LORDS OF THE RING: SCRIPTED OR NOT, WWF DRAWS A LOYAL CROWD

~Correction: Angle is the fifth person Spradling has inducted into the navy.

Charles Hankins hardly needed the floor seat he had for Sunday's World Wrestling Federation show at the Show Me Center. He was on his feet, cheering, chanting and booing nearly the entire show.

And when wrestlers Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle jumped from the ring during their match to take their battle all the way at the southeast corner of the center, Hankins ran right behind them to get a good look and cheer on Jericho.

Hankins, 42, said this was his first opportunity to watch a WWF match from the audience. He said he used to work at an arena in Kansas City that had professional wrestling, but he always wound up working instead of being able to watch.

"I've been a wrestling fan for so long, I couldn't even tell you," he said with a grin. "I never got to watch a whole match. This is the first time I got to see it from a fan's point of view."

While Hankins, who lives in Sikeston and wore a favorite "Stone Cold" Steve Austin jersey to the show, admits that much of professional wrestling is scripted, he said he believes there has to be some strong feelings of dislike among many of the wrestlers.

"What I like is these guys go in there and give it everything they got every day," he said. "Sure, some of it is scripted, but a lot of that is real. Like when Steve Austin and Triple H wrestle, that's hatred. That's no script there."

Judging from the raucousness of the fans who turned out for the Cape Girardeau show, Hankins is not alone in his reverence for professional wrestling -- scripted or not.

The show featured nine matches -- Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho, Dudley Boyz vs. Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather, "The One" Billy Gunn vs. The Big Show, Test vs. Val Venis, Raven vs. Steve Blackman, The Acolytes vs. Big Bossman and Albert, Ivory vs. Molly Holly, Hardcore Holly vs. Steven Richards, and Crash vs. the Brooklyn Brawler.

The Show Me Center was filled with nearly 5,000 face-painting, jersey-wearing, poster-toting, referee-hating fans that that cheered on their favorite wrestlers, booed those they hated and chanted such phrases as "Chea-ter! Chea-ter! Chea-ter!" when the time was right.

'It's all entertainment'

Fans booed when 246-pound "The One" stood on the ring's ropes and held up a mannequin's head he brought into the ring with him. And they cheered when The Big Show, who weighs 500 pounds, hoisted "The One" over his head and threw him to the floor.

Paul King of Malden, Mo., has watched professional wrestling all his life. Sporting a "Y2J" Chris Jericho jersey, King rushed back and forth from his seat to take photographs of the wrestlers as they approached the ring before each match.

King, who has been to several other live WWF matches, said he watches it on television every Monday and Thursday night. He said that when he was younger, his favorite wrestler was Jerry "The King" Lawler, who is now a commentator for the WWF.

"It's all entertainment. Everybody knows it's fake," he said. "But those guys are athletes. What they do takes a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of practice to do what they do up there."

Prior to the show, the Show Me Center rewarded its 4 millionth customer, Brandi Jackman of Benton, Mo., with a multitude of prizes, including $277.26, which is one day's interest on $4 million, a trip to WrestleMania in Houston, Texas, in April, a year's worth of pizza, a mountain bike, front row seats at Sunday's show and a subscription to the Southeast Missourian.

In addition, the Cape Girardeau Mayor Al Spradling commissioned Kurt Angle into the city's Navy as an honorary captain. Angle is the fifth person to be inducted into the Navy.

"I'm used to receiving gold medals, but now I've got all these honors as well. It's definitely an honor to be the fifth inductee," Angle told a crowd of about 125 that gathered at the Show Me Center to watch the ceremony.