Survivor Series ending is just what the feud between The Rock and John Cena needed

Leading up to last night's (Nov. 20) Survivor Series event, most of the buzz was centered around the main event. Sure, the WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk were set to clash and World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry would defend his title against The Big Show but the main event is what captivated most of the fans' attention.

The Rock was finally going to wrestle again.

That in itself would have been enough to get people to tune in but there was also the added intrigue of The Rock teaming up against his WrestleMania 28 opponent, John Cena, that had to be taken into account. It wasn't just some random match that "The Great One" was plugged into. It was a match in which he would have to -- if he looked to be on the winning side at the end of the night -- rely on and assist someone he despised.

Wait, despised? I certainly didn't get that feeling from either man in the months building up to their tag match. Annoyance, sure. Irritation, probably. But hate? Absolutely not.

But that all changed last night when Cena ate a Rock Bottom and sheepishly skulked away from the ring while The Rock stood tall, proud, and insanely, mind-boggingly muscular inside the squared circle. 

It was exactly the shot in the arm this feud needed.

The rivalry -- which will bloom into a giant sequoia on April 1, 2012 -- started out as a tiny seed, planted by John Cena every time he brought up The Rock's name in an interview. Hollywood and desertion were common theme Superstar brought up to describe "The Brahma Bull" while assuring his fans that he wouldn't follow the same path and leave them high and dry.

When The Rock was announced as the guest host for this year's WrestleMania, he immediately began to lay into Cena who he viewed as soft and weak. It led to Cena hitting an Attitude Adjustment on "The Tooth Fairy" star before getting his comeuppance a week later at the big show when a Rock Bottom allowed The Miz to retain his title.

Starting a year-long build, their match for next year's WrestleMania in Miami was announced the following night on Raw. Since then, the heat on their feud has considerably cooled. It's essentially became The Rock not liking Cena because he's milquetoast and popular with the kids and Cena not liking The Rock because he absconded off to Hollywood.

Wrestling is built on violence. In this strange land, what applies in the real world doesn't cut it. In the real world, a problem is talked out, it's mediated and solved as rationally as possible. Inside the WWE ring, wrestlers let their fists do the talking for them.

Since April, there has been far too much chattering between the icon of the Attitude Era and the posterboy of today's WWE. When The Rock laid Cena out the first time with a Rock Bottom, it was payback for Cena's unprovoked -- at least physically -- attack the week before. Despite losing out on a chance to win the title, Cena's character likely saw that as his just desserts and that he had it coming. But that wasn't the case last night. Last night, it was The Rock who blindsided Cena.

Now Cera really has a reason to hate his WrestleMania opponent. And when he retaliates, The Rock will truly have a reason to despise him back. The Rock has proven he's still gold on the stick -- and proved he still had it inside the ring last night -- and when motivated -- much like in his feud with CM Punk -- Cena can be fantastic as well. With a little over four months remaining until they meet in Miami, the hard push has finally arrived.

And I'm excited as hell for it.