WWE Survivor Series 2011: Why John Cena Needs the Rock

One thing is for sure: John Cena’s dramatic announcement of last week’s Raw that he was calling in The Rock to take on the team of Awesome Truth at the Survivor Series pay-per-view helped reinvigorate his stagnant WWE career.

Indeed, while the presence of Hollywood star, and former WWF legend, Dwayne Johnson is a huge boost to WWE at this time (the company has been struggling with falling buy rates and ratings, as well as a critically panned product in recent months), he serves a greater aid to Cena and will be able to help him a multitude of ways.  

First of all, it brings the stale Cena back to relevance on Raw. Prior to this week’s announcement, Cena had been stuck in a lukewarm feud with new champion Alberto Del Rio that few cared about, and playing a backseat to power struggle angle between John Laurinaitis and COO Triple H, which was promoted as the real main event angle on Raw. 

Weirdly, Cena had almost been coming off as a supporting player on WWE’s flagship show—certainly not a position you want the biggest star in your company in. 

It did not help that the once-promising conspiracy angle fell apart shortly apart after the walkout storyline, and is now mainly focused on cringe-worthy HHH/Kevin Nash melodrama (“Does he has a pulse?!” screamed one over-acting extra while he tended to an unconscious HHH, apparently thinking he was on Grey’s Anatomy or House, rather than WWE Raw). 

Hey, not only has Cena been playing second fiddle to another storyline, it was a very bad storyline.

Not that Cena has been totally blameless himself. Indeed, with one cheesy, unfunny joke after another, lethargic in-ring performances (although his performance at Vengeance in the Last Man Standing with Del Rio was very good), it seems Cena has been phoning it in as much as the writers have.

Granted, he hasn’t had much to work with (and the Raw scripts frantically getting changed on an hourly basis probably doesn’t help matters) but considering how good we have Cena be, his latest efforts have undoubtedly been a disappointment.

Due to his partnership with The Rock, the spotlight will once again be on Cena as we see his unsteady partnership with ‘The Great One’ play out in the run up to the event and at the show itself.  And the presence of the tremendously talented Hollywood star should force Cena to up his game, lest he get horribly upstaged.

The Rock will also help bring some much-needed “coolness” to Cena’s juvenile character.  It’s no secret that Cena’s fan base consists mainly of women and young children (who else do you think is buying all that ghastly merchandise?), while most of the young adult males boo him vociferously, finding his babyface character corny, achingly bland and irritating.

Thankfully, The Rock, who is hugely popular with fans of all ages, will surely give Cena the rub and help soften many of the male fans' stances towards him. Certainly, many fans may take the viewpoint that if The Rock, a WWE legend, respects Cena enough to team up with him, Cena can’t be all bad.

Teaming with Rock at Survivor Series, it is going to be very difficult for fans in attendance to boo him like usual, especially going up against loathed heels R-Truth and Miz.

The team of Rock and Cena will also help publicise their one-on-one singles match at WrestleMania next year. Certainly, the seeds of dissension can be planted in the run up to Survivor Series, with the heelish duo fanning the flames, and John will left wondering just whether or not he can trust his partner or not.

It should be a gripping storyline, ones that wrestling fans, bored of convoluted, illogical angles on Raw lately, will love to sink their teeth into.