Q&A with Koloff - #12

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Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. Hello. Dusty.

Yes. Nikita Koloff. Good day to you, sir. How are you today? I'm doing good. How are you? Doing wonderful, wonderful. Thank you for joining us on Questions and Answers with Koloff, man. Great to have you with us.

It's my pleasure. Yeah, now you're, Dusty, you're up in Virginia, right? Yeah.

Just a small town called Gala. Yes, sir. And I know you, when you submitted some questions, I know you said there have been a few occasions, I guess, where you were able to attend where I was preaching at Camp Zion Church and you were able to attend some of those services?

No, I actually wasn't able to attend, but I had heard that you were up there. Gotcha. Okay.

Okay. And, uh, well, well, that's, that's, uh, that's awesome. Well, I appreciate, uh, appreciate you being a fan. How long have you been a fan of wrestling? Early eighties. Early eighties. Back, uh, back to kind of when, uh, when my career launched, uh, my career. Yeah.

1984. So you've been a long time fan. Yes, sir.

I have. Well, let me just thank you up front. Thank you for being such a loyal, long standing fan.

You're very welcome. So I want to, uh, just, uh, touch base. I know you were saying, you know, you and I have never met in person. Let's just say yet. Okay.

Right. We, we've never met in person yet, but there's always an opportunity. I mean, I, I may come back, back to Galax or a church, maybe somewhere up in that area. So you had, do you live in Galax or, or another town? I do.

I live here my entire life. Okay. All right.

Homegrown. Yes, sir. I am. All right. Well, and, and, uh, but you did say you met, uh, uncle, right?

Yes, sir. I did. I met him at Walmart. I was, you know, my guests would have been, you met him at a Walmart. He was famous for, for, uh, working with the children's miracle network. And I'll bet, I'll bet he went to a thousand different Walmarts and, and, uh, was working in partnership with, with, with, uh, the children's miracle network.

And so he would, I know, sell and sign his, his eight by tens and, and, uh, give a portion of that to the children's miracle network. So I'm not, I'm not surprised that that's where you met him. Okay. It might have been possible, but when I met him, it is after he had been retired from the rings and, uh, he was independent wrestling federations out of Mount Airy at that time. Yes. Yes. But yes, and that's true. And, and, and while at the same time, like I say, he was, he was working with the children's miracle network, uh, kind of working in conjunction with that as well. And, and you had some very kind words. You said he was absolutely the warmest, nicest, most pleasant individuals that you had ever met.

Oh, he was, he was so warm. Yeah. Well, I tell you what, uh, approximately just a ballpark.

When, when might that have been that you were able to meet him? I mean, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, probably, probably 20 some odd years ago. Okay. All right.

Yup. Like I say, he, he did that for a long, long time. So, uh, well, I'm glad you got the opportunity to, to, to meet him. And, and certainly he, uh, uncle Ivan had not only impacted my life, but many others along the way, both inside and outside the squared circle. And so I'm, I'm thrilled that you got that opportunity to meet him.

Yeah, he was, he was so awesome. Well, that, that is great. And I know in, uh, the, the, the email that you sent me, you, you, uh, you talked about, uh, you had mentioned that you had given your life to Jesus. You'd gotten saved. It's an interesting story before we jump into your questions here. I just like to cover this for a moment because, you know, you said you got saved as a, as a youngster and, and like many people, uh, you were influenced by the world and all of its addictions and those sorts of things. But then you, eventually you, you found your way, you got back in church and found your way back to Jesus. And, and you said you've been going strong ever since, right? How, how long ago was that, that you, you know, let's just say recommitted your life to Jesus?

Probably a little over 10 years ago. Okay. All right. And going strong. Well, what does going strong look like?

I mean, obviously you're pressing into your relationship. Are you involved in your church? Are you involved to help out with other ministries? What do you do? Um, well, one thing I'm good at, I'm good at helping my friends.

Well, I've led a couple of my good friends to the Lord. Hey, I've been able to do that. All right. Well, let's pause right there.

Okay. For our listeners, because you are in a, a, a, you're in rare air. Here's what I mean by that. Uh, those who profess to be believers, statistically, it's a small, very small percentage, uh, that, that those who profess to be believers ever lead somebody to Jesus. So the fact that you've been able to lead two of your very good friends to Christ puts you in rare air, Dusty.

Thank you, sir. Well, no, thank you for having the, you know, just the courage to do that. And, and I'm hoping that, that your story is an encouragement to other people, you know, who are like, ah, I just don't feel comfortable doing that. Or what, what gave you the courage to, to, to lead those two friends to Jesus?

Um, well, one of my good friends who lives in Iowa, he was, he wasn't really, he met, he, uh, he drunk and did marijuana and stuff. And I knew that that was something that he really needed to get away from. And I just kept, just kept telling him about church, about, about Christ and he eventually gave it all up. Okay. So you were, so you were, so you were sowing seeds, just, you know, being a witness to him, you know, and it probably shared some of your own story, how Jesus changed your life, I'm guessing. Yes, sir.

Yep. And, and scripture says, we're known by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony in the book of Revelation. And, and so, you know, for those out there listening and listening to Dusty's story, I just want to encourage you today, um, to, to say, you know, don't, I know it can be intimidating to, to try to, you know, to lead somebody to Jesus, but if you just model it through how you live your life, through your actions. And then when you see an opportunity to just share your story, you know, if you're a Christ follower, if you're a believer, you have a story. And it's as simple as saying, here's how my life was before.

