Make-A-Wish Harlem's Raymond McKune, 16, was among 31 kids from Make-A-Wish who met John Cena the day before WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans. In 2012, McKune was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. 
Dave Allocca/AP Hulk Hogan, l eft, and John Cena on top of the The Hard Rock Cafe during a news conference for Wrestlemania 30 on April 1, 2014. 
Mel Evans/ASSOCIATED PRESS John Cena, top, chokes Dwayne Douglas Johnson, known as The Rock, as they wrestle on April 7, 2013, in East Rutherford, N.J., during Wrestlemania.Previous Next
EnlargeOn the eve of the Super Bowl of wrestling, John Cena was getting his motivation from a special group of kids.
Cena surprised 31 kids from Make-A-Wish during a pizza party on Saturday, the day before WWE's WrestleMania 30 at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
"To meet John Cena, it was pretty cool," said a smiling Raymond McKune, 16, of Harlem, after meeting the 14-time world champion.
Aside from his family, McKune — a 10th grader at the Thurgood Marshall Academy on W. 135th St. — said it's Cena who motivates him to keep going.
"I'll never forget it," added McKune, who was flown to New Orleans by the WWE to participate in Make-A-Wish events. He and his family will be among 70,000 fans at WrestleMania in the Mercedes Benz Superdome on Sunday night.
In 2012, McKune was diagnosed with end stage renal failure, and last year he received a kidney transplant, his mother Rosalind McKune said.
"Hopefully this will help motivate him and keep him moving forward," she said as her son showed her his replica championship belt that Cena autographed.
But for Cena, who faces villain Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 30, the meet and greet with the kids with life-threatening medical conditions was just the boost he needed.
"What they do for me is fantastic because they provide inspiration," he told reporters.
Cena has granted more than 400 wishes for kids through Make-A-Wish.
As for WrestleMania, Cena predicted it will be a memorable one.
What [the kids] do for me is fantastic because they provide inspiration.
"I think people will look back 10, 15 years from now and they'll realize that this is as historic as WrestleMania one," he said.
Rey Mysterio and WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee also brought smiles to the kids by posing for photos and signing autographs at the event.
"Ten years ago I was in the crowd at WrestleMania 20 in Madison Square Garden," said Lee, a Hudson County, N.J., native, who left NYU to pursue wrestling. "We had such terrible seats and I promised my dad I would be in the ring one day."
"A decade later to actually have fulfilled that promise...it shows you anything is possible," she said.
Mfeeney@nydailynews.com
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