WWE News: Former World Champion Pulled From Tonight’s ‘Royal Rumble’ At Last Minute Due To Injury
One of the most chaotic and unpredictable matches of every WWE year is set to happen on Sunday night, but some shocking news came much earlier in the day. With just hours to go until the 2019 Royal Rumble, one of the most anticipated superstar entries is no longer in the match. It was made official on Sunday afternoon that John Cena has been pulled from the 30-man over-the-top-rope battle royal due to injury.
This comes off as some really bad timing for the 16-time World Champion as he just returned to WWE action at the beginning of the year. Cena had been off filming Bumblebee and promoting the release of the film as well, but it was time for him to get back in the squared circle on both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live.
The official website of WWE confirmed the news that had been floating around social media all week, and it wasn’t good. The injury first happened back on January 14, 2019, when Cena faced Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin in a Fatal 4-Way for the right to face Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble.
McIntyre locked in an ankle lock which obviously got the best of Cena, and it has now forced him out of this huge match.
BREAKING: @JohnCena is unable to compete in tonight's Men's #RoyalRumble Match due to injury. https://t.co/cHIMZHuE9U
— WWE (@WWE) January 27, 2019
With news of his injury, John Cena has been officially removed from the men’s Royal Rumble match which will take place on Sunday night. There has been no word on who will replace him in the battle royal, but all of the slots weren’t filled up yet anyway.
There are likely plenty of superstars on Raw, SmackDown, and in NXT who would love to step up and be in the match. Of course, there is always the chance of another mystery entrant or big surprise with which WWE could shock all of those watching.
There is a very good possibility that John Cena isn’t really injured and that he’s been written out of the match for storyline purposes. As reported by Inquisitr late last month, there was already a good chance that Cena wasn’t going to actually be in the Royal Rumble.
The former world champion returned to WWE right as the McMahon family said they were going to shake things up and ratings were falling as well. John Cena was actually scheduled to begin filming his new movie in Vancouver on January 20, and that is likely where he is now. Fans will be able to enjoy the Royal Rumble tonight, but they will have to do it without one of the biggest stars in the company.
