By Klint  Lowry of The Suncoast News

Published: February 27, 2008

BAYONET POINT, Fla. - To many dedicated flea market treasure hunters – and there are many – part of the fun of roaming through a good flea market is you never know what you might find among the nick-nacks, bric-a-brac and other assorted whatnot.

Those who come to USA Flea Market on Saturday will find something out of the ordinary – professional wrestlers.

Wrestlers and divas from Florida Championship Wrestling will perform beginning at noon, with a 90-minute show that will include several matches in an outdoor ring.

USA Flea Market's motto is "Something for everyone," and that includes entertainment, said general manager Mark Abrahamson.

Flea markets are competing with the rest of the retail world for shoppers' disposable income, and anything that sets them apart is worth trying.

"We've had car shows, pony rides," Abrahamson said. "The flea market business is a little bit hard to judge how much things really help because even though there's a lot of cars in the parking lot it doesn't mean there's a lot of cash registers ringing.

"I talk to the vendors, so you can get a little bit of an idea that way."

It was through one of the vendors that the flea market got the wrestlers.

"She just asked me one day of I'd be interested in having them here," Abrahamson said, "and the price was reasonable so we gave it a shot."

This is the second time the FCW has put on a wrestling exhibition. The first was back in January, and it was a big enough hit that they plan on having the FCW make regular appearances, about every month or two.

Florida Championship Wrestling is a longtime wrestling league that has recently become affiliated with Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment and is now the WWE's official training ground for up-and-coming wrestlers and divas.

FCW have a training complex at 4535 S. Dale Mabry, Tampa, and the FCW will soon have its own weekly TV show on cable station CW 44.

For decades, part of that training involves personal appearances, explained Jeff Hochstadt of R J. Promotions, which arranged the event. To make it up to the WWE, wrestlers have to know more than how to take a body slam or dive off a turnbuckle."

"The wrestlers are new; they need to be up in crowds," Hochstadt said.

The wrestlers and divas, as the women of FCW are known, have to develop a public professional discipline to accommodate the positive fans and cope with the obnoxious ones.

FCW wrestlers and divas make themselves available for as many public appearances as possible. Along with actual exhibitions, they also appear at charity and school events. Pasco County wrestling fans may be familiar with them from FCW exhibitions every Tuesday night at Bourbon Street Nightclub, in New Port Richey.

Although they won't be holding back at Saturday's exhibition, Abrahamson said, the wrestlers will tailor the show for all ages.

"It's family oriented, they may have one match that's a little extreme, with tables and chairs and whatever, but it's not that bad," he said.

For wrestling fans, this is a chance to see some of the WWE superstars of tomorrow up close, and the best part is, it's for free.

USA Flea Market is at 11721 U.S. 19, just south of S.R. 52. It is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

For more information about Florida Championship Wrestling visit its Web site.