Paul Lee doesn't make professional wrestling sound like an exceptionally safe, much less glorious, undertaking.
The story of his 33-year career in the "squared circle" - almost 20 of them under the pseudonym "Natureboy" Paul Lee - is written all over his heavily muscled body in a script of scars.
"One lady, back in 1992, she got so much into it that she put a six-inch knife into me. It went all the way in," said Lee, pulling up his shirt and pointing to a pale mark on the left side of his torso.
"I didn't even press charges," he added, laughing. "The lady was mentally challenged. She was shaking and went into a seizure right afterward. But I felt good in a way about my job, because my job was to get you to believe."
Lee inherited his bad-boy Natureboy persona from World Wrestling Entertainment hall of famer Ric Flair, who inspired Lee's shock of blond hair, peacock-strutting attitude and signature howl of "Wooooooo."
On Saturday, Lee will fulfill a dream he's had for years by bringing live wrestling to Riverbend. This first-for-the-festival event will occur in three-match blocks at 4 and 7 p.m. under the Olgiati Bridge. Admission is included with a weeklong or single-day Riverbend wristband.
Since 1988, Lee has owned American Wrestling Federation/World of Wrestling, a Ringgold, Ga.-based organization that frequently hosts monthly bouts in its arena off Highway 41 in Ringgold. For Riverbend, he's bringing AWF stars Zyeth Cage and Fly-Guy, the organization's current champion, who will square off in one bout.
Next up is a tag team match pitting AWF stars The Young Lions, including Lee's son, Lex, against Brandon and Brent Tate, who wrestle under the name "The Boys." Finally, Lee will compete in a flagship bout against former World Championship Wrestling and New World Order wrestler Buff Bagwell.
The matches will take place in AWF's 16-square-foot traveling arena and, in the over-the-top circus that surrounds many wrestling events, will commence with each wrestler making an entrance to his own theme music. Fans also can get their pictures made with the contestants before each match.
"I think it'll be interesting," said Riverbend Talent Assistant Bob Payne. "Even people who aren't wrestling fans, they'll come down and want to see it. It's a crazy idea, but it's a crazy idea that might work. If you can't try something new, then why do it?"
Riverbend also is experimenting with opening at 3 p.m. on Saturday instead of its usual 5 p.m. Incorporating wrestling into the schedule will add value to the cost of a wristband, but the 4 p.m. bouts hopefully will provide incentive for festival goers to arrive earlier in the day, he said.
For Lee, the stabbing 14 years ago is not his only encounter with a fan who bought too completely into his "bad guy" acting. In fact, the most recent one was just a couple of weeks ago.
In Ringgold during a June 4 match, spectator Patricia Anne Crowe allegedly pulled a gun on Lee after he trash-talked her and tied her favorite wrestler to the ropes for a pre-orchestrated beating with a metal chair. A resident of Lafayette, Ga., Crowe was charged with aggravated assault and reckless conduct.
And, even though her gun was loaded and the safety off, Lee said he can't help but find such moments flattering.
"The deal is, you have a bad guy and a good guy," he said. "I've done it several times where people come up and curse and yell and scream and threaten. I always look at it like I'm doing my job good."
For decades, Lee has entered the ring to engage in acrobatic stunts and to be bludgeoned - and to bludgeon others - with props that no amount of choreography can make any softer. Injuries and spilled blood during Saturday's matches aren't the goal, he said, but if a little agony helps sell the experience to the crowd, so much the better.
"We want everyone to get a good, five-star show," Lee said.
Despite the many ways it has been hazardous to his health, Lee said wrestling is a lifelong passion first and a business and a profession second. He dismisses many pop-up wrestling leagues with low-production values as "Mickey Mouse shows" and proudly touts his flawless record of showing up for his bouts, even when he's suffering from sometimes-debilitating injuries.
"I never missed a booking; sick or not, I did it," he says. "There are guys these days who get into it who, if they have a freaking hangnail, that's a reason not to do it."
But maintaining his participation record has often meant enduring grievous injuries.
In 1997, a botched jump off a ladder 20 minutes into a 60-minute Ironman match wrenched his knee wildly out of place. The pain was immediate, he said, but he finished the rest of the match, as well as three additional weeks of booked events, before seeing a doctor.
"I kept wrasslin' and wrasslin'," Lee said. "Finally, it was killing me so bad that, when I went to the doctor, and he said, '[Tomorrow] morning, you've got surgery. You've got every ligament in your knee tore out. I don't know how you been walking.'"
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.