WWE® Superstar John Cena® Makes Wishes Come True Latest 7-Eleven® ‘Coffee Cup With A Cause’

DALLAS (July 15, 2010) – Tomorrow, 7-Eleven, Inc. will launch its third ‘Coffee Cup With A Cause’ campaign, this time offering a cup designed by WWE Superstar John Cena. Cena fans can make their way into any of the participating 7-Eleven stores across the United States to purchase the signature cup beginning sold today through Aug. 31 or while supplies last. Proceeds from the sale of the Cena’s cup will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with a guaranteed $250,000 minimum donation by 7-Eleven.

YALSA, WWE® Names 2010 WrestleMania® Reading Challenge Champions

PHOENIX –Liam Jose, Gabe Murrell and La’Quan Deen were crowned national champions in the WrestleMania® Reading Challenge on March 27, sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, and World Wrestling Entertainment®, with support from Mattel and DK Publishing.

Make-A-Wish Foundation, WWE Teamed to Thrill 35 Wish Kids at WrestleMania XXVI

The Make-A-Wish Foundation and World Wrestling Entertainment® collaborated together to grant the wishes of 35 children with life-threatening medical conditions to attend WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale, Ariz., on March 28.  Once again the excitement and spectacle of the world’s biggest sports entertainment event was also once again one of the most popular draws for wish kids. To read more, please click here.

WWE Creates New Get R.E.A.L. Wallpapers

Get R.E.A.L. is an in-school program that brings Superstars into schools to deliver positive messages about Respect, Education, Achievement and Leadership, and how these four tenets can help students achieve these goals. To supplement these efforts, kids can now download Get R.E.A.L. wallpapers. Please click on the following links to access wallpapers of: Cena, Matt Hardy | MVP | Mysterio

AmeriCares contributes to Chile Relief

AmeriCares has been working with Chile since 1989, delivering more than $16.9 million in medical and humanitarian assistance. The non-profit is preparing various medical supplies for immediate shipments, as well as mobilizing a rapid response team to deploy to the earthquake-ravaged country. AmeriCares has been working with their active partners in the region including Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia in order to coordinate their relief efforts.

AmeriCares has set up a mobile phone number for donations to in their relief efforts. WWE.com encourages the WWE Universe to find a way they can help the people of Chile.

Members of the WWE Universe can help by making a donation to AmeriCares online at www.americares.org or by texting the word “LIVE” to 25383 to donate $10.

WWE Encourages Students and Teachers to Send Valentines To U.S. Troops

WWE continues to show its support for U.S. troops stationed around the world by creating a program called "Letters to the Troops." Letters to the Troops is designed to make life away from home a little less difficult for our servicemen and women, by encouraging teachers to work with their students to send letters to the troops around Valentine's Day to show that they are in our thoughts and prayers. To read more, please click here.

WWE Partners With AmeriCares Haiti Relief Efforts

AmeriCares has teamed up with WWE to encourage the WWE Universe to help support the relief effort in Haiti by donating to "AmeriCares Helps Haiti." AmeriCares has delivered millions of dollars worth of supplies and medical assistance to the affected area since the catastrophic earthquake occurred on January 12, 2010. To read more, and find out how you can help please click here.

WWE's Seventh Annual "Tribute to the Troops" Special Airs This Saturday, December 19, 9 p.m./ET on NBC

It's the most patriotic show of the year. WWE's seventh annual Tribute to the Troops program features matches from Raw and SmackDown Superstars' live performance in the Middle East. WWE's mission to bring its unique form of entertainment to the U.S. servicemen in Iraq also bridges the American public with those who continue to fight in the name of freedom. To read more, please click here.

WWE Superstars and Divas Help Support Toys for Tots in Connecticut

Dozens of members of the WWE Universe lined the streets outside Tommy K’s Vitamins in Stamford, Conn., Nov. 23, to help a great cause - the Marine's Toys for Tots Foundation - and get the chance to meet Hornswoggle, Matt Hardy, Tommy Dreamer and Divas Beth Phoenix, Tiffany and Maria and WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel. Each year, WWE donates millions of dollars worth of products to various charities. As many people around the world struggle to make ends meet due to economic hardship, WWE and Mattel have joined forces to encourage the WWE Universe to think of those less fortunate this holiday season. This event kicked off WWE's Season for Global Giving in the United States.

