WWE announced that John Cena is questionable for Sunday’s Royal Rumble match yesterday before Raw. Cena had declared for the Rumble, his second straight, but a reported ankle injury has put his inclusion in the match in doubt.
According to comments made on Wrestling Observer Radio this morning, however, there was never any plan for Cena to wrestle in the Rumble. WWE had always planned for him to pull out due to injury.
“My impression is that Lars Sullivan was supposed to injure (Cena),” Meltzer said. “That didn’t happen so they created an injury and he’s not going to be in the Royal Rumble. I don’t know that for sure but John Cena’s injury a work, though.”
Another factor leading some to believe Cena was never going to be in the Rumble is that he is scheduled to start filming a movie on Sunday. It’s possible Cena would not be needed on the 1st day of shooting, however.
Original Plans For Lars Sullivan and John Cena
The situation involving Lars Sullivan is unclear at the moment. Vignettes involving the Superstar had been airing since before the TLC PPV. Reports are Vince McMahon is very high on him as well. According to Dave Meltzer, Sullivan injuring Cena was a likely angle the company was going to run with.
Although not confirmed, Sullivan is said to be dealing with a personal and private issue that caused him to be unable to make his debut recently. WWE is said to be supporting him at this time. He has not wrestled since November 17th on the preshow for Takeover: WarGames II.
