The Rock: Why The Rock's WWE Return at Survivor Series Is Good for WrestleMania

When I first heard that The Rock would be teaming with John Cena at Survivor Series, I had mixed feelings. While I was obviously excited at the prospect of The Rock returning to the ring, my initial reaction was that it would ruin his return at WrestleMania.

I suppose that I figured one of the most special aspects about The Rock’s WrestleMania return is that it would be his first match in eight years. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that the Cena vs. Rock match is going to be special no matter what.

Teaming with Cena at Survivor Series not only gives The Rock a chance to knock some of the ring rust off, but it will also afford the creative team an opportunity to further their feud with WrestleMania a few months in the future.

Also, had this Survivor Series match not happened, there is no telling when The Rock would have made another appearance. He has hardly been seen since this past WrestleMania, and I think a lot of people were resigned to him not returning until a month or so prior to WrestleMania XXVIII.

This match keeps the feud fresh in everybody’s minds, though, and adds another chapter as well. I think this was ultimately done by the WWE in order to increase buy rates for Survivor Series. It may seem like a selfish move on their part, but you have to give Vince McMahon credit for giving the people what they want while benefiting from it as well.

It also isn’t as if The Rock is going to give away too much in a tag-team match. It would be very easy for Cena to do most of the heavy lifting with The Rock just giving the viewing audience a little taste of what they can expect to see at WrestleMania.

Having The Rock and Cena team up will only increase interest in WrestleMania, which is essentially what the WWE works all year long to do. Also, I think it will serve as a platform upon which Cena can even the score so to speak.

The Rock has one upped Cena to this point thanks to what he did at WrestleMania. The Rock Rock Bottomed Cena, allowing The Miz to retain the WWE Championship. Cena hasn’t gotten proper revenge since, so attacking The Rock or walking out on him at Survivor Series would do wonders for his momentum.

Some are probably going to criticize the WWE no matter what it does, and I wasn’t thrilled at first either, but after further examination, having The Rock team with Cena at Survivor Series works from a storyline perspective, and it should be very lucrative for the company.