AEW's Deonna Purrazzo And TNA's Steve Maclin Honoring 9/11 Victims And Veterans With Skyscraper Climb (Exclusive)

“Then in homeroom, we had the television on, and we saw the first plane hit,” he recalled. “And I'm looking out the window, you see the smoke still billowing from the city itself. So it's just it's surreal. You're seeing it on TV, and then you're seeing it live and in person.” 

His wife, AEW wrestler Deonna Purrazzo, was a second grader in Wanaque, N.J., at the time. Her father, working for a pool and spa company, was doing a job alongside the Hudson River. To this day, he still has images from a disposable camera showing the aftermath of the disaster.

“I was terrified,” she remembered. “It was just a really scary moment to realize that this is happening so close to home.”

Two commercial planes had hit the World Trade Center, collapsing both the North and South Towers. Simultaneously, a third flight crashed into the Pentagon, while a fourth went down in a Pennsylvania field. While she may have been too young to fully understand the gravity of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed 2,977 people, Maclin was undergoing a transformative moment that would alter his life course. 

“I remember leaving school that day and getting home, and my dad was there like, ‘Yeah, I'm not going to work today.’ And the TV was on, and he was just sitting there playing on his guitar.”

Maclin had just returned from football practice, which he also remembers as being "eerie," particularly in the aftermath of students being pulled from school left and right as global uncertainty permeated the smoke-tinged air.

“We watched the television together and just kind of watching the whole day unfold, and seeing both towers fall. It's still one of those days that I can remember that, like, my life changed in its own way,” Maclin said. “I kind of knew then and there, football's not as big as I think it is, and I was.”

Both Maclin and Purrazzo come from military families. Her grandfather fought in the U.S Navy during World War II. Meanwhile, Steve’s father was in the U.S. Army, and his uncle was in the Marine Corps. His grandfather on his mother’s side also served in the U.S. Army. 

The call to serve was embedded in his bloodline, and the events of that fateful Tuesday morning reinforced his own journey.

“I remember we had a [football] game, it was like the first game back after 9/11 and the attacks. And it was like everybody in that entire field, for the national anthem, just, it was the most unified I've ever felt. Like, patriotic and love of country all at once,” he said. “I knew my calling.”

After a brief attempt at college, Maclin would enlist in the Marines, serving two tours of Afghanistan. He was honorably discharged in 2011, and began pursuing pro wrestling afterward. However, like Purrazzo, he has not been to the site of the World Trade Center since the attacks. 

That is set to change on June 1, as the couple will honor first responders and victims by participating in the annual Tunnel to Towers “Tower Climb,” a 104-story hike up One World Trade Center. 

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is an organization originally founded in honor of firefighter Stephen Siller, who responded to the emergency by carrying 60 lbs. of his equipment on foot through the closed Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. He died in the collapse while trying to help others evacuate. The organization says it has raised more than $1 billion in support of first responders and military families and says it has delivered more than 1,500 mortgage-free homes to Gold Star families across the country. 

Purrazzo (who frequently quizzes her husband on U.S. history while out and about) was looking for ways she could give back to charity in the last year, and found the cause to be near and dear. 

“Veteran advocacy was one of the things that's top of my list,” she said. “And so, just kind of knowing and dealing with a lot of the things that we deal with in terms of access to healthcare."

“It really always spoke to me in terms of like, this community is so underserved, and it's kind of frowned upon to support them in this day and age. And so as my platform has grown throughout my career, it was almost a perfect time when his partnership was presented to us to say, you know, I feel comfortable standing up for this.”

They’ve been rigorously training for the trek for months, and Purrazzo has been fundraising in support of the event. She noted that the two went to visit the Pearl Harbor National Memorial a couple of years ago, and while they have yet to visit the 9/11 Memorial, they anticipate having a similar feeling when making the climb up New York City’s largest skyscraper.

“When you go and you see the USS Arizona, you kind of feel like it's so solemn. You feel like something happens. You are lost here. And it's just very heavy and so emotional. And so, I was just thinking that, like, it's probably going to feel very similar to that on top of what connection we have to all of this,” Purrazzo said.

Maclin expects the impact of the event to be profound and reflective. They plan to spend several days in the area observing the memorial, and he anticipates that accomplishing the 104-story feat will greatly put into perspective the sacrifice of those who perished that morning.

“They're the ones that are running in,” he said of the first responders. “And it's very similar to my time in the Marine Corps. Anytime something bad was to happen, I've always been the person to go find out what's going on, and try to help in any way I can.”

“That to me is the ultimate test of what a hero is. I think in my mind, in my eyes, and the way I see it is, is a person that just selflessly and without any thought process or anything, instantly runs to the aid of others. And, I think that's what we're celebrating and also honoring.”

To support Purrazzo and Maclin’s climb, you can check out their fundraising page.