Heart-warming wrestler makes wishes come true

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

This week I read the most heart-warming story about actor and pro-wrestler, John Cena. The super-popular 45-year-old wrestling champion has smashed a Guinness world record by granting 650 wishes through the Make a Wish Foundation to children who are gravely ill or dying.

“If you ever need me for this ever, I don’t care what I’m doing – I will drop what I’m doing and be involved because I think that’s the coolest thing. I just drop everything …If I can offer a fantastic experience, I’ll be first in line to do my part,” he told Reuters after being honoured in 2015 for granting 500 wishes.

For more than 20 years Cena has visited sick children, often bringing his championship belts with him. In fact, Cena is the most requested celebrity that works with the foundation.

MARC GALLANT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESWWE Wrestling at Winnipeg Arena. John Cena (left) and Chris Benoit. September 27, 2003.

Well done, John Cena. Well done!

Speaking of wrestling, I used to love it—I mean, LOVE it with a capital L. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the 1980s and 1990s eras—when I’d watch with my dad. (Macho Man) Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan and Bret (the Hitman) Hart were my favourites throughout the years. (Honestly, there was nothing that made my little kid heart burst more than when Macho Man won a match and then hoisted Miss Elizabeth up on his shoulder, and both would relish in the spotlight while his theme song, Pomp and Circumstance, would play. You guys, this was everything to me when I was a youngster!)

Just yesterday, I was at the grocery store with my daughter when the young person bringing in shopping carts came up to me to tell me that he liked my shirt.

My shirt? In that moment I forgot what I was wearing.

SUPPLIEDFormer wrestler Bret Hart.

I looked down, and on the front was a big, muscle-bound Bret Hart, with his signature 1990s long, brown locks and a heart logo beside him. I recently found the T-shirt in a bin of other memorabilia in my basement. This is stuff that I’d collected decades ago, thinking that it would one day make me rich. I was wrong. Anyway, I have a few bins of this stuff stashed away in my basement. I recently dug through them and decided that the Bret Hart shirt was better suited in my dresser than stashed away, unworn, in a bin with a bunch of action figures and other memorabilia that I collected and saved from the late 1990s.

I’ll tell ya, I got plenty of compliments on the ol’ Hitman shirt.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Shelley

Shelley Cook, Columnist

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Good news this week:

Speaking of wrestling, David Sanderson wrote a great story about a couple of local folks who have the city’s professional wrestling history covered. This was so much fun to read!

Mike McIntyre wrote a lovely column about the unveiling of the Dale Hawerchuk statue in True North Square last week. The tribute to the late Winnipeg Jets captain from the 1.0 era was an emotional experience for fans, teammates, and Hawerchuk’s family.

Eva Wasney writes about two Winnipeggers, Nigel Batchelor and Jomar Manzano, who are both contestants on The Great Canadian Baking Show. The pair, though competing against one another, have become good friends. Read all the delicious details.

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