WWE Rumors: Will Ryback Be The Key to Survivor Series?

Two weeks ago on Monday Night Raw, WWE owner Vince McMahon returned and waved his magic wand to transform next week's Survivor Series pay-per-view into a significant event with major stakes. If Team John Cena manages to defeat Team Authority, then The Authority is out of power for good.

At that time, the teams had yet to be completed. Team Cena consisted of the 15-time champion and the current Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler, while Team Authority contained Seth Rollins and Kane. Randy Orton seemed to be a lock for the Authority's team, but he decided he had had enough of Rollins and the rest of the Authority and attacked them. All that earned him was a Curb Stomp on the steel steps, which allows Orton to go film the movie he has scheduled.

Slowly, the pieces started to fall into place. The Authority scouted Mark Henry, Rusev, Ryback and Cesaro. Big Show said he would join Cena's team in a heartbeat. There were no official commitments, but fans could start penciling in the names.

This week's edition of Raw, though, was all about Ryback, who had just returned from an injury. Henry officially joined Team Authority, Rusev would sign up later in the night and Luke Harper decided to be a team player and join. Cena, on the other hand, had nobody because The Authority was scaring away all potential teammates. They even took out Jack Swagger, the one man who agreed to join Cena's side. But Big Show and Sheamus joined up, which means Cena's team was just one man short.

Much of the three hours of the show focused on Ryback and his decision at the top of the show to side with The Authority. Almost immediately, we saw the cracks in the team. Kane, Rollins and Henry each came in to talk to Ryback but each conversation was filled with tension, as if Da Big Guy would just decide "screw this" and bail at any moment.

And sure enough, that's what happened in the main event when Ryback faced Cena. Kane got impatient when Ryback didn't finish the job so he assaulted the 15-time champion. Ryback, understandably perturbed by this, got in Kane's face and chaos ensued. Da Big Guy laid out members of the Authority and walked backstage. Cena applauded him the entire way, but it's unclear if Ryback has officially joined Cena or if he just decided The Authority wasn't worth the trouble.

Speculation ran wild after Raw went off the air about Ryback's role in the Survivor Series match. Some think he would officially join Team Cena next week, while others think he would not be in the match at all. But it would make little sense for WWE to devote almost an entire episode of Raw to Ryback and then just toss him out of the main event. He surely has to be involved in some capacity, and the one vacant slot on Team Cena has his name all over it.

Others are expecting Orton to return and RKO everybody in the match, which could happen depending on how his schedule unfolds. But Ryback could end up as the key to this entire thing. Maybe he doesn't officially join Team Cena until the night of the pay-per-view, almost like a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble. Maybe Team Authority takes out everyone but Cena in the match, and Ryback comes out to even the score a bit.

WWE can take this in numerous directions, but it's clear that they need to use Ryback in some capacity because the U.K. crowd loved him on Monday. Raw is over, and so is Da Big Guy!

Do you think Ryback could play an important role in the Survivor Series match? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.