Impact Wrestling/GFW issued the following press release:
GFW/IMPACT Wrestling Reveals Plans For “Remembering Pulse Nightclub, 1 Year Later”
Survivor Tony Marrero To Attend Tribute In The Impact Zone
For Immediate Release
July 2, 2017
GFW/IMPACT Wrestling presents “Remembering Pulse Nightclub, 1 Year Later” on Monday, July 3, at The Impact Zone on the backlot of Universal Studios Florida. The ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m., before taping begins for an upcoming episode of IMPACT on Pop TV.
GFW/IMPACT Wrestling is celebrating its 15-year anniversary, and the vast majority of the events and matches over that stretch have been held in Orlando. GFW/IMPACT Wrestling did not have any events in Orlando in June 2016, so to mark the one-year, which was on Monday, June 12, 2017, company officials chose the first Monday when GFW/IMPACT Wrestling was back in Orlando for the tribute.
In the early-morning hours of June 12, 2016, a lone gunman killed 49 people inside Pulse Nightclub, making it both the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in U.S. history.
The world cried, including GFW/IMPACT Wrestling, as Orlando is our home, too. Pulse Nightclub is about a 20-minute drive from The Impact Zone.
To honor the victims and survivors, GFW/IMPACT Wrestling on July 3 will place rainbow-colored ribbons on 49 chairs inside The Impact Zone, one for each victim.
Plus, GFW/IMPACT Wrestling is honored to welcome Tony Marrero, an Orlando resident and Pulse Nightclub survivor. Tony went to the club that Sunday night with his best friend, Luis. Tony was shot four times in the back and once in the arm. Miraculously, Tony survived, despite incredible loss of blood and nearly dying en route to the hospital.
Luis did not survive.
Tony has been a guest multiple times on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and once was surprised by an appearance from singer Katy Perry, as it was Perry’s song “Rise” that was his motivation to keep fighting during rehabilitation.
“The Pulse Nightclub tragedy affected everyone, especially all of us at GFW/IMPACT Wrestling as Orlando is our second home, having spent so many nights here over the past 15 years,” said Jeff Jarrett, the founder and current Chief Creative Officer for GFW/IMPACT Wrestling. “Tony’s story brings tears, but it also carries hope, courage and strength. We are truly honored that Tony is part of GFW/IMPACT Wrestling’s ‘Remembering Pulse Nightclub, 1 Year Later.’”
