WWE Survivor Series 2011: Letting The Rock Steal the Show a Lame Move by WWE

You have to hand it to WWE for coming up with the idea to pair John Cena with The Rock for a tag-team match at Survivor Series. Given how heated things are between the two of them, it was a stroke of genius.

Once the pairing was set in stone, the question became how things would be arranged for Cena's and The Rock's showdown with the Awesome Truth duo of The Miz and R-Truth. A simple victory for Cena and The Rock would have been one way to play it, but certainly that would have been too predictable.

Make no mistake, Sunday night's big match would have been way more intriguing if Cena and The Rock found a way to destroy their alliance.

That didn't happen. Instead, WWE chose to keep the alliance intact. The Rock had all the fun, but ultimately he and Cena were standing victorious over the suddenly not-so-Awesome Truth. Not surprisingly, the People's Elbow sealed the deal, as The Rock hit Miz with it to put an end to things.

Just like old times.

It wasn't until after the match that the alliance between The Rock and Cena was destroyed. Much to the delight of the Madison Square Garden crowd, Rock started running his mouth at Cena and eventually hit him with a Rock Bottom.

The message sent by WWE at that point was loud and clear: These two are still feuding, and The Rock still has the upper hand.

In other words, things shall keep on as they've been keeping on.

If we're being honest, this probably wasn't the worst way WWE could have chosen to play this match. I'm not sure exactly how it could have gone worse, but I trust there were plenty of bad ideas left on the floor of WWE's war room.

This was, however, the safest way WWE could have played this match. With The Rock returning to the ring for the first time in 2004, WWE took absolutely no chances. They knew the fans wanted to see The Rock kick ass and take names like he did back in his day, and that's what they gave them.

The only trouble is that many of these same fans would have preferred to see the storyline between Cena and The Rock take a new turn. As many have already opined, it would have been the perfect time for Cena to turn heel, and that didn't happen. Instead, he remained John Cena, and The Rock remained The Rock.

The second part is just as big a bummer as the first part. WWE owes a lot to The Rock, and it basically admitted as much by letting him have the run of the place on Sunday night. They could have chosen to knock him down a few pegs, thus making a point that WWE doesn't need the luxury of special appearances by The Rock. They clearly didn't have the guts to do something like that.

The only explanation for WWE choosing to play it safe, or at least the most logical explanation, is that they're saving the big twist (or twists) for the showdown between The Rock and Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII. The Survivor Series alliance was an appetizer, not the main course.

I can understand this, but it makes me wonder what the point was. If WWE wanted the WrestleMania showdown to be between the baddest mother-you-know-what on the planet and the most tiresome baby face in WWE, they really didn't need to bother putting them together on Sunday night. They had a golden chance to throw an I-am-your-father twist into the mix, but instead they chose to stay the course.

Here's hoping they know they have to come up with something amazing for WrestleMania. Another letdown simply will not do.