BANGOR – “The virtue of all-in wrestling,” the French thinker Roland Barthes once wrote, “is that it is the spectacle of excess.” Perhaps it is that richness, the unapologetic over-the-top entertainment that makes it so darn fun to watch. For some of us, it’s a beloved sport; for others it’s a guilty late-night pay-per-view pleasure.

But who can deny the excitement, the visceral joy in the spring of the ropes, the glare of the lights, the boom of the announcers’ voices, the profound drama of the sport? What’s more, like music or theater, there is nothing like seeing it live – the thud of bodies to the mat, the crunch of bones, the snappy insults, and all the boos and ahs of the spectators.

At 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, all the wealth of wrestling’s excesses will be on proud display when JVC Tower of Power presents the WWE “Tour of Defiance” at the Bangor Auditorium.

Scheduled for the event are more than 30 stars from the “Smackdown” brand, including Edge, Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Torrie Wilson.

“I just always wanted to do it,” said WWE up-and-comer Edge of his career in wrestling.

A bit hoarse from battling the flu, the brawny Canadian humbly explained himself from his beginnings in the world of holds, slams and tights to his current star status.

At the tender age of 17, Edge said in a telephone interview, he caught his first break in wrestling the natural way – by winning an essay contest. His writing won him the contest’s grand prize, a scholarship to wrestling school, which Edge said he couldn’t have afforded otherwise.

From those beginnings it has been a long ascent for Edge, a man passionate about and dedicated to his wrestling.

“We don’t have an off-season,” Edge explained about himself and his fellow WWE wrestlers. “So every night we go out and bust our butts.” And he means it.

Edge is an eight-time WWE Tag Team champion, four-time Intercontinental champion, and a WCW U.S. champ.

With help from his former tag team partner and “brother,” Christian, Edge holds the record for WWE tag team wins. Like all wrestlers though, Edge has also had his own share of drama. He and Christian parted in a major way last year and no longer wrestle together.

“It was just one of those of things where it was time,” Edge said simply.

Edge rebounded though, with a career highlight. Last July, he got the chance to team up with a wrestling icon and one of his own inspirational heroes, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, for a tag team match.

“It was probably the most fun that I’ve had in my career,” he recalled. “It took me back to my childhood.”

All the successes and titles raise the question, however, as to what a guy so tough and motivated would do if he weren’t caught in the hold of professional wrestling.

“I’ve thought about it, and it’s hard to imagine myself doing anything else but wearing a pair of tights and jumping around in front of people,” Edge said with a laugh.

And finally, one of wrestling’s best excesses is the finishing move. What would a wrestling match be without it? That certain something, which shows no mercy, is left, and no remorse is felt for one’s bested opponent. Naturally, Edge has his own signature finishing move, “Edgecution.”

“I had to think of something I could do on any opponent of any size,” he explained.

And just what does it mean to be “Edgecuted”?

“It means you’re gonna lose,” Edge boasted, “It’s the 1-2-3.”

For tickets call the Civic Center box office at 990-4444 or Ticketmaster at 775-3331.