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Wrestling fans are K-Fed up Federline has that going for him

December 18, 2006 12:50 am

By MICHAEL ZITZ

Maybe Kevin Federline should swipe a page from his estranged wife's songbook and write a rap ditty titled "Baby, Boo Me One More Time."

The sheer intensity of the negative reaction Britney Spears' ex is drawing from crowds since he began appearing on the pro wrestling tour in October is the envy of the WWE, one wrestler says.

Federline, a spectacular failure as a hip-hop artist, may have found his niche as a pro wrestling villain. He's been drowned out by thunderous boos when he's tried to rap in the ring at WWE events beginning in October.

It's likely he'll show up at tonight's nationally televised RAW event at the Verizon Center in Washington, a WWE spokesman said.

And the rail-thin Federline is scheduled to make his debut as an actual wrestler on New Year's Day in a match against imposing WWE star John Cena, who recently had the lead role in the action movie "The Marine."

Another wrestler, John Randall Hennigan, whose stage name is Johnny Nitro, was awed by the negativity of the crowd reaction the first time Federline appeared at a WWE event.

"That was something every wrestler dreams of," Hennigan told The Free Lance-Star during a phone interview.

"The mark of a good entertainer as a wrestler is evoking a reaction," he said. "And that was the strongest reaction I can recall from the fans. Every time he goes on stage, people scream their heads off.

"They want to see him get his [butt] kicked. They want to see the anti-hero get his come-uppance. They want to see Kevin Federline get what's coming to him."

But Hennigan, who has become a Federline fan, a friend and will be in his corner for the Jan. 1 match with Cena, says the man some man called Mr. Britney Spears is getting a bad rap.

"I don't think he deserves it," Hennigan said.

He called Federline a "great person, with very sophisticated views on a lot of things--music, entertainment."

Hennigan also called Federline a "great humanitarian," but couldn't explain what Federline has done for humanity other than marrying a pop diva and rapping badly.

He expects Federline to reverse his image as a wrestler.

"The wrestlers the fans hate the most usually end up being the wrestlers the fans love the most," he says.

That may be a difficult scenario to envision in Federline's case. but Hennigan is a believer.

"Since he came to the WWE, K-Fed's been wearing suits and isn't partying as much," he said. "People are gonna realize they have the wrong opinion of Kevin."

Hennigan says that during the booing and heckling, Federline "never missed a beat, and a lot of people would have."

Another famous singer would have run away, he says.

"What would happened if Michael Jackson walked out in the wrestling ring?" Hennigan said. "He would have gotten that reaction and he would have run away and hid somewhere."

He scoffed at the suggestion that the difference might be that Jackson has enough money to hide and Federline doesn't.

"K-Fed doesn't have millions of dollars, but certainly, after that lawsuit, and with the pre-nup, he has plenty of money to live comfortably on for the rest of his life," Hennigan said.

Others are saying Federline needs the money for legal fees related to lawsuits and haggling involved in the divorce settlement.

He learned that Spears was suing for divorce via a text message on his cell phone while he was out partying. Then he sued her for custody of the couple's two young children.

Hennigan acknowledged that Federline will "always have to fight an uphill battle," but said that's because the tabloids are unfairly out to get him.

"They want to find K-Fed drunk in some hotel lobby, throwing a bottle against the wall," Hennigan said.

But "he's turning a corner and changing his image. He's wearing suits. He's not partying like he used to. He's a changed man. And he's taking this [Cena] match seriously."

Federline told E! News last week he's a family man "and that's the truth."

He told E! his New Year's resolution is to be "a little bit wiser, a little bit stronger."

It might seem that no one could possibly take the skinny Federline wrestling the powerful Cena seriously.

"He's quicker," Hennigan said.

"K-Fed doesn't have have a glass jaw. He can take a few hits."

Of course, Federline could win simply because the match is scripted that way.

Hennigan, a former high school wrestler who won an MTV extreme fighting contest to enter the WWE, acknowledged that pro wrestling is art, not sport.

"What's real?" he said.

"The magic of wrestling isn't about that, it's about how it makes people feel."

To reach MICHAEL ZITZ: 540/374-5408
Email: mikez@freelancestar.com