Steve Feitl

@SteveFeitl

Eric LeGrand was not a fan of Triple H.

He is now.

The 26-year-old New Jersey native started watching professional wrestling in the mid-1990s and the grappling villain was one of the primary antagonists during the "Attitude Era" of the then-World Wrestling Federation, now WWE.

"He always found a way to win no matter what and I would go to bed mad and angry that he won," LeGrand laughed Friday while speaking with the Asbury Park Press via phone from Orlando, Florida – the site of Sunday's WrestleMania 33.

It's an especially amusing memory for LeGrand because he's become good friends with the man behind the wrestling persona, Paul Levesque, who serves as executive vice president of Talent, Live Events & Creative for WWE when he's not still angering fans as Triple H.

In fact, it was Levesque who called LeGrand with the news that he would receive the Warrior Award at Friday's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at the Amway Center. The event will air on WWE Network (starting at 8 p.m. Friday) and highlights from the night will be shown at 11:05 p.m. Monday on USA Network.

"He's been nothing but great to me and now with this Warrior Award, I can't thank him enough," LeGrand said of Levesque.

Speaking hours before the ceremony, LeGrand appreciated the opportunity to reach a new audience with his story.

A standout football player at Colonia High School, LeGrand went on to play at Rutgers University. He suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury Oct. 16, 2010, at MetLife Stadium during a Rutgers game against Army. LeGrand fractured his C3 and C4 vertebrae in a head-first tackle.

His unwavering belief and strength has inspired many in and out of the sports world and he formed Team LeGrand, part of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The charity raises money for research toward a cure for paralysis and to improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injuries. His seventh annual A Walk To Believe charity 5K walk/run/roll will be June 4 at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway.

The Warrior Award is presented to individuals who display unwavering strength and perseverance, according to WWE. Previous recipients include journalist and breast cancer survivor Joan Lunden and Connor Michalek, a WWE fan whose battle against pediatric cancer inspired WWE to launch its Connor’s Cure charity.

LeGrand said he planned to thank several people, talk about his experiences and spinal cord injuries and share a little about his own wrestling fandom, which began when he was approximately 5 years old.

"As a kid growing up, I would always take my teddy bear and put him in the wrestling moves," LeGrand recalled.

His favorites included:

-- The Rock: "Because he was 'The People’s Champ.'"

-- Stone Cold Steve Austin: "When you heard his music go off, you were going to get pumped up."

-- Kane: "He would just go in there and wreak havoc on everyone."

He remains a fan today, attending SummerSlam at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in recent years.

But he has never been to a WrestleMania, though that was set to change even before Levesque surprised him with news of the Warrior Award. LeGrand said he and friends had already booked their flights for Orlando and planned to attend the event as fans.

The fact that he is now part of the weekend festivities has enhanced the whole experience, LeGrand said.

"It's going to be a great weekend," he said.

But even on the day he was receiving his award, LeGrand was working on multiple fronts.

On Friday morning, FOX Sports released the latest episode of his "Mission Possible" series at FOXSports.com/MissionPossible. This episode focused on Rohan Murphy, a double-amputee who wrestled at Penn State and won a bronze medal as a Paralympic powerlifter.

Levesque is featured in the episode as LeGrand and Murphy visited the WWE Fitness Center at its headquarters in Stamford, Conn., as well as SummerSlam in Brooklyn.

LeGrand has enjoyed the experience of hosting the reality show.

"They wanted me to uncover all these people's stories about living life in the face of adversity and not letting it overcome them," LeGrand said. "It's been incredible."

Staff writer Steve Feitl: sfeitl@gannettnj.com

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