WWE put all their hope for this PPV into one thing: The Rock's return, and it clearly failed. The only other match on that card that had any promise was Punk v. ADR, and let's be honest with ourselves, that match wasn't going to draw a dime. Neither of those guys have ever really been huge draws.
I really thought WWE should have saved Rock's return for Wrestlemania, even before Survivor Series. That ppv hasn't been relevant since the 90's, and now WWE look like idiots for burning some of the relevance off Cena v. Rock and got next to nothing out of it. I thought the whole point of announcing that WM main event a year in advance was so that everyone would have to wait a whole year for "The Great One's" return to the ring, at least that's the impression I was under. I doubt anyone really cared who he was facing. But a few weeks before the Survivor Series ppv, WWE quickly changed their minds and I doubt many people who don't follow WWE every single week were even aware of it. That goes beyond simply bad booking, that was flat out bad decision-making by everyone in WWE's front office. The match should have never happened.
Then you have Miz.... lol. I honestly never heard a dumber reason to blame one wrestler for PPV buys, WWE certainly never had any problem with him in 2010 or 2011. I'm not exactly a huge fan of his either, but what the fuck was R-Truth doing in a PPV main event anyways? The guy is certainly over and gets some decent pops from time to time, but let's not pretend K-Kwik has ever put a single butt in a seat.
Of all the people in that main event, I'd actually say Miz had the least to do with the poor # of buys.