WWE Participates in the Strike 3 Foundation's Second Annual First Pitch Celebrity Gala

Hall of Fame Announcer and Hacksaw Jim Duggan attended the Strike 3 Foundation's annual event. The Strike 3 Foundation is a charitable agency that heightens awareness, mobilizes support, and raises funding for childhood cancer research. Founded in 2008 by MLB pitcher Craig Breslow, the tenets of the Strike 3 Foundation had been in place for some time.

At age 14, Craig’s sister was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. More than fifteen years later, she lives an unrestricted life as a cancer survivor. Unequivocally, this success story is attributed to advancements in pediatric oncology treatment and research funded largely through generous donations and charitable efforts.

WWE Teams Up With the Stamford Mentoring Partnership (STAMP)

A group of WWE employees are currently serving as mentors for some local high school students throughout the school year.

WrestleMania Reading Challenge kicks off

October 19, 2009--The national WrestleMania Reading Challenge, sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, and World Wrestling Entertainment, with support from Mattel and DK Publishing, launches this week as part of Teen Read Week.

More than 1,800 librarians registered for the fifth annual reading challenge, in which teens and tweens in grades 5-12 in the United States and Canada participate. Teen Read Week (Oct. 18-24) encourages teens to read for fun, and the WrestleMania Reading Challenge offers teens and tweens the opportunity to extend reading from Teen Read Week into the rest of the academic year.

Sign up is easy. Just go to your participating school or public library and sign up. (Participating U.S./Canadian libraries)

Students who participate in the WrestleMania Reading Challenge are encouraged to read one item a week – a magazine, a book or other materials – and keep a reading log continuing through Jan. 19, 2010. Students can then enter a bookmark contest. Each participating library chooses a winner for each age group (grades 5-6, 7-8 and 9-12). Bookmark winners on the local level will win a DVD from WWE. John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, and Nikki and Brie Bella are this year’s WrestleMania Reading Challenge spokespersons.

“Working with WWE Mattel and DK Books provides YALSA the chance to reach a wide audience of teens and tweens with a message about the vital role books, reading and libraries can play in their lives,” said YALSA President Linda Braun.

Twenty-one finalists (three in each grade category from seven different regions) will win airfare, hotel and tickets to WrestleMania XXVI in Phoenix for themselves and a parent or guardian, while their sponsoring library wins $2,000. Finalists will then compete in the WrestleMania Reading Challenge World Finals in Phoenix. The winners will win ringside seats at WrestleMania XXVI. (Contest Rules)

Also, check out this year's winning Teens' Top 10 list from YALSA. Learn more about the Teens' Top Ten at ala.org.

The WrestleMania Reading Challenge is also featured in the United Kingdom and is offered in more than 2,600 schools.

Make-A-Wish Foundation honors John Cena

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of America today announced John Cena as one of five recipients of its 20th annual Chris Greicius Celebrity Awards. The honorees were selected for their exceptional dedication to the Foundation's mission by helping grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

One of the most popular celebrity wish requests among wish kids, Cena has granted 147 wishes since 2004. In addition to regularly granting wishes at WWE events such as Raw and WrestleMania, he has also helped fulfill modeling and film wishes through his projects outside the ring. Cena serves as a Wish Ambassador for the Foundation supporting its goal to expand wish-granting efforts to more eligible children.

The four other award recipients are Dave Matthews Band, Baltimore's Charm City Cakes, the Philadelphia Phillies and New York's Garden of Dreams Foundation.

"This year's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award recipients have shown a remarkable commitment to our mission," said David Williams, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America president and chief executive officer. "They create singular, unforgettable experiences for children because of the time, care and creativity they devote to each child's wish. We are truly grateful for their dedication and for giving wish kids and their families so much lasting joy."

Started in 1990, the Chris Greicius Celebrity Award is named in honor of the 7-year-old boy whose wish to be a police officer inspired a group of caring volunteers to fulfill his dream in 1980 and later create the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Foundation's Celebrity and National Sports Program team facilitates the wishes of children who ask to meet their favorite TV or movie star, musician, athlete, entertainment personality or other public figure. This past fiscal year, the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted 856 celebrity- and national sports-related wishes, about 6 percent of the some 13,500 wishes it granted to children with life-threatening medical conditions nationwide.

WWE & Betty's Battle Founder Nancy O'Dell Team Up to Fight ALS

WWE has partnered with Nancy O'Dell, founder of Betty's Battle, to help fight ALS. Click here to view the video.

