands down.

There have been others who have been almost as great, but no one has or had the charisma, the facial expressions and the ability to captivate an audience quite like “The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment.”

John Cena is a very good talker, but he’s not Rock good.

When he’s teaming with The Rock, however, he’ll have to be, because the last thing Cena wants as he heads to WrestleMania is to get owned by The Rock on the mic.

I do think, though, that The Rock will cause Cena to step up his game in the promo department, and I’m definitely not going to complain if that happens.

1. Turning Heel

I’d be 100 percent fine with John Cena simply showing some heelish tendencies, but—and I usually hate this phrase—I would absolutely mark out if he wound up turning full-fledged heel at Survivor Series.

After all, there may never be a better opportunity to do so.

The Madison Square Garden crowd will hate Cena, they’ll love The Rock and there’s no bigger baby face on the planet—at least one who’s still willing to wrestle—for Cena to feud with.

If the WWE brass are ever going to turn Cena heel, then they’re going to have to do it at some point during his feud with The Rock.

Though turning Cena to the dark side may cause him to lose some fans below the age of 10 and it will also hurt merchandise sales, it’s going to gain him a ton of respect among older fans and give him the character refresh he so badly needs.