WWE Survivor Series 2011: The Rock's Early Return Helps WrestleMania

While the final angle between The Rock and John Cena at Survivor Series did not do much to sell anyone on their feud heading into WrestleMania, the performance of The Great One in the ring worked wonders for the big event in April. 

When Rock left WWE in 2004, he was slower and more technical in the ring. He didn't deviate from his repertoire much, if ever. He was very similar to Cena in that regard.

But this new version of The Rock looks like a much better athlete and equipped to carry a wrestling match, even though he hadn't been in the ring for seven years. He looked to be in much better physical condition and was moving around quicker than ever before. 

We still don't have a good idea on how well Rock is going to be able to sell, because he was not asked to take a lot of bumps last night, but the ones that he did take seemed to go fine.

Any talk of ring rust or an inability to keep up in the ring with younger workers evaporated after about 10 seconds into the match. 

Now that we know Rock is still able to go, the buzz for his first singles match should go through the roof. There is still a lot of work and story that has to be sorted out before we get to WrestleMania, and WWE has shown in the past that it can easily screw up a money angle, but we won't have to worry about match quality when he and Cena lock horns. 

Cena has never been a good worker, and at this stage of his career, it would be foolish to expect that to change, so he needs all the help he can get.

Rock is dedicated to making this angle and this match work. He wants to put on the best possible show for the fans, and he proved last night he is still in wrestling shape. 

When the fans in Madison Square Garden chanted "You still got it," they were right. He was very fluid and smooth with everything that he did. He still has some work to do in order to prove that he can work 15-20 minutes, but I have a lot more confidence in him doing that now than I did previously.

The Road to WrestleMania is rapidly approaching, and The Rock showing off what he can do at Survivor Series made the journey to that show a little less bumpy.