John Cena
John Cena's participation at the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble has now thrown fans with an alleged injury to the WWE star. In photo, John Cena attends the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson Of The Year Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on December 11, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. Getty Images/Gregg DeGuire

Is John Cena really injured or not? Apparently, this is the question in the minds of many right now, especially with the WWE Royal Rumble fast approaching. The annual battle royale takes place on Jan. 28 at the Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

Cena suffered the injury during a fatal four-way match to determine the no. 1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal title. Finn Balor emerged as the victor, and the 16-time champion even feted the Demon King, Ringside News reported. But it seems that Cena may have come out of that melee injured, raising concerns about his participation at the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble.

Cena has not appeared on WWE shows since then, and now the grapevine is abuzz regarding the extent of his injury. Some are even speculating that this may have altered the plans to have the former champion at the upcoming WWE pay-per-view.

One scenario is that Cena is really hurt and that he has been totally taken out of the WWE Royal Rumble. If not, the whole thing may have been done on purpose because Cena is scheduled to shoot a film starting Feb. 4 in Vancouver, British Columbia, PW Insider reported.

And of course, there is a third scenario where Cena would still make an appearance at the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble. For those who were rooting for the Cenation leader to come out as the victor, it appears that any appearance will be short-lived, meaning he is not expected to come out as the last man standing.

From the looks of it, Cena will do nothing more than entertain from here on out. With a busy Hollywood schedule, he needs to stay healthy at all times due to appearances, and of course, filming. It remains unclear, however, what the WWE really had planned for him and if the injury altered all of that.

Regardless, the focus will be on the rumble and the title match pitting Lesnar against Balor. Braun Strowman was unceremoniously taken out due to a run-in with WWE CEO Vince McMahon, but it looks like this storyline is far from over. If ever the Monster Among Men does get involved, who will he target -- Lesnar or Balor?

As for the Royal Rumble, Seth Rollins or Drew McIntyre have been installed as the favorite. That is subject to change, depending on what WWE scriptwriters have in mind.

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