WWE Survivor Series 2011: 7 Reasons John Cena & Rock Can Revitalize Wrestling

As was revealed at the end of last week’s Raw, John Cena will team up with The Rock to take on the team of Awesome Truth at the Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Taking place in the legendary Madison Square Garden, the match will be Rock’s first match for WWE since he teamed up with old partner Mick Foley to take on Evolution at WrestleMania XX in 2004. This match at Survivor Series will also serve as a preview of his match with John Cena at next year’s WrestleMania. Certainly, part of the built-in intrigue will be based around whether the two tag partners can get along and not turn on each other.  

While many have questioned the wisdom of allowing The Rock to wrestle before WrestleMania (thus, making that match less special), we nonetheless think the teaming of The Rock and John Cena at Survivor Series is a great idea and can revitalize a stagnant, critically-planned WWE product. With this in mind, here are just some of the reasons why.

It Will Help Get Vince McMahon Back on His Game

Erratic decisions, stop-start bookings, backstage tantrums…no, Vince McMahon has not been at his best lately. As the on-screen product spirals out of control, many fans are wondering if Vince has lost his golden touch, as he seems unable to provide an answer to the multitude of problems his promotion faces and seems increasingly out of touch with the business.

Ideally, the presence of superstar like The Rock will force McMahon to up his game and force him to think of some good angles and storylines worthy of a star of his magnitude. Hey, unlike everyone else, The Rock doesn’t need WWE, and if he isn’t happy with his on-screen angle, he’ll simply leave and go back to Hollywood.     

The Match Will Have Mainstream Appeal

Hey, we are dealing with TWO movie stars here. 

Well, OK, technically only one, since John Cena’s laughably-bad attempts at acting (The Marine, 12 Rounds, Legendary) usually get his movies laughed out of cinema theaters and at the bottom of Walmart’s bargain bin shortly after.

But The Rock is an established Hollywood star. Indeed, his last film, Fast Five (the fifth installment of the massively popular Fast and the Furious movie series) made a whopping $600 million. Prior to that, his biggest hit had been Disney comedy The Game Plan, a low-budget picture that hugely surpassed box office expectations and topped the US box office for several weeks.     

Certainly, with his A-list status, The Rock will find it easier to get on hugely popular talk shows (like The Tonight Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) and gossip magazines (US Weekly, People) in order to publicize Survivor Series and get the WWE brand name out there. Such publicity will surely help reinvigorate interest in the stalling product.

It Will Help Get Awesome Truth over as Super-Heels

Many have questioned whether Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) are really big enough heels to warrant a match with John Cena and The Rock. Even if they aren’t, certainly interacting with The Rock and being in the ring with him will surely help increase their star power and get them over with the fans as a big deal and a major threat.

The Rock's Promos

When The Rock came back earlier this year for the WrestleMania build up, one thing was clear: Dwayne Johnson had not missed a step as a talker. Indeed, his return speech on February 14th was so vastly superior to any other promo work in WWE that it was almost embarrassing. 

In an enthralling, hilarious speech, Rock effortlessly zinged the announcers, the other wrestlers and John Cena and garnered a huge reaction from the fans in attendance, most of who were eating out of the palm of his hand.

Even if the creative team cannot provide Rock and Cena with a good built-up, Johnson’s promos will provide all the dazzle and excitement that this feud requires and help revitalize a flagging product.

It Will Help a Struggling Raw

Let’s face it: WWE Raw has seen better days. A long-running corporate power struggle angle which makes no sense whatsoever, a risible walkout storyline with a dumb conclusion and COO Triple H being all over the show…yes, the current Raw product is an overbooked, awkwardly thrown-together mess.

Thankfully, though, the return of The Rock will force the creative team to move away from all the power struggle nonsense as we focus on the tag-team main event at Survivor Series. For fans who have grown tired on Kevin Nash breaking HHH’s heart/almost murdering HHH, this will be a huge relief. 

It Will Make John Cena Seem Like a Big Deal Again

In the past few months, WWE's biggest star, John Cena, has been taking a backseat on Raw as the HHH/Kevin Nash/conspiracy angle plays out.

He’s also been stuck in a lukewarm feud with new champion Alberto Del Rio that few cared about or liked. Thankfully, though, with this recent angle, Cena will once again seem like a big-time player on Raw and firmly establish himself as the company’s top star. 

People Will Buy It to See If the Rock and John Cena Can Get Along

As the impressive buy rate for this year’s WrestleMania perfectly illustrates, there is a huge interest from fans in the interaction between two of the biggest stars in wrestling history. Indeed, the build-up to WM focused mainly on the growing tension between Rock and Cena, and fans and pay-per-view buyers absolutely lapped it up, eager to see if the pair could get along.  

With this in mind, fans likely will be buying the Survivor Series pay-per-view in droves to see if these two will be able to put aside their differences for the greater good, or if their problems will boil over and the match will descend into chaos when the Rock and Cena turn on each other.