WWE.com announced Sunday afternoon that John Cena will not be taking part in the 30-man Royal Rumble, as the 16-time World Champion continues to deal with a reported left ankle injury.

Cena "suffered" the injury on Monday Night Raw two weeks ago, per WWE.com, when Drew McIntyre put him in the ankle lock. Cena was clearly in pain once the hold was broken, and now he'll unfortunately be forced to sit out the big match tonight.

But as Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio recently pointed out, the injury is actually all in storyline, so that Cena can go back to filming his latest movie. Being only a part-time performer, Cena was never going to win the Royal Rumble anyway.

Up until today, there were 19 confirmed entries for the 30-man Royal Rumble, but without Cena, another superstar will get to take up his spot. There have been rumors that Kurt Angle and Bray Wyatt will be among the surprise entries, and with Cena now out, it'd be a surprise if WWE didn't wind up booking both now - having to clear Cena's spot at the last minute.

RELATED: JOHN CENA'S ANKLE INJURY REPORTEDLY FAKE, NEEDED REASON TO MISS ROYAL RUMBLE

via FOX Sports Asia

Cena won the Royal Rumble events in 2008 and 2013, so this year will officially deny him the chance of making it three. But Cena will surely compete at WrestleMania 35 this year, and perhaps he'll finally become a record-breaking 17-time World Champion.

The 41-year-old Cena has only wrestled sporadically over the past year, and with no current feuds in place, it'll be interesting to see what WWE sets up for him with WrestleMania looming.

What This Means

Cena's presence obviously makes every match and show more entertaining, so it's a huge disappointment that he won't be competing after all. But again, Cena was never going to win the Royal Rumble, so his absence shouldn't alter WWE's plans too much.

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