FCW mixes action, creative stories

The crowd heckles and boos as the opening chords of the O'Jays' For the Love of Money echo through the Patriots Park gymnasium.

With this cue, Daniel E. Mayne, who plays the avaricious Vince McMahon-type owner of Flatline Championship Wrestling, strolls to the center of the ring in black suit and tie.

The crowd gets louder.

Mayne, cast as the villain, "fires" one of his three commentators for yelling at him to get out of the ring.

The fans, about 100, holler back.

So begins another night of choke holds and body slams mixed with bravado and bizarre characters in Columbia County.

FCW started six years ago with four friends who enjoyed wrestling and would emulate their heroes in the backyard, said FCW co-owner Eric Milford, of Grovetown.

"One day we got serious," Milford said. "We saved up some money and got our own ring and some people joined in and got some training."

From four friends, FCW has grown to include more than a dozen regular wrestlers, three play-by-play announcers, a referee, security personnel and concession and technical staff, said Mayne, of Grovetown. FCW even sells DVDs of the matches and has a Web site.

"I was a big fan of wrestling and what I didn't like on TV, I thought I could do better," Mayne said.

Mayne and Milford, who both work for the county, teamed to create elaborate storylines with an interesting cast of characters.

Sixx, their champion, played by Milford, is a possessed corpse fueled by rage.

There are factions, including the redneck Rebel World Order and an International tag-team of an Armenian terrorist partnered with a German, imported to the United States by a crooked INS agent.

Other challengers include J.C. The Georgia Boy, a rabid Bulldog fan, a hulking bodybuilder nicknamed the Trailer Park Superstar and a flamboyant cowboy called Biashi, "The San Francisco Treat."

"The way I explain wrestling is that it's a man's soap opera," said Fallon Waddell, the only woman in FCW, who plays Miss Harden, the INS agent, among other characters.

"We have the story lines and everything," she said. "I've been kidnapped and everything. It's something that everybody can get into."

Though World Wrestling Entertainment has served as a template for the action, FCW isn't as racy as what's seen on television, Mayne said.

"It's a very family-oriented show," Mayne said. "We don't do any of the (raunchy) things you see on Monday nights."

That, Milford said, is what distinguishes FCW from WWE.

"My dad used to tell me stories that back in the 60s and 70s ... Ric Flair and all the greats ... used to come to Augusta," Milford said. "It just died down. I'm trying to get away from the TV stereotype of wrestling trash and get back to the good, old-fashioned, wholesome, entertainment of wrestling."

Though the storylines are a little tamer, the action at FCW is as close to World Wrestling Entertainment matches as they can make it, Mayne said.

Wrestlers leap from the top rope, punching, kicking and slapping each other.

FCW wrestlers carefully studied the moves of television wrestlers and some received professional training, Milford said.

Each wrestler has a signature move and practices regularly for safety, he said.

"The guys are trained in what they do and they know they are not going to hurt anybody and they know they are not going to hurt themselves," Waddell said.

The next FCW match is at 7 p.m. March 11 at Patriots Park.