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What's the story?
After officially confirming John Cena's withdrawal from the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, WWE has now announced that former Universal Championship contender Braun Strowman will be replacing the leader of The Cenation in this year's 30-man Rumble match.
In case you didn't know...
In the leadup to the Royal Rumble PPV, the former 16-time WWE World Champion competed in a fatal four-way match on Raw in order to determine the next #1 Contender for the Universal Championship, after WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon stripped Braun Strowman off his rights to challenge for the title.
Cena suffered an untimely injury due to Drew McIntyre using the Ankle Lock on Cena during the fatal four-way main event on Raw, which also included Baron Corbin and eventual winner Finn Balor.
The heart of the matter
Earlier today, WWE officially announced that multi-time WWE World Champion, John Cena will indeed not be taking a part in this year's 30-man Royal Rumble match and has officially been pulled out from the event due to his injury.
An official statement was released by WWE, however, several reports have suggested that Cena currently has three film projects on his schedule and the reason WWE pulled him off the Royal Rumble card was due to him focusing on his Hollywood career instead.
Nevertheless, John Cena's replacement in the Royal Rumble match has now officially been confirmed, as Cathy Kelley noted that 'The Monster Among Men' Braun Strowman will be stepping into the ring with 29 other men later tonight in Phoenix, Arizona.
This will also be Strowman's return to in-ring competition and this is what the former Raw Tag Team Champion had to say:
What's next?
Braun Strowman's participation in The Rumble match is definitely a big threat for every other single superstar in the match who are now in danger of crossing paths with 'The Monster Among Men'. He is definitely not going to be in a good mood after being stripped off his Universal Championship shot.
The Royal Rumble pay-per-view kick-starts in a few hours and you can stay updated with the live results here.
