WWF back in Bangor with new cast of superstars

They have been glorified for their skills and maneuvers in the ring. They have been criticized for the violence displayed on television every week, and for their sometimes sexually oriented material. They are a part of Americana and one of the most-watched television shows in the nation.

And they are coming back to Bangor.

The World Wrestling Federation is making its return to Maine at the Bangor Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10. It will be the WWF’s first visit to Bangor in four years, and anticipation for the show is growing daily.

The last show, on Dec. 10, 1997, featured superstars such as Bret “The Hitman” Hart, The Undertaker, and Shawn “Heartbreak Kid” Michaels.

This edition will feature more high flyers, including Rob Van Dam, Edge, and The Dudley Boys.

Looking back at 1997, when the show made three visits to the auditorium in the span of a year, Bass Park Director Mike Dyer said the WWF may have “worked the market” too much for the area.

However, the numbers still were superior compared to those of their then-rivals WCW, the last wrestling organization to come to Bangor for a show in 1998.

WCW, which now is owned by the WWF, drew 3,545 people for that event, while WWF’s last show in 1997 drew 3,759 to a venue that can hold some 5,700 people for a wrestling show.

Even though ticket prices for the show have gone up substantially, from a range of $11.50 to $18.50 in 1997 to a range of $15 to $30 for the upcoming event, it appears this show will easily outsell the previous events.

That’s no surprise, given the popularity of wrestling has grown in the last three or four years.

It’s not just the personas of the individual wrestlers, but the ongoing story lines that keep fans of all ages intrigued.

As each story unfolds, tension brews and fans wait to see what will happen next with the “angle,” as they call the story line.

Like characters in a TV series, wrestlers in the WWF sometimes find themselves getting little air time when there is no “angle” for them.

Such is not the case for Rob Van Dam, a rising WWF superstar whose high-flying moves were dazzling fans for years in Extreme Championship Wrestling, until that organization filed for bankruptcy over the summer.

Van Dam has had no trouble adapting to the WWF’, even though his heart will always be with ECW.

“I personally saw the group [ECW] grow from wrestling two to three times a month in front of a few hundred people to wrestling three to four times a week in front of about 5,000 people,” Van Dam said in a recent telephone interview.

When asked why the WWF doesn’t come to Maine as often as other venues, he simply laughed and said, “It’s too damn cold.”

Wrestling is portrayed in the media more as “sports entertainment” than “sports,” but that seems to only increase the fascination for the fans, who are not disillusioned by assertions that each show’s results are predetermined.

Dennis Miller, host of both “Monday Night Football” and “The Dennis Miller Show,” asked and answered the age-old question about wrestling on his HBO program.

“Is it real? And the answer is, yes it is. I mean, how phony can it be if Don King isn’t making any money off it?” he said.

But no one disputes that wrestlers really do suffer injuries. This has become more apparent due to the WWF miniseries, “Tough Enough,” which airs on MTV, as well as the film “Beyond the Mat.”

Wrestlers are constantly on the road and they wrestle injured, sick, and take unbelievable risks every night solely for the purpose of entertaining the crowd, Van Dam said.

“There’s always a risk of getting injured,” Van Dam said. “Any time you jump up to the top rope, if one foot is even an inch off, there is chance of injury.”

As for time off?

“That’s nonexistent,” he said.

For information on the WWF show at Bangor Auditorium, call 947-5555.