Helping the homeless with Tiffany

It's a common story - a child sets up a lemonade stand to earn some extra cash. But, it's a rare twist when that child decides to donate his hard-earned proceeds to the American Red Cross - at the age of 4. That's just the start of the volunteer work that now-10-year-old Brandon Dicicco of Milford, Conn., has accomplished. He's one of those children that just can't stand to see people in distress and not help, his mother Samantha Dicicco said.

Brandon’s desire to give back began in 2004 when the then 4 year-old heard of the disastrous tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia on Dec. 26.  He set up a lemonade stand to raise donations for the victims.

To read the full story, please click here.

SummerSlam Reading Jam Winners Announced

Congratulations to Jessica McKelley, 17, of Meridian, Idaho and Zachary Belyea, 16, of Hudson, Florida on being selected the SummerSlam Reading Jam grand prize winners. Both Jessica and Zachary will be going to WWE's SummerSlam pay-per-view on Sunday, August 23 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

SummerSlam Reading Jam Kicks Off

WWE and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) have teamed up for the SummerSlam Reading Jam, which kicked off Wednesday, June 24, in libraries nationwide. 500 libraries across 47 states and the District of Columbia are participating in the program to encourage teens and tweens to visit their local libraries and read throughout the summer.  Mattel is also a partnering with WWE and YALSA for the SummerSlam Reading Jam. Participating libraries will award a poster featuring WWE® Superstars Rey Mysterio®, Evan Bourne™, Beth Phoenix™ and Eve™ to the first 25 teens and tweens between ages 10 and 18, who check out two books. Posters, each of which are numbered, are available until July 16 or as long as supplies last. To see the list of libraries, go to:  WWEKids.com or http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/ssrj_librarylist.pdf.

On Friday, July 17, two poster numbers will be drawn determining the grand prize winners along with alternate poster numbers, all of which will be posted on WWEKids.com. The two grand prize winners will win airfare to Los Angeles for two, two nights’ hotel, two tickets and $200 spending money for WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Sunday, August 23, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Ten first prize winners will win copies of the WWE Encyclopedia. Visit your local library today!

WWE's Make-A-Wish Road to WrestleMania 26 -- John Cena's special Wishes at T.G.I. Friday's

June 2009

WWE Superstar John Cena met with Make-A-Wish kids Cody, Zachary and Justin at a T.G.I.Friday's in Birmingham, AL. Check out photos and video of this special meet and greet.

World Wrestling Entertainment Honors Community Champions

The following story appeared in the Fairfield (Conn.) Citizen.
The best teachers often find a way to educate beyond the walls of the classroom. Roger Ludlowe Middle School world geography teachers Richard Haxhi and Lenny Moitoso did just that recently, taking 11 students on a cultural and humanitarian trip to Senegal last month. The students, known as the Ludlowe Corps, raised money to fund a school that last year's group helped build through its fund-raising efforts. They also donated 1,700 insecticide-treated mosquito nets that will help the residents of Guinaw Rails combat the threat of malaria.

The students' work has not gone unnoticed. In fact, three Fairfielders, Brianna Amicone, Ryan Osborn and Holly Hoffman, were honored by World Wrestling Entertainment in March as WWE Community Champions. Click here to read the full story.

WWE Celebrates Earth Day

WWE celebrated Earth Day by partnering with the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford in cleaning up Cove Island Park in Stamford, Conn. To watch the video, please click here. In addition, WWE Announcer and former teacher Matt Striker helped plant trees in New York City as part of the New York Restoration Project's "A Million Trees" campaign occurring over the next five years. To watch the video, please click here.

WWE Superstar John Cena Becomes Wish Ambassador for Make-A-Wish Foundation

Cena was formally introduced Saturday during a party he and the WWE hosted for 44 wish kids and their families at Reliant Center in Houston as part of the WWE’s “25 Years of Wishes” weekend event. To read more, please click here; to view video, please click here; and to view the photo gallery, please click here.

WrestleMania Reading Challenge Winners

Christian Cervantes and Stephanie Diaz of Houston were crowned national champions in the WrestleMania® Reading Challenge. In the grade 9-12 finals, Cervantes just beat fellow contestant Angelica Kuss of Munhall, PA., in a race to answer the most questions correctly about the book, Shift, by Jennifer Bradbury.  Other regional finalists in the grade 9-12 competition were Gavin Marriott, Edgemont, SD; William “Matthew” Haggerty, Snow Hill, NC; and Karolina Flores, El Monte, CA.

