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While it had been common knowledge that The Rock was likely appearing at Survivor Series on November 20th in based on comments he has made, nobody expected that he would be wrestling on the show. Now, all of a sudden, it looks like that show will feature his in-ring return instead of Wrestlemania 28 in Miami on April 1st. The Rock vs John Cena had already been announced for the latter show on Raw the night after Wrestlemania 27 in Atlanta earlier this year.

With tickets for Survivor Series at Madison Square Garden in New York City going on sale this Saturday, WWE aired local commercials for tickets on area cable systems during breaks on tonight's Monday Night Raw Supershow. The commercial promoted that Survivor Series would be "The Rock's return to action" where he will "join John Cena" and other WWE stars on the card.

If that's too vague for you, the "more info" section of the official Survivor Series 2011 event page on Facebook says the following:

"Don't miss THE ROCK's return to action after 8 years at WWE Survivor Series Nov. 20 at Madison Square Garden in New York City! Tickets go on sale Sept. 10 on Ticketmaster.com!"

The Rock's last match was just about seven and a half years ago (seven years and eight months by the time Survivor Series comes around) at Wrestlemania 20). That rounds up to eight years.

If he's really coming back then, it remains to be seen who his opponent (or opponents if it's a tag match) would be. CM Punk has been pushing an issue between them so he would make sense. Otherwise, I have no idea.

It should be interesting to see how this story develops with the show two and a half months out and the apparent big announcement being made so nonchalantly.