It turns out that John Cena won’t be competing in this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble Match. WWE made the news official on Sunday afternoon as the storyline reason is the ankle injury that WWE recently reported on earlier this week. WWE had Cathy Kelley and Mike Rome make the news public in this video:
Also, longtime pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer noted on a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that people in WWE creative never expected Cena to work the Rumble as well as the injury is not legit.
In WWE’s announcement, the company noted that Cena suffered the injury when Drew McIntyre had him in the ankle lock on an episode of Monday Night RAW a few weeks back. They wrote, “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.”
Talents confirmed for the match include: R-Truth, Randy Orton, Titus O’Neil, Rey Mysterio, Mustafa Ali, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Elias, Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal, WWE Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Xavier Woods, Jeff Hardy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e40LGDfRpjw