San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Thunder Rosa out to support Uvalde
Anakin Cervantes’ first week of school after coming to San Antonio from Mexico was filled with the usual things — finding the rights classrooms, getting to know his classmates and, of course, shooting safety drills.
It’s something that’s always scared his mother, Melissa Cervantes — a woman most know as All Elite Wrestling women’s world champion Thunder Rosa.
“Sometimes I worry when my son goes to school because that can happen at any time now,” said Rosa, who resides in San Antonio “It has become a trend. It is concerning and alarming. And now someone came into a school with a gun and ruin an entire community’s life.”
Five days after 19 children and two teachers were killed May 24 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Rosa defended her women’s world title at AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-perview. When Rosa came out of the tunnel, she had her usual flair, wearing an intricately designed headpiece filled with flowers and a black sparkling robe that hung to the arena floor. And on her chest was a large, red sacred heart with a single word inscribed on it — Uvalde.
“The same day it happened, I knew I wanted to try to do something special,” Rosa said. “And I saw other people starting to raise money and wondering how I could raise money, too. So, I decided to auction my gear.”
The auction, which Rosa put together with help from Rick Harrison of the “Pawn Stars” reality TV show, will run through June 17. All proceeds will go to Victims First, a nonprofit raising funds for the families affected by the Uvalde shooting.
“There is so much trauma that the children suffer, families suffer, the teachers suffer ...” Rosa said. “They are all going to
have to go back (to that school) and they are all going to be traumatized. It is just so sad. How are they going to move forward and what is going to help heal them?
“I’m sure some will move out
of the area. But not everyone has the means. And they have to live through it and push through it.”
On the day of the massacre, Rosa, 35, was talking to a classroom of students, explaining the benefits of staying in school.
“Here I was telling kids in (Las) Vegas that for some of them school is the safest place and not even an hour later my media director calls me crying and tells me that 16 kids were reported dead in a shooting in
Uvalde,” she said.
Like many, Rosa was left heartbroken by the mass shooting. Before she entered the world of professional wrestling, she worked as a counselor in Oakland, Calif., at a facility called Thunder Road.
“I’ve worked in elementary schools, middle schools and high schools and it breaks my heart because those were the places a lot of kids were most comfortable and safe,” said Rosa, who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in sociology. “Now, 10 years later, I don’t even know.”
During her time as a counselor, most of the children she helped struggled with drug addiction and mental or emotional challenges, Rosa said. Through her experience, she saw the benefits of providing access to mental health professionals.
“People really need to reach out and be able to feel like they can get help,” Rosa said. “It takes a long time to for someone to get to the point that they can do something as horrendous as this. It is becoming so normal now, and I think we shouldn’t allow this to be normal. This is not normal behavior.”
Rosa hopes the money she raises can help, but she knows it won’t be near enough.
“We need to help this community,” Rosa said. “They are going to need help for years to come.”