John Cena out of WWE Royal Rumble with Ankle Injury; Replaced by Braun Strowman

The highly anticipated Men's Royal Rumble Match will be without one of WWE's biggest stars Sunday as John Cena has been ruled out with an ankle injury, per WWE.com.

WWE later announced that Braun Strowman would replace Cena in the match:

Cena suffered the injury earlier this month during a Fatal 4-Way match on the Jan. 14 episode of Raw. The problem began when he tried to break out of an ankle lock submission from Drew McIntyre in that bout, and he hasn't been able to recover in time for the upcoming pay-per-view.

Cena referenced his injury in a Twitter message last week:

The 41-year-old had only recently returned to the ring after an extended absence, and the Royal Rumble in Phoenix could have been a chance to reestablish himself on the big stage. He will now hope the latest injury doesn't keep him out for too long.

On the plus side, Cena is much easier to replace in a battle royal than any one-on-one match.

The men's field is loaded with big-name talent, including Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio. There will be 30 participants all looking to win the elimination battle and earn a title shot at WrestleMania 35.