Yalsa names Wrestlemania Reading challange winners

Ten regional winners in grades 7-8 and 9-12 from across the United States have won a chance to compete in the WrestleMania® Reading Challenge National Finals in Houston, Texas.  Five regional champions from grades 5-6 will also be guests at the finals, which will be held at the Houston Public Library on Saturday, April 4th. To read more, please click here.

WWE Rallies Youth Community

WWE is proud to announce WWE Community Champions, a program that celebrates youth who display outstanding community spirit. Selected youths will be featured in exclusive WWE videos to appear on WWE.com and WWEKids.com.

With its newest program, WWE Community Champions, WWE is looking to hear from parents of extraordinary youths and teens, grades 1-12, who are giving back to their community, whether it’s by helping to rebuild a dilapidated park, starting a reading program at school, or creating a recycling drive to clean up their city. WWE will review the youths’ stories on how they have made positive changes in their community to share with the WWE Universe™.

WWE Community Champions is the latest addition to WWE’s stable of youth outreach programs. These include Get R.E.A.L. (Respect, Education, Achievement and Leadership) READ, a nation-wide program in which Superstars promote literacy, and Circle of Champions, a joint effort with the Make-A-Wish® Foundation and other wish-granting agencies. Since 1982, Circle of Champions has brought together WWE Superstars and more than 5,000 youths with life-threatening illnesses across the world.

Parents of youths interested in becoming a WWE Community Champion should submit their stories or videos by mail to WWE Kids, Attn: WWE Kids Community Champions, 1241 East Main St., Stamford, CT 06902, or by email to  CommunityChampions@wwe.com. If WWE chooses to feature a youth’s story, he or she may be interviewed by WWE in a video to run on WWE.com and/orWWEKids.com.

WWE Unveils New Reading PSAs

WWE Superstar Matt Hardy and WWE Diva Maria are featured in new PSAs encouraging children to read. Both Matt and Maria actively promote literacy throughout the country visiting schools and libraries on behalf of WWE's Get R.E.A.L. Read program.

• View Matt Hardy Get R.E.A.L. Read PSA
• View Maria Get R.E.A.L. Read PSA

WGN America enters WWE ring with "WWE Superstars"

WGN America and WWE enter the ring with a new television partnership. WWE Superstars, a first-run, original program, will air exclusively on WGN America, Tribune Broadcasting’s national Superstation.

The action-packed WWE Superstars, part of a new multi-year agreement with WGN America, will be produced by WWE and will feature Superstars and Divas from the entire WWE roster. The hour-long weekly program, scheduled to debut in April 2009, will provide WGN America viewers the chance to see Superstars and Divas from all three WWE franchises in one program.

WWE Superstars is scheduled to air on Thursday nights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET, with an additional run on the weekend.

U.K.'s WrestleMania Reading Challenge returns to the ring

World Wrestling Entertainment has joined forces with the National Literacy Trust for the second year to re-launch the WrestleMania Reading Challenge with the aim of encouraging British kids to read.

The challenge offers school children across the United Kingdom the opportunity to win a trip to see their favorite WWE Superstars in action next April at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania in Houston. Children from more than 2,200 U.K. schools are invited to take part in the challenge to read five books, comics or magazines, and then submit a 100-word essay persuading a WWE Superstar to read his or her favorite piece of literature. A WWE Superstar will help judge the entries and reward the top four lucky winners with the trip of a lifetime to the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania.

Jim Knight, Minister of State for Schools and Learning in the United Kingdom, said: “Language is power and reading is key to becoming a powerful communicator. So it is vital that young people, and in particular boys, have strong reading role models. The WrestleMania Reading Challenge is a great example of how schools can get their students excited about reading.”

During the recent Survivor Series European tour, one lucky school in North London was chosen to receive a visit from SmackDown Superstar MVP and Diva Natalya. Hundreds of enthralled children at Christ the King RC Primary School had the opportunity to ask questions and find out why reading is so important to their WWE heroes. 

WWE makes Forbes "Best" list

World Wrestling Entertainment has made Forbes’ 2008 list of “200 Best Small Companies.”

