FANS GO WILD FOR HEATED RIVALRIES, ANTICS OF WRESTLERS

World Wrestling Federation competitor Sycho Sid stormed away from the ring while fans strained to touch Sid after he pinned his opponent Goldust Sunday at the Show Me Center.

World Wrestling Federation fans are arguably the most devoted on Earth.

When the WWF came to Cape Girardeau on Sunday, 2,300 flocked to the Show Me Center to see the action. That number didn't come close to filling the seats, but the noise level belied the attendance.

The screaming started when the announcer welcomed the crowd to the Show Me Center. It didn't end until the last wrestler hopped into his car and peeled away.

Samantha Bowen, 11, stood in line prior to the event in hopes of finding some World Champion Shawn Michaels souvenirs. She held a neon-green posterboard sign that read "I love Shawn Michaels" on one side and "Kloudi sucks, Sunny rules the WWF" on the other.

Bowen's mother, Ginger, drove her daughter from Park Hills for the event.

"I'm not really a fan, but it has been Samantha's lifelong dream to see the WWF," Ginger Bowen said.

Her daughter said she faithfully has watched WWF matches four times a week since 1994.

"I don't know if it's because of the cute guys or just because I love it," she said.

Richard Huff, a community integration specialist with VIP Industries, helped 22 VIP participants get to their seats. Huff said one of the WWF's biggest fans was among the group -- he videotapes all the matches.

Several were in wheelchairs or had walking problems, but their assistants patiently loaded them into the elevator and helped them into second-floor seats. The Show Me Center's accessibility aided the effort, Huff said.

Some fans got to their seats early, like Peggy Lorenz of Jackson. She brought her son, 8-year-old Tim, and two of his friends.

"He makes me watch the matches on TV," Lorenz said. "I've been promising him for several years that if the WWF ever came here, I'd take him to see them."

Tim Lorenz excitedly waited for the matches to begin. He said his favorite part was when the wrestlers threw each other out of the ring.

"I think they're really getting hurt!" he said.

Once the wrestling began, fans couldn't keep their seats. They rushed up to metal barriers around the ring, cheering, jeering and snapping pictures.

Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid, the two heroes, created near-hysteria in the crowd. Nobody was more hated than Goldust, the painted, androgynous bad guy who provoked the audience like nobody else could.

"I'm the best actor in the WWF!" he yelled at wrestling fans, who loudly booed in return.

Most folks accepted that there is plenty of acting in professional wrestling, but that isn't the point.

"It's theater in a different form," said fan Chris Bryant. "It is athletic, and it's really fun to watch. I like to keep up with the story line."

Bryant and his friend Michael Rogers-Boyd, both 24-year-old Sikeston residents, have lost count of how many professional wrestling matches they have attended. Rogers-Boyd said he has followed the WWF since the late 1970s. He reads independent magazines about all the professional wrestling tours and particularly likes Mr. Perfect and Bret "Hitman" Hart.

Bryant's favorite competitors are Vader and Sycho Sid.