Vince McMahon Reportedly Has Moved on From Lars Sullivan
By Jeremy Snodgrass - January 23, 2019 12:18 pm EST
Not long ago, Lars Sullivan was rumored to be John Cena's WrestleMania 35 opponent. But a reported anxiety attack has kept him out of WWE, forcing the company to alter their plans. And apparently, Vince McMahon isn't too thrilled about it.
According to Rajah.com, instead of waiting on Sullivan to return, Vince McMahon decided that plans for the NXT star should be scrapped. And from this vantage, it looks like WWE has moved on from Sullivan.
The story goes that Sullivan was supposed to attack Cena before the Rumble, to the point where the 16-time WWE Champion would be too "injured" for the battle royal. This was supposed to set up a WrestleMania match, but that looks to be off the table.
Cena did get his "injury" but WWE partially blamed Drew McIntyre for Cena's bum ankle. As of now, Cena's Royal Rumble status is questionable, but it has little to do with a limp and more to do with him being set to film Playing With Fire — his new movie. Cena is supposed to be on set from February to April, which means that he won't be competing in WWE during that time. He could certainly show up and cut promos or be involved in a non-physical drama which would be enough for he and WWE to set the table for 'Mania.
Right now, it looks like WWE may have swapped Sullivan for McIntyre, but things are so ambiguous, that we can only offer our own speculation.
Here's WWE's statement on Cena's injury:
"John Cena's status in the Men's Royal Rumble Match is in question following an apparent left ankle injury sustained during the main event of this past Monday night's edition of Raw, WWE.com can now confirm," the site reported.
"The injury was exacerbated earlier today as Cena was training his legs at the gym, which has cast doubt on whether he will be able to compete in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match this Sunday," the site reported.