Forbes’ annual list of the best small companies identifies the strongest small public outfits. To qualify, companies must have sales between $5 million and $750 million and a stock price of $5 as of Sept. 29. The ranking is based on return on equity, sales growth and profit growth over the past 12 months and over five years. Forbes also compares company stock performance with industry peers.

WWE is proving its mettle in these tough economic times. The company’s stock has only lost 7% of its value year to date*, whereas the S&P 500 has lost over 32 points. This performance is in addition to WWE’s 10.5% dividend yield.

To see an interview with Linda McMahon on Forbes.com, go to:
http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/ceo/js_ceowwe100808

WWE® Offers Aid to Houston

WWE tried to do its share to help its Houston fans deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. More than 900 Houston residents affected by the disaster were given food and necessities purchased by WWE and distributed by WWE Superstars John Morrison™, The Miz™, Funaki™ and WWE Diva Layla™ at Impact Houston, a Houston Food Bank member agency. 

The WWE also has been urging its fans to contribute to the Houston Food Bank and the Houston Red Cross through appeals on its popular television programming, and its website, WWE.com. To contribute to te relief efforts, click here. To read more, please click here.

WWE Superstars Share Get R.E.A.L. Message in India

WWE recently worked with its television partner in India, Ten Sports, around sharing the tenets of WWE's Get R.E.A.L. program with fans. WWE Superstars John Cena and Chris Jericho taped messages about what Get R.E.A.L. stands for--Respect, Education, Achievement and Leadership. Watch what the fans in India are seeing about Get R.E.A.L.

• John Cena PSA-Respect
• John Cena PSA-Education
• John Cena PSA-Achievement
• John Cena PSA-Leadership
• Chris Jericho PSA-Respect
• Chris Jericho PSA-Education
• Chris Jericho PSA-Achievement<
• Chris Jericho PSA-Leadership

Superstars encourage students to read

COMPTON, Calif. — As the doors to Mrs. Perry's fifth grade classroom swung open, student Johnny Hart's mouth opened wide. Hart couldn't believe his eyes. He frantically turned his head around to his classmates. “Oh my God! That’s MVP, of SmackDown,” whispered Hart, in an attempt not to disrupt Perry's well-managed class environment.

SmackDown's highest-paid Superstar, wearing one of his signature Italian, tailor-made black suits, black Gucci shoes, black Cartier sunglasses, and enough “ice” around his neck and wrist to freeze Southern California, strutted into class with Diva Layla by his side. The former United States Champion and 2006 Diva Search winner were at Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School to encourage students to read.

As part of the Read Across America initiative, MVP and Layla, both of whom will be spokespeople for WWE's WrestleMania 25 Reading Challenge, along with Mr. Kennedy, Matt Hardy and Mark Henry, read student-selected books in front of Mrs. Perry's, Mr. Brown's and Mrs. White's fifth grade classes.

To read the full story, please click here.

WWE Wins Beacon Award for WrestleMania Reading Challenge Program

WWE recently won its first Beacon Award in the Community Relations-Other category. The Beacon Awards are the cable industries highest award for communications excellence.  Cable operators, programming networks, cable associations and new technology partners are recognized for achievements in public affairs and communications initiatives in categories such as community relations, competitive response, and programming.  The Beacon Award winners of 2008 achieve peer, industry and local market recognition for their exemplary work and set a standard for excellence for their colleagues to emulate.

Others receiving 2008 Beacon Awards were Comcast, Cox, Charter, Time Warner, Cablevision, Bright House, Lifetime, Fox Sports Network, Discovery Channel, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Animal Planet, USA Network.

The WrestleMania Reading Challenge also has received an honorable mention from PR News in this year's national Corporate Social Responsibility competition.  PR News' Corporate Social Responsibility Awards recognizes the year’s most outstanding communications initiatives and programs in the CSR arena. Winners and honorable mentions were honored in more than 30 categories for outstanding CSR efforts over the past year.  WWE was a finalist in the Corporate Affairs category along with ChoicePoint, Sprint, and IKEA, which won top honors for its campaign to stop using plastic bags.

The WrestleMania Reading Challenge has grown from occasional library visits into a nationally recognized program, which in 2007/2008 impacted more than 30,000 high school and middle schools students and involved more than 1,170 libraries in 49 states.  The program also has expanded into the United Kingdom with similar success.

View WrestleMania Reading Challenge video.

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.

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