A few weeks ago John Cena declared that he would be competing in the men’s Royal Rumble match this year, but Cena will instead be sitting on the sidelines.
WWE recently announced that Cena injured his ankle during a fatal four way match at Raw, and said that his status for the match is uncertain.
Now the company has confirmed that John Cena will not be competing in the match. WWE posted the following announcement:
“As first revealed on WWE Now this afternoon, John Cena will not compete in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match tonight due to his ankle injury.
Cena first sustained the left ankle injury during the main event of the Jan. 14 episode of Raw. In that match, the 16-time World Champion faced Finn Bálor, Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre for the right to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at the WWE Royal Rumble event.
As seen in the video below, the injury occurred when McIntyre trapped Cena in the ankle lock submission hold. Cena then appears to favor his left ankle while leaving the ring after Raw went off the air.
The Cenation Leader was unable to sufficiently recover in time for tonight’s 30-Man Royal Rumble Match, and has been ruled out of the bout as a result.
Stick with all of WWE’s digital platforms and WWE Now for more coverage of the 2019 Royal Rumble event.”
