WWE Survivor Series 2011 Preview: 13 Storylines That Need to Be Addressed

Finally, The Rock has come back to Survivor Series.

"The People's Champ" will team up with John Cena to take on The Miz and R-Truth on a pay-per-view that also includes a WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio and a traditional 5-on-5 match between Team Orton and Team Barrett.

But the matches aren't what we're here to talk about today. It's the storylines.

Though they pretty much go hand-in-hand, we're going to look more at the major angles that the WWE cannot forget on Sunday.

Here are 13 storylines that need to be addressed at this year's Survivor Series.

13. Aksana and Teddy Long

All right, enough with this crap already.

Aksana has been teasing Teddy Long and dropping sexual innuendos all over the place for months now, and it's led exactly nowhere.

I don't really care about this storyline, which is exactly why we need some sort of payoff at Survivor Series—so it can end. 

12. Michael Cole vs. Jim Ross

"The Michael Cole Challenge" on Monday's Raw was one of the worst opening segments in WWE history (until CM Punk came in) largely because it didn't accomplish anything.

We already knew that Cole was Raw's announcer and Ross wasn't, so this was apparently just the WWE's way of reminding us of that.

Not to mention that Good Ol' J.R. "lost" the challenge, only to replace Cole for a portion of the show while he sold his injuries from the attack by Punk.

My head hurts from thinking about all the logic gaps in this storyline.

I'm begging the WWE--please give us some closure on this terrible angle between Cole and Ross at Survivor Series.

11. Kelly Kelly's Place in the Divas Championship Picture

Eve will challenge Beth Phoenix for the Divas Championship on Sunday, but if you watched Raw over the last two weeks, you would swear that it was Kelly Kelly who was the No. 1 contender.

With the segment to reveal her Maxim spread last week and her win over Natalya this week, K2 has been at the forefront of the Divas division while Eve has essentially taken a backseat.

This can't mean nothing, can it?

If I were booking the Divas, I would have Kelly Kelly accompany Eve to the ring on Sunday, inadvertently cost her the match and then have Eve turn heel on Kelly Kelly.

It would be something fresh for the Divas division, and it would also give a storyline reason for why Kelly Kelly has been dominating the Divas air time despite not actually being involved in the title feud.

10. Why Brodus Clay's Re-Debut Keeps Getting Push Backed

Two weeks ago on Raw, Brodus Clay was supposed to re-debut. He didn't.

This week on Raw, he was supposed to return again. He didn't.

Someone's gotta explain.

While it wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if Clay's debut was cut on both occasions because of time constraints (like it was the first time), I also could see his return being pushed back for storyline purposes.

Given that Clay is expected to be "involved in the top storylines on Raw," maybe we'll see him make a huge splash on Sunday.

9. Why John Morrison and Not Zack Ryder?

As we saw on Raw, Zack Ryder has been asking fans and fellow wrestlers to sign his petition for a United States Championship match against Dolph Ziggler at Survivor Series.

So much for that.

WWE.com announced today that Ziggler will pull double duty on pay-per-view once again. But it won't be against Ryder--it'll be against John Morrison.

Are you serious, bro?

I don't get why the WWE would go with this petition storyline for Ryder if it wasn't going to lead to a US title match on Sunday.

But apparently it's not. 

Warning: The next slide contains spoilers, so click twice if you want to avoid 'em...

8. Christian's Health and Involvement in Team Orton vs. Team Barrett

WARNING: THIS SLIDE CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Here's part of a spoiler report from Tuesday's Smackdown tapings:

"

Christian came to the stage with a neck brace, boot, and crutch. He complained a lot and said even though he can't wrestle at Survivor Series, he'll be there to "inspire" Team Barrett. Due to his injuries and the uncertainty that his career holds, his dream is to wrestle at leaset "one more match." He got a lot of heat and then said good riddance and walked off stage.

"

And another part:

"

Sheamus and Randy Orton defeated Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes by DQ. Christian came out on crutches during the match and hit Sheamus with a crutch for the DQ. Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick on Cody, and Orton delivered the RKO to Barrett. Sheamus hit Cody with the Celtic Cross.

"

I thought for sure that Christian would just be off of TV for a while thanks to both his legitimate and storyline injuries, but it looks like he's going to play a big part in Team Orton vs. Team Barrett on Sunday.

I'd love to find out just how injured Christian really is and what his intentions will be at Survivor Series.

7. Mick Foley's Involvement in the Feud Between the Rock and John Cena

Mick Foley returned to WWE TV on Monday, and he instantly thrust himself into the feud between The Rock and John Cena.

