That’s right, the athletes of the Micro Wrestling Federation are bringing their wrestling tour through Murfreesboro on Wednesday, May 6.

They may be pint-sized (well, the 4’ 6” Meatball does weigh in at 275 pounds, but most of the wrestlers are sub-100 pounds), but they are skilled wrestlers and have to train to be able to fly around the ring and endure the match. So don’t push these guys around; even though they’re smaller than average, they still may very well kick your ass.

“They can do a lot of the same stuff the guys in the WWE can do,” said MWF owner and promoter Jack Darrell.

Meatball said he watched Hulk Hogan, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, King Kong Bundy and all the old superstars when he was young.

“Then they introduced The Undertaker. A lot of my finishing moves are based on his finishers. I can do the choke slam. I can do the tombstone. I can do the powerbomb,” Meatball said in an interview with a Texas-based Web site last year.

Venues across the country are taking notice of the MWF. Micro performed 30 shows in seven weeks earlier this year and will stay out on the west coast for over three months for a tour that begins in July.

While Darrell has been a Murfreesboro resident since 2004, the wrestlers are from across the country, hailing from Chicago, Texas, Indianapolis, Phoenix, all over.

And while wrestling is the focus, and they set up a 12’ x 12’ ring in every location they visit, the midgets are definitely the draw for what is billed the greatest little show on earth.

“When people come to see the show, they come to see midgets. I could be doing midget badminton, midget bowling, whatever, and people would come,” Darrell said in a phone interview while on the road in Florida.

The shows include plenty of the classic wrestling trash talking.

Justice says he’s “four, four and totally hardcore,” and isn’t shy with the ladies, saying he’ll “please you, not tease you.”

Crowds are usually very receptive. A group in Fayetteville, N.C., began chanting “midgets, midgets” at first glance of the performers, said Darrell.

“As soon as the guys came in the door, the crowd went crazy,” he said.

The upcoming local stop marks the second Murfreesboro appearance for the MWF this year, after a February show at the Rooster.

“The last time they were here they did really well for us,” Blue Rooster Manager Jesse Grathoff said. “People love those midgets!”

The federation’s next evolution will entail inviting midgets who have never wrestled to LaVergne to train with half of the former Orient Express tag team, Pat Tanaka.

“They’re going to come to school Monday through Saturday and we’ll film it all,” Darrell said.

The Micro Wrestlers will judge the participants at the end of the training, and the top two finishers will earn a spot on the tour. MWF will then pitch the concept as a reality show to television networks, Darrell said.

“There’s no reason this won’t take off,” he said.

For now, they’re traveling, winning over fans, one bar at a time.

The Micro Wrestling Federation invades the Blue Rooster on Wednesday, May 6. For more information, visit microwrestling.com.

IF YOU GO:

Cost: $15