Braun Strowman Replacing John Cena for WWE Royal Rumble

John Cena out. Braun Strowman in.Shortly after announcing an ankle injury will keep Cena from [...]

By Jeremy Snodgrass

John Cena out. Braun Strowman in.

Shortly after announcing an ankle injury will keep Cena from competing at the Royal Rumble, WWE let the world know that Strowman will step in his place. Before this, WWE left the door open by giving Cena's availability the "questionable" tag. However, per this news, it looks like Cena will indeed miss the classic WWE event.

But this is professional wrestling, and misinformation has never been this trendy. Cena could enter at #28 and no one would really be surprised. However, Cena is expected to miss the new few months due to him needing on the set of Playing with Fire.

For Strowman, this would end any concerns about his elbow. Just a few weeks ago he was set to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, but after a limo-flipping temper tantrum, Vince McMahon stripped him of the match. Conventional wisdom said that WWE calling an audible due to Strowman's recently-operated-on-elbow, but that may not be the case.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE didn't want to hand Strowman such a high-profile loss to Lesnar. Strowman, while an undeniable part of WWE's future, has lost a little bit of momentum in recent months, and getting denied by Lesnar could do serious damage to his character's credibility. And from this perspective, WWE is set on having Lesnar defend the big red belt at 'Mania, so Strowman needed new plans. And dominating the Rumble looks to be what's in store for Strowman,

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BREAKING NEWS: @cathykelley reports that #BraunStrowman will be replacing @johncena in the Men’s #RoyalRumble Match!

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