Foley praised Cena continuously and then did a horrendously bad "This is Your Life" segment with him before The Rock came out and gave his former tag team partner a Rock Bottom.

Could it have been a one-time thing? Sure.

But I don't get the point of bringing Foley back for one appearance and having The Rock hit him with his finishing move if it's not going to lead to something else in the future.

6. The Absence of Kane

When Kane was injured by Mark Henry back in July, WWE.com posted an update on his condition:

"

According to WWE doctor Michael Sampson, Kane suffered a fractured fibula, which will keep him out of the ring for at least three months. “But because of potential complications with such a severe injury, it could also keep him out of action for an undetermined amount of time,” Sampson said.

"

I guess the WWE covered its tracks with that "undetermined amount of time" part, but it's been almost four months now, and Kane is still nowhere to be found.

The creative team probably just doesn't know what to do with him at the moment, but I'm hoping that at Survivor Series, we find out why the Big Red Monster has been sitting on the sidelines for so long.

A good way to get an update on Kane would be for him to make his return at Madison Square Garden.

5. John Laurinaitis Supporting Alberto Del Rio in His Match Against CM Punk?

On Monday's Raw, John Laurinaitis acted somewhat like a baby face when he told Alberto Del Rio that CM Punk keeps embarrassing him.

But the interim Raw general manager also hinted that Raw would be much better off if Del Rio, not Punk, was the WWE Champion. Del Rio responded by saying he'd be WWE Champion longer than Laurinaitis would be Raw GM.

OK, so what's this mean?

Laurinaitis seems to want Del Rio to win on Sunday, but Del Rio doesn't seem to want Laurinaitis as the Raw general manager.

It'll be interesting to see if Laurinaitis makes his presence known when Del Rio faces Punk for the title at Survivor Series.

And I think he will. 

4.

"The Barrett Barrage" appears to be at full force.

After months of wallowing in relative obscurity on Smackdown, Wade Barrett is quickly rising to the top of the card. With recent wins over Daniel Bryan, the WWE Tag Team Champions (Air Boom) and Randy Orton, it looks like the creative team is fully behind Barrett.

After all, Barrett--not Cody Rhodes or Christian--was chosen as the captain of his Survivor Series team, and he's been wrestling in main events on both Raw and Smackdown.

We know that we are in the midst of the "Barrett Barrage," but we won't know exactly what that means until this Sunday.

If Barrett is one of the, or the only, survivors for his team, then it becomes clear that the "Barrett Barrage" is something we should all pay attention to. 

3. Triple H's Injury

When Triple H was attacked by Kevin Nash on Raw a few weeks back, the WWE reported that Triple H would be out of action for six weeks with a "fractured vertebrae."

We haven't seen The Game on TV since then, and he's not expected to return for another couple of weeks. But Nash has been cutting promos on Triple H on each episode of Raw, and he's teasing that we could see Triple H at Survivor Series.

Although it looks like we won't get a match between the two until WWE TLC in December, we still need something to happen between Nash and Triple H on Sunday.

That doesn't mean a match, though.

Perhaps Nash just heads to the ring to cut another promo, Triple H (who's not 100 percent healthy) interrupts him and the two brawl to setup that bout at TLC. 

2. Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry and the World Heavyweight Title

Daniel Bryan has gone from SmackDown afterthought to being a huge piece of the World Heavyweight Championship feud Mark Henry and The Big Show.

And we're all wondering why.

I'm of the belief that there are three possible reasons why Bryan is getting involved in Show and Henry's rivalry: 

1. This is the WWE's way of teasing that Bryan will cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Henry at WrestleMania 28.

2. Bryan will cash in on Henry at Survivor Series.

3. Bryan will cash in on Big Show at Survivor Series.

No matter what, though, we should find out on Sunday why Bryan keeps sticking his nose in Henry's business.

1. The Beef Between the Rock and John Cena

I don't know why, but I have this nagging feeling that the WWE will almost completely ignore the beef between The Rock and John Cena at Survivor Series.

That is, I could easily see The Rock and Cena working together throughout the whole match, defeating The Miz and R-Truth and then shaking hands afterward.

Why? Because it's the WWE.

That being said, I really hope that doesn't happen. We have to see some intense animosity between Cena and The Rock, and we have to see one guy either cost the other guy the match or hit him with his finisher afterward.

We can't have these two act like best friends, a la CM Punk and Triple, just because they want to win.