WWE Survivor Series 2011 Recap: The Rock returns, lays out John Cena

WWE brought the Survivor Series to their home base of Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, November 20, 2011 and the MSG crowd was on fire throughout. The night was filled with amazing action as The Rock and John Cena defeated Awesome Truth and CM Punk captured the WWE Championship. The Rock also sent a message to John Cena, hitting him with a Rock Bottom to close out the show.

WWE Survivor Series 2011 Photo Gallery

• The MSG crowd was on fire to begin the night, with a loud "We Want Ryder" chant drowning out the entrance music for both Dolph Ziggler and John Morrison. It was certainly apparent the crowd didn't want to see Morrison and would have much preferred to see hometown boy Zack Ryder.
• Ziggler and Morrison started off slow but evolved into a fantastic matchup with Ziggler retaining the US Title. Ziggler then got a little microphone time, which led to Ryder coming out to a massive ovation and taking Ziggler out.
• Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres had one of the better Divas matches in recent memory. Phoenix picked up the win with a Super Glam Slam from the top rope in an amazing spot. Eve often gets overlooked but she certainly does have a total package as she is beautiful and can also work in the ring.
• Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes were the survivors for their team in a big win over Randy Orton and his team. The match seemed to go off the rails as Sin Cara was injured during a dive to the outside. According to WWE, Sin Cara will be out 6-9 months after surgery for a ruptured patellar tendon in his knee. With the injury changing plans, it seemed as though they worked on the fly and the match came off very well. Ziggler was eliminated early as it seemed as though they decided he had put in enough for the evening. Ziggler is quickly becoming one of the better workers in the business and his climb up the ladder is moving at a rapid pace.
• Mark Henry retained his World Heavyweight Championship by getting himself disqualified for a low blow against Big Show. WWE made it a point to show fans that the ring was being reinforced after these two collpased it last month. They had a great big man match with Big Show hitting an amazing elbow from the top rope. Post match, Henry grabbed a chair to try and break Big Show's ankle but wound up having the tables turned on him, with Big Show returning the favor. Henry was great in selling that the ankle was broken, literally screaming at the trainer that it was broken and telling the trainer to leave it alone repeatedly. Great work from Henry.
• CM Punk blew the lid off of Madison Square Garden by capturing the WWE Championship by submission over Alberto Del Rio. The crowd exploded when it was announced that CM Punk had his own ring announcer ala Ricardo Rodriguez, WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel. After Punk and Del Rio put on a great show and Del Rio tapped out to the Anaconda Vice, Finkel's announcement of Punk as the "NEEEWWWW!" WWE Champion brought the house down and sent Punk into the stands to celebrate. A great moment for the New York faithful.
• In the main event, The Rock returned to the site of his last match 7 years ago to team with rival John Cena against Awesome Truth. The match was a spectacle as fans were waiting to see when The Rock and Cena would inevitably collide. It was teased throughout the match but nothing happened until The Rock got the pin after hitting the People's Elbow on The Miz. 
• After the main event, Cena started to walk away until The Rock goaded him back into the ring to show him what a real star could do. Both men hit the ropes to garner adulation from the fans, with The Rock getting a rousing ovation and Cena being shouted down by the MSG fans. After a little more jarring back and forth, Cena went to leave, only to be turned around and planted with a Rock Bottom. Cena made his way up the ramp and both men kept talking with Cena mouthing "No more nice guy." This rivalry will only heat up as we get closer to April and Wrestlemania in Miami.
• Overall this was a fantastic show. My opinion is that a crowd can make or break an event. The WWE's loudest crowds reside in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston. It would behoove them to try to schedule important events at these venues, be it pay-per-views or television tapings. If they want to get a message of excitement across to their entire fan base, the best resource they have is the natural ones sitting in the seats.
• Check out the full Survivor Series 2011 Photo Gallery.

For up to the minute details on the fallout of the Survivor Series, be sure to check out WWE.com.

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