Outline
Circulating social media message claims that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star John Cena has died of a head injury while practicing a wrestling stunt with a WWE co-star.
Brief Analysis
The claims in the message are untrue. John Cena is alive and well. The message is a variant of another hoax that claims that WWE star Undertaker has died of a neck injury. The messages are designed to trick users into installing a rogue Facebook application and participating in bogus online surveys.
Example
John Cena(John Felix Anthony Cena) of World Wrestling Entertainment died in a head injury while perfecting a wrestling stunt with WWE wrestler, Dwayne Johnson or also known as The Rock. Authorities are now investigating. Watch the original video clip from WWE and their effort to save JOHN CENA (for 18yrs & above) –> [Link Removed]
Detailed Analysis
According to this message, John Cena of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fame has died of a head injury while perfecting a stunt with fellow WWE performer Dwayne Johnson. The message claims that authorities are investigating the accident.
Viewers of the message are invited to click a link to watch a video of the accident and the efforts to save the star.
However, the claims in the message are untrue. John Cena is alive and well. There are no credible media or news reports that he has been killed or injured. Nor has WWE reported any such incident involving John Cena.
In fact, the message is a reworking of another recent hoax that claimed that WWE star Undertaker had died of a neck injury. As revealed in the following example, the earlier version claimed that Undertaker had died while practicing with John Cena:
The Undertaker of World Wrestling Entertainment died in a neck injury while practicing a wrestling stunt with WWE co – star John Cena. Police are now investigating. Watch the practice video and their effort to save THE UNDERTAKER (for 18yrs & above) –> [link removed]
These wrestler death hoaxes attempt to trick Facebook users into clicking a link in the messages. Links in the messages point to survey scams, some of which include rogue Facebook applications.
Various other false death rumours about both John Cena and Undertaker have also been circulating via Twitter and email over the last several months. Yet another version claimed that those who click a link can view a video of a bout between John Cena and Undertaker which has been called “the bloodiest fight ever”. Again, links in the message lead to a rogue app and survey scam.
Fans should ignore these rumours. And, if you see such a message, do not follow any links that it may contain.
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
