5 Potential Last-Minute Replacements For John Cena At WWE Royal Rumble
You can't see him, but you might see these superstars at the Royal Rumble!
John Cena made his official return to WWE when he showed up on the first SmackDown Live of the year, and then appeared on the 7 January episode of Raw to announce that he would be competing in this year's Men's Royal Rumble match. However, it's beginning to look like the veteran superstar may not be involved in the marquee match after all.
According to WWE.com, the 16-time World Champion suffered an ankle injury during his Fatal 4-Way match with Finn Bálor, Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre on Raw last week. While this could be a legit injury, the fact that, according to PWInsider.com, Cena is planning on taking some time off to shoot his next film in early February suggests that it could be a way for WWE to write him out early, ensuring he doesn't end up injured before shooting.
Whatever the reason, the 'Leader of The Cenation's Royal Rumble status has now been called into question. As he undoubtedly added a great deal of star power to the Rumble match, this leaves us all wondering if WWE will attempt to find another equally big star to replace him, should he unable to compete.
5. Hulk Hogan
Following his return to the company for WWE Crown Jewel and latter appearance on Raw for the touching 'Mean' Gene Okerlund tribute, it's safe to say that Hulk Hogan's relationship with WWE has been well and truly mended. As a result, don't be surprised if we see 'The Hulkster' featured on WWE television more often in the coming year. However, could this include an appearance at the Royal Rumble?
We established long ago that physical conditioning has absolutely nothing to do with an appearance in the Royal Rumble, so while Hogan may be long past his prime and will likely never wrestle a singles match for WWE ever again, that doesn't necessarily rule him out of the Rumble match. All he would have to do is walk down the aisle, Hulk up and unleash a few gimmicky punches before a relatively quick elimination and the crowd would still lose their minds.
It would make sense for the company to make up for the absence of one of the generation's biggest star by recruiting the biggest star of another. Adding Hogan's name to the match would sell it on novelty value alone.