LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – Is John Cena dead? No says a reliable source: John Cena. Today Cena laughed off the fake celebrity death reports that hit last night online.

Since false celebrity deaths began to gain momentum in fall of 2009, arguably very few, if none, of them have focused on WWE celebrities. That changed on Monday night.

In a statement released to news today, Cena says he was surprised to learn this morning that he was reported dead last night. “CeNation. Apparently last night I was shot dead by a group of thugs. I also was apparently owned by the Rock.”

Long gone are the days when fake celebrity news reports were reserved solely for Nick Jonas, Miley Cyrus and other Disney stars.

By all accounts, the fake reports hit online at the same time that fans were learning that Chris Jericho was being added to the 2011 cast of Dancing with the Stars. Jericho is a six-time WWE world champion and most recently hosted the ABC game show “Downfall.” Jericho is also two-time New York Times best-selling author and lead singer of the rock band Fozz .