Retired wrestler Ric Flair, left, and AWF owner/wrestler Paul “Nature Boy” Lee flex together. Flair endorsed Lee in the past to continue his legacy as the Nature Boy in the ring. Lee is bringing Flair to the Colonnade for a meet-and-greet at Wrestle Jam IV.Wrestle Jam IV posters are going up all over Catoosa County letting the community know about big-name wrestlers coming to town.
The show is Thursday, May 26 at the Colonnade beginning with a meet-and-greet at 5 p.m. featuring retired wrestler Ric Flair signing autographs. The wrestling show follows at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s one of the biggest draws every year at the Colonnade,” said Wrestle Jam 4 manager and AWF wrestler Paul “Nature Boy” Lee. “People have come there for years. People travel from Florida and the Carolinas to come to Wrestle Jam 4.”
One featured wrestler is Kevin Nash, who played a role in the movie “Magic Mike” and will appear in a movie “Slaw” showing in theaters soon. Lee also appears in “Slaw” seven times, he said.
“[Wrestle Jam] is our big local event where we bring in big names off TV and childhood heroes in to let people meet them,” said Lee.
His childhood hero was Ric Flair.
“He endorsed me as the next Nature Boy. My signature move is called the figure four Lee lock. Ric Flair calls his the figure four leg lock, but it’s the same move,” Lee said.
Lee will enter the ring to face off with Buff Bagwell in an AWF wrestling match at Wrestle Jam IV.
Other wrestlers appearing in the ring that night will be Ron Simmons, Teddy Long, Jim Cornette, Robbie E., the Young Lions Tag Team, the Boys from the Ring of Honor, King Shane Williams, the Fly Guy, Iron Man, Zyeth Cage, Alex Taylor, Simon Sermon and Rock ‘N’ Roll Express’ Robert Gibson.
“AWF started in 1980,” said Lee. “We have an AWF wrestling show at our arena off Highway 41 the first Saturday of every month at AWF Arena in Ringgold. People come from all over the United States to train with us at my AWF Arena. In AWF we do DVD tapings. We sold 4,800 DVDs overseas last year. I started wrestling in 1982 and I bought AWF in 1988. Our motto is AWF World of Wild. Our website is awfwow.com.”