This mistake had nothing to do with Connor Michalek receiving a Hall of Fame induction and everything to do with the positioning of the Warrior Award. WWE created the Warrior Award and honored young Connor, a WWE superfan who passed away shortly after WrestleMania XXX, with this award. The Warrior Award was positioned as fulfilling the request of Warrior, whom also passed just after WrestleMania XXX. The Ultimate Warrior's vision for the award was to celebrate the unsung heroes of the wrestling industry, centered around employees that didn't receive enough praise for their work behind the scenes. In his 2014 Hall of Fame induction speech, Warrior referenced Jimmy Miranda as the award's namesake, as Jimmy was a vital component of WWE's merchandising department. Instead of building off of Warrior's idea, Vince McMahon (and likely his daughter and Chief Brand Officer Stephanie) took a completely different approach, to heavily advertise the company's charitable efforts and use it as a promotional tool in hopes to generate good publicity and grow revenue. They called it the "Warrior Award". They even chopped and edited video clips of the Warrior's 2014 Hall of Fame speech to try and fool the audience, making it appear as if this incarnation was exactly what Warrior wanted. Vince would have been wise to induct Connor as the first ever recipient of the "Crusher's Choice Award" and create the "Warrior Award" as a separate distinction for spotlighting the lesser known personnel as Warrior had wished.
A former stuntman for Paramount Pictures, Matt enjoys sports, water skiing, driving fast, the beach, professional wrestling,
technology, and scotch. At the same time, whenever possible.
Having attended many famous (and infamous) shows including WrestleMania XV, In Your House: Mind Games, and the 1995 King of the Ring, Matt has been a lifelong professional sports and wrestling fan. Matt's been mentioned in numerous wrestling podcasts including the Steve Austin Show: Unleashed, Talk Is Jericho, and Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard.
As a former countywide performer, Matt has been referred to as Mr. 300 for his amazing accomplishments in the world of amateur bowling. He is also the only man on record to have pitched back-to-back no hitters in the Veterans Stadium Wiffle Ball League of 2003.
