WWE Offers Aid To Residents Of Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas, September 24, 2008 – World Wrestling Entertainment’s ties to the city of Houston go beyond the upcoming WrestleMania XXV at Reliant Stadium on April 5 and a history of successful WWE events in the area. Several WWE Superstars – including United States Champion Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Carlito and Shad of the tag team Cryme Tyme - call Houston home.
Today, 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.
Current United States Champion Shelton Benjamin from WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown televison show is a resident of the Houston suburb of Spring. Benjamin was on his way to compete in a WWE live event as the storm rolled in. “The night we left, for about 60 miles, we were pretty much fleeing the storm,” Benjamin claimed. “The roads were empty and the wind was blowing us all over the road.”
Benjamin grew up in South Carolina, so he has vivid memories of 1989’s Hurricane Hugo. He noted that Ike was a larger and more destructive storm than Hugo, and the memories of that disaster came back to him as he prepared for the storm. Benjamin had to reschedule a trip to San Francisco so that he could tape up his windows and bring lawn furniture and plants inside his house.
“Everybody got hit,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anywhere that went untouched. With the size of the storm, every suburb got hit — I don’t care if you’re on the north or the south, or in the west or east side. For the most part, Spring wasn’t hit as bad as some of the other areas. Obviously, there were a bunch of trees and signs knocked over. There are a bunch of houses around here that have wood fences, and those are down all over the place.”