Professional wrestling is a billion-dollar industry that draws revenue from ticket sales, television broadcasts, branded merchandise and home video.

American Championship Wrestling is not on the level of brands such as the powerful WWE, and in many ways, that is a good thing. The people involved in the ACW do not put on a show because fortune and fame are imminent, they do it because they love the art of wrestling and enjoy seeing the reaction of the fans.

Scotland County native Bill Graves is one of those people. Graves and co-owner Lance Coleman took over the ACW three years ago, and the brand is currently exclusive to Laurinburg, putting on events an average of once every three months at the local National Guard Armory.

The next and latest episode of the ACW takes place this Saturday night at the Armory, and Graves, whose ring name is Ethan Storm, will be wrestling with his tag-team partner, Cham-Pain, for the ACW tag-team title. Reigning ACW champion Alex Adoins will battle challenger Scott Powers as well, and these are two of a scheduled six matches on Saturday's card. Graves's partner, Coleman, serves as a referee at ACW matches.

The ACW would like to expand to other cities, but the league's Scotland County fan base is strong. Putting forth a strong product is a big reason why, according to Graves, who said the ACW uses what is "probably the best unsigned talent on the East coast."

"When people come to one of our shows, what they're going to see is that old-school, really physical style of wrestling," said Graves. "That's what we do. It will remind you of the old NWA (National Wrestling Alliance).

"We're not in competition with anyone. We put a lot of work into it."

Professional wrestling has become about so much more than just wrestling in recent years, but the ACW attempts to give its fans real wrestling that is pure, and suitable for all audiences. This is big, obviously, since many children love wrestling, and much of the "wrestling" seen on television is not intended for their eyes.

"It's a show you can bring your kids to," said Graves of the ACW. "You don't have to worry about half-naked women running around, or people cursing every other word."

Graves was once one of those kids, fascinated with wrestling. He grew up watching the sport on television with his grandfather. Graves would meet Matt and Jeff Hardy while studying at Sandhills Community College, and that's where he got directly involved in the sport.

Matt and Jeff Hardy are from Cameron, and teamed up as the Hardy Boyz, where they would go on to reach the pinnacle of wrestling, becoming tag-team champions of the WWE. The Hardys formed the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA) in the 1990s, and that is where Graves first broke into wrestling.

"They told me they were doing their own stuff. I started going to Vass on Sundays to train," Graves said. "They started the East Coast Wrestling Federation, and it later became OMEGA. That's where I wrestled for the first three or four years."

Graves would move on to the ACW, and he remembers when the brand had its own spot on local television.

"Actually, we did TV in the early 90s," he said. "We were on Channel 62 out of Fayetteville. It's hard to remember exactly, but I think it came on Tuesdays at six-thirty, and it was on TV for about two years."

Graves says there are several misconceptions about wrestling, the biggest one being that the sport is fake.

"It's like football — If you don't love it, you really can't do it," he said. "People always say it's fake... They have no idea.

"People look at a wrestling ring, and they say, 'Oh, it's soft.' It may have a little bounce, but it's still a steel frame with two-by-tens.

"I invite anyone to come up and get body slammed one time... You might not feel it immediately, but within the next two or three days, you'll feel the effects of it."

Graves said there is also much more to wrestling than simply climbing into the ring and throwing someone around, or getting tossed around. There are physically-talented, athletic types who do not make good wrestlers.

"It's like you're painting a picture or telling a story," Graves said. "There's got to be a beginning, a middle and an end... It's all got to make sense."