BANGOR – The electricity, the cheering fans, the overwhelming chants and the sounds of bodies being slammed in the ring filled the Bangor Auditorium as the World Wrestling Federation came to town Saturday night.

Among the more than 5,000 fans in attendance, the consensus was clear. They were eager to see some of their favorite WWF superstars in action, and the WWF did not disappoint them.

However, those who came knowing who was on the card were thrown a curveball. On programs and card lineups, the fine print says “card subject to change.”

And change it did.

Two WWF superstars who were slated for matches were unable to attend. X-Pac, who was scheduled to take on Westbrook native Scotty 2 Hotty was unable to compete due to a neck surgery. Tazz, who was scheduled for the main event against Rob Van Dam, also did not participate.

Yet the evening proved entertaining. As soon as the house lights went down, ring announcer Howard Finkel – known affectionately to WWF fans as “The Fink” – energized the crowd with his reputable charisma that has developed over some 15 years.

The theme music for the superstars was played at full WWF volume – louder and with more bass than the auditorium speakers were equipped to handle. The quality of the sound was the one complaint expressed by many of the fans.

“They chose to go through the house speakers for this show as they usually do,” said Mike Dyer, Bass Park director, who was in attendance. “I think that’s what they normally do for their events and they like to jack up the volume for these shows.”

It was a family environment, with people of all ages on hand. But for those waiting to see the big-name superstars, earlier matches offered some of the future talent of the WWF.

Ohio Valley Wrestling, one of the WWF’s developmental programs, featured Brock Lesnar, Ron “H2O” Waterman and the tag team of Randy Orton and Rico Constantino.

Lesnar, no doubt one of the more muscular wrestlers to grace the ring, wiped the floor with his opponent, Crash Holly, who at 200 pounds seemed about half Lesnar’s size. Waterman prevailed over Shaun Stasiak, and the Orton-Constantino pair fell to Tommy Dreamer and Steven Richards.

The first big match of the evening pitted the WWF’s Faarooq and Bradshaw, known as the APA, against World Championship Wrestling tag-team champions the Dudley Boyz.

The Dudley Boyz were representing the Alliance, a rival faction in which members of the WCW and the ECW – Extreme Championship Wrestling – came together to eliminate the WWF.

The APA worked the crowd quite well, promising to “beat these guys, take their belts, pawn them and buy beer for all of Bangor.”

The house erupted.

To make matters worse, the Dudleys prevailed in controversial fashion by hitting Bradshaw with one of the title belts while the referee had his back turned, rather conveniently.

No free beer on this night for Bangor.

The European title also was up for grabs as Christian battled the challenger and crowd favorite, Edge.

The pair, whose characters are brothers in the WWF story line, have been feuding since Christian became jealous of Edge’s rising fame.

Christian further stirred things up Saturday by complaining that he had heard a group of people outside the auditorium yelling a derogatory chant at him.

That, of course, started young and old alike repeating the chant. With that, Edge came out and said he could relate to the fans respecting his “younger brother.”

“It’s kind of hard to respect someone who still wets the bed,” said Edge, who is well-known for his taunting humor.

It was a great match, and in the WWF tradition it ended in controversial fashion. As referees have been doing for decades, the official turned his back, and Christian hit Edge with a chair to take the win.

The high point of the night may have been seeing Westbrook’s Scott “Scotty 2 Hotty” Taylor work his magic with the crowd as he teamed with the 350-pound Albert against The Hurricane and Hugh Morrus.

The wrestler from Maine played to the crowd throughout the match as the relentless chants of “Scotty” grew louder.

The match ended cleanly as Scotty nailed his signature move, “The Worm,” while cameras flashed throughout the arena.

The main event pitted WWF Hardcore champion Rob Van Dam against Raven, who had held that title several times.

It was a great match, with Van Dam one of the headliners many of the fans had come to see.

Van Dam hit all his signature moves, including his trademark finisher, the “Five-Star Frogsplash,” to beat Raven and send the fans home happy.

Van Dam, another member of the Alliance, is in a strong situation in his current role.

“Being one of the only ‘good guys’ in the group, it’s a lot easier for me to stand out from everyone else,” Van Dam said in a telephone interview earlier this month. “I’m in a situation where I can wrestle guys from the WWF or from the Alliance and still be cheered by the fans.”

Attendance for the event skyrocketed from the WWF’s last show in Bangor in 1997, which sold only 3,759 seats. Ticket

sales Saturday were 5,016.

“I was very pleased with the attendance, and everyone seemed to have a great time,” Dyer said. “They haven’t said when they will be back, but they had to have been happy with it.”

Overall, the show was definitely worth attending and worth the price of admission.

Some good guys won, some bad guys won, everyone who had belts kept them and the crowd was entertained until the last wrestler went into the locker room.

Here’s hoping the WWF doesn’t wait four more years to come back and entertain us.