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Bob D’Angelo

Bob is a longtime member of the Florida sports media, having served as a reporter and copy editor for more than 30 years. His true sports passion, however, is the history of the various games, exhibited by his in-depth book reviews and hobby of collecting cards and other sports memorabilia. He blogs for TBO.com on both subjects, transferring his work for the Tampa Tribune to the realm of cyberspace.

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Give Cena his Yabba Dabba due for promoting charity

Posted Jan 10, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 10, 2012 at 11:10 PM

Give John Cena his Yabba Dabba due.

The WWE star will be featured on collectible cereal boxes of Post Fruity Pebbles through March, a promotion that also will give more publicity to the Make-A-Wish Foundation that Cena is heavily involved with. There also will be a promotion that will give winners a chance to meet and greet the pro wrestler.

That’s commendable.

Honestly, I am an old school pro wrestling fan, who grew up listening to Gordon Solie give his deadpan commentary on TV’s “Championship Wrestling From Florida.” So I only have a passing interest in today’s stars, although my kids sure know about them. I mean, I know about Cena and The Rock and others in Vince McMahon’s stable. But every kid has their era, so yesterday’s Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr. or Ric Flair is today’s John Cena.

And because pro wrestlers still command a huge following worldwide, it’s nice to see them give back by publicizing and supporting worthy charitable causes.

I still have that nagging feeling though, that the Great Malenko, Killer Kowalski or The Sheik would have been a hard sell in today’s market. But these are different times.

According to a WWE news release, Cena has granted more than 250 wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions. And he likes his partnership with Post.

“After all, who doesn’t dream of being on a cereal box one day?” Cena says in the release.

The idea was spawned by a comment made by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who compared Cena’s brightly colored wardrobe to a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. Cena responded by calling himself “Yabba, Dabba Delicious.”

Grand prize winners will earn a meet-and-greet with Cena, priority seating and transportation to a WWE live event, and an autographed “Rise Above Hate” T-shirt, in support of the “be a STAR” anti-bullying message. Other prizes include T-shirts, some of which will be autographed by Cena.

For more information, visit www.PostCereals.com