Pro wrestling star running event to benefit Tunnel to Towers

Pro wrestling stars Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo are set to bring pain to live viewers in New Jersey next month – for good reason.

Maclin, who plays for TNA Wrestling (TNA), and Purrazzo, the current Ring of Honor (ROH) pure women’s champion, will host the Battle for the Brave: Wrestling Showcase for Heroes, which will benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

The bell will ring at 7 pm ET at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway on June 6. Purrazzo said he and Maclin got the idea for the wrestling benefit after working with Josh Lentin for the Heroes Cup Hockey Tournament. Having been a professional for more than a decade, Purazzo told Fox News Digital that he wasn’t sure that promoting the event would really be their cup of tea but he took on the challenge mainly for a good cause.

Purazzo said he’s not sure how pro wrestling will respond to the event, but added that the support has been overwhelming.

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“It’s a big cause because the whole New York/New Jersey area, the Tri-State area, was really affected by 9/11. It affected both of our lives,” Maclin told Fox News Digital. “I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2005. It just hit everybody. So, especially with a lot of the talent on the card, everybody has some kind of story or link to 9/11.

“And with Tunnel to Towers, a lot of people in that area love the cause and they love what Tunnel to Towers is doing for the community by giving back to the families of first responders, paying off loans, smart homes for wounded veterans and now paying for college tuition for first responders and the families of veterans who have lost loved ones.”

Maclin enlightened us about his service as a US Marine. He served in the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines Weapons Company as a gunner. From 2007-2011, he toured Helmand province, Afghanistan.

“As I’ve said before, 9/11 was a big part of my life as a child growing up,” he explained. “I grew up just outside of New York City. So, when 9/11 happened, I was at home. It just drew me in that direction. It changed a lot of people’s lives. And for me, it was for the better, because it embodied what I always knew I needed to do and that was to serve and fight for my country no matter what.

“I chose the Marines because the Marines are the best. And that’s what I’ve always been. I just try to work hard and put one foot forward and keep moving forward and it’s been a roller coaster ever since. Now, here we are, almost 25 years later, and we’re doing a wrestling show in honor of 9/11 and our first responders”

Battle for the Brave will coincide with America’s 250th birthday and America 250 celebrations across the US The UFC is hosting an event at the White House in June, and IndyCar will race through the streets of Washington, DC, in August.

Purazzo and Maclin shared what being an American means to them as US pride comes into full focus.

“Growing up in New Jersey and, 9 / 11 was a very big thing. For me, I was in the second grade. I didn’t understand what happened but in the days that followed, I felt a sense of unity that everyone came together, everyone was proud to be an American, and we were going to fight and stand together and be one, a united country. And I think that, that feeling is different but it is completely attached to me, but always married, always staying strong. role.

“Steve opening up about his service and what he’s seen and experienced has given me a new passion to let veterans know that, yes, war always comes home with you but it doesn’t have to explain it. Steve was fortunate that he was able to find combat right after he got out of the Marine Corps and it saved him, in a way, from falling down the unknown path of ‘Who am I?’

Pro wrestling stars Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo stare at each other. (Courtesy of Fox News Digital)

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“And I think that’s something that our veterans face that you don’t know in general. It’s not talked about enough. They say 22 veterans but right now the numbers are 44 veterans a day who lose their lives in that war – the problem of knowing who I am after the service. So, that’s what being an American means to me now, showing that the veterans are here, showing that the veterans are here in our country here, showing their support here. to we support them and we are here to provide them with the resources they need to live a healthy and successful life after service.”

Maclin recalled working at some of the Tunnel to Towers events earlier this year, emphasizing what he was fighting for in Afghanistan.

“No matter who it was, male, female, black, white, it didn’t matter race, gender, anything. Everyone was praising our country, waving the American flag – red, white and blue,” he said. “I know there is hatred for certain ideas these days, and for me that’s what I’m fighting for, that’s what I’m still fighting for.

“And when we have children in this world, however, we can pass on knowledge to others, I always, no matter what happens, I want to keep that pride in our country and fight for what we really fight for and that for our brothers and neighbors.”

Americans’ pride in their country is waning, a Gallup poll revealed last June, and a Fox News poll showed that nearly six in ten are proud of the US today.

Pro wrestling stars Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo were champions in TNA. (Courtesy of Fox News Digital)

Fox News Digital asked Purazzo and Maclin how Americans can restore that pride.

“I think that as Steve said, the definition of having American pride is very bad in our country right now. And I think that having patriots standing up and saying, no I believe in our country, I believe in its ideals, I believe in the foundation of what we’re built on – to fight for our freedom, to fight for what we believe in, to fight for our neighbors, to fight and support each other. I think it’s the first step to freedom. I think it’s the first step to speak up.

“We should not be ashamed to be American. We should not be ashamed to support our soldiers, to support the goals of this country and what it was founded on.”

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Event details

Maclin told Fox News Digital exclusively that he will be part of the Brave Cup Gauntlet Match. He said that he will be the first in this show that will be playing with Richard Holliday, Megan Bayne, BDE and others.

“Everybody has been asking me, ‘Why don’t you want to fight your program, especially for such a big cause?’ So, as of now, officially, I’m entering the 1st fight in the Brave Memorial Cup,” he said. “I will compete against 12 others. It is a high level game and the last two turns into a game.

“I’m going to take the hard road and the hard road to go No. 1 and try to do my best to be last.”

Prrazzo said, as of now, he is not in the game. But he did not decide to get involved in the analysis in some way.

Legendary wrestling team Jeff and Matt Hardy, known as the Hardy Boyz, will also be part of the event.

“My brother and I are both very excited to talk about a very special Tunnel to Towers event for Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo. Tunnel to Towers is a very special organization that helps care for people injured in the line of duty that protects us – people like soldiers, first responders and police officers,” Hardys said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We are so grateful for all of these people’s services and efforts to keep us safe and healthy. We look forward to raising as much money as possible.”

Floor seating for the event is completely sold out. There are still general admission tickets and meet and greet tickets with Hardy’s still available.