In a move that screams desperation, WWE is reportedly putting the pressure on The Rock to actually wrestle a match at the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view, which is scheduled for Nov. 20 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

He's already been advertised strongly with purposely ambiguous wording that makes it seem as though he'll be in action that night and now it seems the company is actually trying to fulfill that promise. After all, tickets for the event sold out in under 90 minutes. They would have sold out quickly no matter what, but it's obvious The Rock is one of the few remaining stars in the business that can really move the needle just by his presence on a card.

Here's the word from today's (Sept. 14) Figure Four Weekly:

While it's not official, WWE is trying very hard to get Dwayne Johnson, AKA the Rock, to agree to wrestle at Survivor Series. The commercials that have been cut strongly suggest he will be wrestling. Initially, the idea was for him to appear and shoot an angle, but not step into the ring until his match with Cena at WrestleMania. Of late, the plan has changed, though at press time I don't believe Rock has committed to a match. Most likely it would be a multi-man affair, perhaps a Survivor Series-style match with Rock and Cena each captaining a team, and both being eliminated via countout after a brawl. Whether or not he should wrestle was a controversial topic of discussion internally this week.

After showing so much promise in the early stages of the summer with CM Punk and his shoot style angle of bailing on WWE with the championship at Money in the Bank, interest has sputtered since Triple H and Kevin Nash entered the picture for an angle that started at SummerSlam after Punk quickly lost the title to Alberto Del Rio, who has since gone on to feud with John Cena.

In fact, ratings on Raw this past Monday night dropped to a 2.7 with 3.8 million viewers, some of the lowest numbers they've had in a long time. And with Monday Night Football having just started its season, the future looks bleak for WWE's flagship program.

Unless, of course, a certain superstar can be convinced to get back in the ring earlier than had been anticipated, in which case they can start the build to it almost immediately. Would it kill some of the allure of the match between Cena and Rock at WrestleMania? That's quite possible and from the internal struggle with the decision makers being unable to make up their mind, they obviously understand it would be a major risk to give away Cena vs. Rock on pay-per-view, in any capacity, before 'Mania next year.

Desperation is a stinky cologne, though, and WWE reeks of it after failing so miserably to build on such a hot summer.