Friday 22 June 2012

Wrestling Genie Grants 3(00) wishes

Good Morn World,

This week the face of World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE John Cena granted his record breaking 300th wish for a poor sick kiddy attached the 'Make a wish' foundation. http://worldwish.org/?gclid=CKqKt4bL4LACFaVKpgodpWxF1g

As most probably know, this foundation 'grants the wishes' of kids with life threatening medical conditions who are usually bed ridden day in day out. Their simple wish: to meet John Cena their hero.

John Cena is now the most popular celebrity 'wish granter' in the history of the make a wish foundation.

The fact that a professional wrestler has achieved this is pretty amazing to me. He's a professional wrestler. What some would call a 'fake' or a 'phony'.   
He's not a box office action movie star like Arnold Schwarzenegger or popular wrestler turned movie star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, a superstar from the world game like Pele, Maradonna or David Beckham, he's not a pop music icon like the late Michael Jackson or (gulp) the Spice Girls.

John Cena has been on the top consistently in his field for about 7 years or so, virtually more than any big wrestling superstar in recent history. However the business itself is decidedly not in a booming period like it was in the 'Golden Era' of the late 80s with Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania, nor the second recent boom period  or the late 90s early 2000s starring WCW's New World Order, WWEs Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock.

Personally as a wrestling fan, I'm not a big fan of John Cena. He seems a bit too fake for my liking and no the irony is not lost on me. But the reason is simple, he isn't marketed towards me, more towards little kids aged, say, 5 to 12. The WWEs bread and butter for the future. I guess this milestone is a grim proof that the marketing is working.

But it's also proof that herer we have a guy at the head of a company who is doing his best to give back something to his fans, the fans who are most in need.

No matter what I think about the character, I have to give major credit to the man John Cena for taking time out of constant travelling, training and performing to take 300 seperate visits to see sick and dying kids who have personally requested to see him.

I can't imagine what that is like - to be a hero of sorts to little kids in arenas and PR appearances, but then get hit with the reality of that when taking part in charities like make a wish. Individually seeing children on their potential death beds in hospital or in wheelchairs, tubes attached, underweight, pale, raspy voices. I have to believe that sort of exposure to those situations has a certain psychological effect on you.

But I can't really understand what that's like, for all involved and neither can most people who are luckily healthy.

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