One professional wrestler called it "big government at its most evil."

"This legislation is a knee-jerk reaction to the Chris Benoit tragedy," wrestler Mark Henry said at a public hearing Wednesday in Atlanta on a proposed bill that would subject World Wrestling Entertainment to state regulation.

Henry was referring to the former WWE star who killed his wife and 7-year-old son in their Fayetteville home before taking his own life last summer.

"That was one man's struggle against drug abuse and mental illness. It had nothing to do with wrestling," said Henry, one of about 80 members of the state's wrestling community who turned out to object to Senate Bill 413.

Introduced last week by Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson, the bill would eliminate the exemption that has spared WWE from state regulation and subject its performers and other wrestlers from around the state to random drug tests and physical examinations.

A vote on the bill could come as soon as next week, said committee Chairman David Shafer (R-Duluth).

But Wednesday's testimony indicate there was still work to be done if Johnson's legislation was to soon become a reality. Even a member of the Senate's regulated industries and utilities committee characterized the measure as "Big Brother" and "heavy-handed."

As currently written, the bill would put all wrestling in the state under the purview of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission.

The WWE currently is exempt from state regulation under a 2005 statute. The group had threatened to pull out of Georgia if the exemption wasn't granted and now threatens to leave the state if it loses it.

WWE attorney John Taylor said he was concerned the state governing body hadn't fully recognized the differences between professional wrestling and other sports already regulated by the state, such as boxing, mixed martial arts and kickboxing.

Taylor protested what he saw as the state's treatment of wrestling "not as a form of entertainment, but as a combat sport."

Deputy Secretary of State Rob Simms, though, pointed out that 25 other states already regulate pro wrestling. Simms also cited health concerns and a recent example of a 12-year-old from Kentucky having performed in a wrestling match in Georgia as proof regulations were necessary.

The bill's also would require the state's wrestling organizations to license their managers, promoters, trainers, timers, judges and announcers, and to have doctors and medical personnel at ringside in case of injury.

Every contestant would be subject to blood tests and background checks prior to getting a license to wrestle in Georgia.

Additionally, wrestling promoters would have to surrender 5 percent of their gate revenues for state taxes. The higher costs involved likely would bankrupt a number of the small wrestling organizations, promoters testified Wednesday.

Committee member and Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams, a Lyons Republican, questioned why the state needed to get involved in pro wrestling.

"It just seems like Big Brother," Williams said. "I just think it's overkill to go after every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants to go out and try his hand at wrestling."

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Georgie  [email protected]