10 WWE PPVs Which Drew Lower-Than-Expected Buyrates (And Why)
6. Survivor Series 2011 - 312,000 Buys
On the episode of Raw immediately following WrestleMania 27, John Cena and The Rock agreed to meet in a match at WrestleMania 28. It would be The Rock's first bout in eight years, but at some point, someone realized the fact the match itself was the draw more than the comeback, and WWE could milk another buyrate by putting The Rock in the ring before 'Mania.
With R-Truth and The Miz getting a push as a top heel force in WWE, it was inevitable that they'd run afoul of Cena. When the prospect of a match was floated, Cena agreed - so long as his partner could be his future opponent, The Rock. The match was made for Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden.
Unfortunately, nobody wanted to see The Rock and Cena team - they wanted to see them fight. Though the 312,000 buys for the show was high for a Survivor Series of the era, it was less than a quarter of the number who'd pay to see them go one-on-one at WrestleMania. It also didn't helped that Truth and Miz were booked as jokes, losing to Cena in a handicap match on the lead-up to the show.
Given The Rock's high salary, this show actually lost money for the company.