WWE announces John Cena won’t wrestle in the Royal Rumble

It’s official!

Various rumors and reports have been floating around for a week now saying John Cena wouldn’t be working the Royal Rumble match at tonight’s (Sun., Jan. 27, 2019) pay-per-view at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. This after WWE reported he had suffered an ankle injury during a match that looked like it was worked to explain a potential absence.

Now, the company has reported he will indeed miss the Rumble he was previously announced for:

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.

He’s scheduled to begin filming a new movie next week.