Circle of Champions
What is Circle of Champions?
World Wrestling Entertainment has been granting wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses since the company began in 1982. WWE has worked with various wish agencies such as Make-A-Wish, Starlight Wish Foundation, Kids Wish, Dreams Come True and has granted an excess of 5,000 wishes to our very special audiences.
At WrestleMania XX in New York in March 2004, WWE announced its "Circle of Champions", which encompasses all the wish agencies we work with.
Each child that meets a WWE Superstar will receive a certificate making them a member of this elite group.
50 Kids Granted Golden Wishes at WrestleMania® XXIV
Make-A-Wish Foundation, WWE® Treat Wish Kids to Fabulous Weekend in Orlando
Fifty Make-A-Wish kids cheered for their favorite WWE Superstars and Divas with more than 74,000 other fans Sunday night, March 30, at sports-entertainment's biggest event, WrestleMania XXIV, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
The 50 wish kids and their families were thrilled by the pyrotechnics, lights, sounds and capacity crowd that filled Orlando's Citrus Bowl. They enjoyed the spectacular card of championship bouts, including the "Triple Threat" match for the WWE title that pitted Triple H, Randy Orton and John Cena, the favorite WWE Superstar of many wish kids at the event.
"This is so exciting," said wish kid Javier from the Central and Northern Florida chapter as WrestleMania got underway. "I'm still just trying to believe that I'm here." To read the full story on the Make-A-Wish site.
WWE makes multi-year commitment to Make-A-Wish Foundation
WWE strengthened its 20-year dedication to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions with a new multi-year agreement in a joint press conference at US Airways Center.
The partnership’s first act under the new, multi-year, million-dollar sponsorship commitment will be to hold WWE’s biggest wish-granting event ever at WrestleMania XXIV on March 30 in Orlando, Fla.
WWE and the Make-A-Wish Foundation will grant the wishes of more than 50 children during the course of the next five weeks, culminating in a star-filled experience hosted by WWE in Orlando during the weekend of WrestleMania XXIV. The children will meet their favorite WWE Superstars while participating in a weekend full of activities, including events at Universal Orlando Resort, being officially inducted into the WWE Make-A-Wish “Circle of Champions” at the annual Bacon, Bagels and Biceps brunch sponsored by the David Maus Foundation, which will make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and Northern Florida; and attending WrestleMania.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation also recognized WWE Superstar John Cena with an award to celebrate his 100th wish granted to a Make-A-Wish child. Modern-day Superstars, such as Cena and Rey Mysterio, now carry the torch for WWE in its wish granting, following in the bighearted footsteps of past WWE Superstars such as Hulk Hogan and The Rock.
WWE long has been one of the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s most enthusiastic wish granters, fulfilling hundreds of wishes in the past 20 years. In 2004, the Foundation paid tribute to WWE with its Chris Greicius Celebrity Award, which recognizes organizations and individuals from the entertainment and sports worlds for their inspirational wish-granting activities. Jesse Ventura (1991), Hogan (1994), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (2000) and WWE executive Sue Aitchison (2006) also have received the Chris Greicius Celebrity Award.
“WWE has been creating incredible wish experiences and providing in-kind support to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for the past two decades, and we’re honored to bring our relationship to a new level through this generous donation,” said David Williams, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America president and chief executive officer.
“We’re also delighted to join with WWE to grant 50 kids’ wishes on the road to WrestleMania. It symbolizes the Foundation’s devotion to making wishes happen for children with life-threatening medical conditions in all 50 states,” Williams said.
“For more than 20 years, WWE has had the honor to work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to grant wishes to children, and now we’re taking that relationship to a new level,” said WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. “There’s no better stage than WrestleMania to hold the WWE’s biggest wish event ever with the world’s pre-eminent children’s wish-granting organization.”
Michael Pena’s wish comes true
Michael Pena’s wish came true on April 9 when he got to play Raw GM for the day. With the help of Mick Foley, Michael fielded requests for everything from matches to raises. In the end, Michael announced the main event for Backlash for the WWE Championship. Click here to view Michael Pena as Raw GM.
Michael’s visit was arranged through WWE’s partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, where he and his family met all the Superstars at Raw. His mother, younger brother Kyle, age six, older brother Charlie, age 13 and his 15-year-old sister Jennifer joined him.
Michael was busy all day, but has enjoyed every minute for it.
“It’s bigger than I thought,” said Michael. “ I’ve gotten to meet almost all the Superstars. It was very cool hanging out with Mick Foley.”
Before going out to make his big announcement in front of a sold-out Bridgeport, Conn., crowd, Michael said he was both excited and nervous. Afterward, he took some time out of his busy night to speak with WWE.com.
“It was very fun and at the same time scary, because you never know what the reaction of the crowd is going to be,” said Michael, who received a great reaction from the audience. “It was exciting.”
WWE'S CIRCLE OF CHAMPIONS
August:
Jacob Kitchens
Josh Odle
Aaron Rose
David Presley
Kevin Vargas
Tiffany Santos
Brad Wendt
Mitchell Kutner
Curtis Warren
Carlos Lopez
James Gravlee
Cody McClellan
Camden Martin
Deyanira Santana
September:
Whitney Sullens
Ruben Fennell
Brent Swanson