Braun Strowman Taking Time During Busy WrestleMania Week to Raise Money for Children’s Charity

Braun Strowman has already made plans for his post-WrestleMania vacation.

Strowman will be visiting pediatric cancer patients throughout Florida, hand-delivering tablets and smart phones to children courageously battling life-threatening diseases.

“There are so many amazing parts of being in WWE, but my favorite part is the interaction with kids,” said Strowman. “I live for that, and these are some of the bravest, toughest kids I’ve ever met.”

Strowman, who is 36-year-old Adam Scheer, has partnered with the Apple A Day Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to keeping cancer patients from the ages of 2–17 connected to the outside world through technology. A portion of the proceeds from Strowman’s “Magic City Mania” party on Thursday, April 2 at the Orpheum in Tampa’s historic Ybor City neighborhood will go directly to patients connected with Apple A Day.

“There will be so many wrestling fans in Tampa for WrestleMania, and we want to sell this event out and have people hanging from the rafters,” said Strowman. “My life has been so chaotically crazy and awesome. The platform I’ve been given and the opportunities presented to me in WWE have been unbelievable, and the coolest thing I have learned as a WWE superstar is the power that we have to help people get through hard times in their life.

“It’s given me an opportunity to do some good, so we partnered up with Apple A Day, a local charity in Florida. Apple A Day provides electronics to the kids at the hospital and helps them to connect to the outside. Bedridden, going through your treatments at the hospital, you can become disconnected from the world. This shows a little extra support and admiration for these kids as they fight.”

The “Magic City Mania” party is run by Strowman’s K5 Network, which also includes EC3, R-Truth, Percy Watson, and Drake Maverick. Tickets and VIP packages are available to party with WWE stars and contribute to a special charity.

“We’re keeping secrets, but there will be surprise guests,” said Strowman. “R-Truth is performing his new song ‘Set It Off’, there will be superstar karaoke and a chance for fans to get involved, and the VIP package gets you a VIP meet-and-greet, some swag, and autographs. It’s going to be a really fun party.”

As for WrestleMania, Strowman is still seeking his first singles match. His two most high-profile moments were winning the tag team titles with 10-year-old Nicholas at WrestleMania 34 and last year’s event when he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and had a storyline with Michael Che and Colin Jost from Saturday Night Live. But this year’s show marks an opportunity for Strowman to defend the Intercontinental title in a one-on-one match and create his own WrestleMania moment.

“Having a singles match on the main card, that’s been a personal goal of mine since I started with WWE,” said Strowman. “One day, I can see myself main-eventing WrestleMania. I feel like I have the star power and the fan base behind me that wants to see it, but I just need to find the right opponent.”

Strowman defends the Intercontinental Championship this Sunday at Elimination Chamber, the final pay-per-view before WrestleMania, in three-on-one handicap match against Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro.

“I’ve got my hands full this Sunday at the Elimination Chamber,” said Strowman. “Those three are pretty tough, and when they have their game plan working together, they’re even tougher. I need to get past them first, but hopefully I’m carrying that title out of Elimination Chamber and into WrestleMania. I’ll represent it proudly to whomever wants to step up and get these hands.”

Strowman wants to leave an imprint outside of the ring just like he has done on WWE programming. Despite his massive 6'8", 385-pound frame, the aptly nicknamed “Monster Among Men” still falls to his knee when he hears humbling words like neuroblastoma and chemotherapy, and his heart breaks for the children fighting cancer.

“Childhood is so special,” said Strowman. “I loved being a kid. It’s the innocence of children that amazes me. When I was signing autographs recently, one of the kids asked his mother if I could come over to their house for dinner. I love that innocence, and I love keeping the allure alive when any child meets me.

“All the traveling and time away from my home and missing my family, and the bumps, bruises, and scars, I forget about all that when a child tells me I’m his superhero. That’s what drives me to go out and kill my body, but I absolutely love it. I know the little bit of pain that I’m going through is helping someone with possibly a lot more pain fight through the struggles of their day-to-day life.”

Strowman extended an invitation to anyone interested in attending “Magic City Mania,” adding that it will be a perfect way to kick off the WrestleMania celebrations.

“We want everyone to come out, unwind stress-free, and help raise some money for charity,” said Strowman. “Apple A Day is an awesome group, and we’re going to do everything we can to help those kids.”

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.