WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon recently published a blog on the Huffington Post website called “An Angel On Earth”, talking about her relationship with WWE fan Connor Michalek.
Michalek, also known as “Connor The Crusher”, was fighting a battle with Medulloblastoma, a form of pediatric brain and spinal cancer. He unfortunately passed away on April 25th, 2014, and McMahon talks about meeting him, hosting him for Wrestlemania 30, working with the Connor’s Cure fund, and much more.
You can read a few excerpts below:
Stephanie On Meeting Connor:
I remember the moment I met Connor Michalek. It was January 26, 2014, after one of our biggest Pay Per Views, the Royal Rumble. I walked backstage and ran in to this little boy who was taking pictures with one of our Superstars. From his physical appearance, I could tell he was sick; he had no hair on his head, scars from surgeries up the back of his neck, and a bulge on the top of his scalp. But you would never know it from his huge personality and his megawatt smile.
“Stephanie, please meet one of my best friends, Connor.” said our ring announcer Justin Roberts. Connor looked up at me with his captivating, chocolate brown eyes and immediately asked, “Do you want to see my t-shirt?” Before I could respond, he told me in rapid succession that he was in fact wearing three t-shirts, not just one, “This is my Skylanders t-shirt, because I love to play Skylanders with my little ‘bwother’, this is my Daniel ‘Bwyan’ t-shirt, because Daniel Bwyan is my ‘vewy’ favorite Superstar, and this is the t-shirt Sheamus just gave me when he came out of the ‘wing’!”
Stephanie On Inviting Connor To Wrestlemania:
We then came up with the idea to invite Connor to the equivalent of our Super Bowl, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was 10 weeks away and we thought it might give Connor something to hang on for. The doctors told his dad that Connor wouldn’t live long enough, and if he did, he would be in too much pain and too sick to make the trip to New Orleans. However, it was not uncommon for Connor to defy the odds, just like his hero, Daniel Bryan. At WrestleMania 30, in front of a sold out crowd of more than 80,000 at the Mercedes Benz Superdome, Daniel Bryan’s character overcame 8 months of adversity, proving the underdog could win if he believed in himself. He ultimately became the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and his biggest fan was right there in the front row to cheer on his hero. Immediately after his victory, Daniel Bryan got out of the ring and gave Connor a hug. That remarkable moment was recorded live on Pay Per View, and it will live forever.
To read Stephanie’s entire blog post, click here.