You heard a little Dusty's. I was, you know, I got off on a wayward path. I was, I was battling different addictions and, but then I got back on that straight and neural path and get, you know, re-surrendering my life to Jesus. But just tell your story. Here's how my life was before. You know, I was, I was enlightened to the, the story of salvation, how Jesus lived, died, crucified, rose again, living at the right hand of the Father, and now He lives in me. And so your story before, let's just call it BC, when you encounter Jesus, and then how your life has changed since then. And so I just commend you. Keep up the good work, man.

Keep telling your story, Dusty. I will. Yeah. I mean, you know, don't, don't stop at two, friends.

There's more people that, that need to hear your story that, that I believe, you know, potentially you can sow seed or, you know, plant, plant the Word of God in their heart and, like your friends, eventually make that decision and, and come to Jesus themselves. I hope so. Well, we'll just keep praying and believing for that, right? Yes, sir. All right. Well, hey, let's, let's transition in and jump into some of your questions here. You asked some good ones, and I'm just going to start with your, your first question, which said, you know, why, you know, did you retire at the peak of your career?

And, and it's a great question. The answer to that would be when I was, when I was a youngster and, and had a desire to be a professional athlete, now I didn't know it would be professional wrestling. My, for those who know my story, or if you don't know my story or more of my story, then I encourage you, you know, email me at colof.org, colof.org and you can order My Life Story, Nikita, A Tale of the Ring of Redemption, and you can get the whole story in, in book form. But for those who already know some of that story, it was just a goal of mine that when I made it into the professional ranks and in those young days, I thought it would be football, but it turns out it was professional wrestling. But my goal was to walk away as a champion or walk away. Huh?

Okay. You know, to walk away in my prime, um, as a champion, so to speak. And I've been coined kind of, uh, some people might relate or understand this, the Barry Sanders of professional wrestling.

Barry Sanders was a very successful NFL running back, retired at the age of 29 when he clearly could have ran three, four, five more years, uh, and, and had an even more stellar career than he had, uh, or padded the numbers. So my decision to walk away in the peak of my career had to do with goals that I established and set as a youngster. And then once I got into professional wrestling, I told uncle Ivan and I told Don Crenodle that I would be retired out of active wrestling by the age of 35. And I was only 33. So I was ahead of my goal.

So that's why I walked away at the peak of my career under my own terms. Okay. I understand. Yeah.

Um, your second question was, you know, working with people like the nature boy, Ric Flair, the American dream, death, the road, the tower of power to three to be our, if you will. Yeah. You like that? Everybody likes to imitate dusty, right?

You like that? Um, and you mentioned Magnum TA for those who aren't familiar Magnum, uh, had an unfortunate, serious car wreck in 1986 that left him originally paralyzed. From the neck down to where he was. Yeah. Where he was supposed to, you know, be, be a quadriplegic the rest of his life.

Now God touched his life and, and gave him a lot of restoration to his body. And we're still friends today. Uh, and then you mentioned the road warriors, Legion of doom, right? Um, you know, so those are some, uh, some pretty stellar names. Uh, and you said, what, what was it like to work with those guys? And so many more, so many others. And, you know, I look back dusty with just, just incredible memories of, of what that was like. Um, I mean, some of the best of the best of the best in professional wrestling, right?

Yes, sir. I mean, you can go on to talk, you know, ravishing, Rick rude. You can, I mean, you Lex Luger sting. I mean, there's a stone cold, Steve Austin. There's so many names, Ricky, the dragon steamboat, um, guys that I was fortunate to be in the ring with. And, and the, and I had the privilege of really learning from, cause some of them guys were much more school than wrestling than I was. And so really, really had, uh, it was a real blessing to be able to, to work with those guys.

And, and it was a lot of fun. The rivalry with you and Magnum over the U S title was just that era. And that time that was one of the greatest rivalries in professional wrestling.

Well, would you say, and, and it's, it's interesting you, you bring that up and mentioned that because, uh, I, it's, it's well known that, that, uh, where I think it's well known that the majority of people, just like you mentioned today, probably bring that up more than anything else. Now, some of the other interviews, it's like, Oh, your match against flair and, and the great American bash or Starrcade or war games, or, you know, some of those, some of those matches, but the best of seven for the U S title is by far that. So that was one of your favorites. Yes, sir. It was.

So in, in regards to, to, and I appreciate that. And in regards to my career would be, is there any other match that stands out for you besides the best of seven with Magnum TA? Probably the Rick Flair match at the great American bash, I believe it was.

Okay. Yeah, that was my very first shot at the world heavyweight title and, uh, and, and only 13 months I had been in the business. So that was quite an honor to be in the ring with the nature boy and, and certainly work with one of the best of the best of the best in wrestling. With, I mean, with flair being the continent wrestler, I guess you could say to get a robe from him after only 13 months in the ring that had to be, I guess you could say exhilarating for you. It was a, well, I'll use it. I'll use another word surreal. So in a sense it was, I mean, I was only 24 years old or maybe I, yeah, or maybe I just turned 25, but so it was actually, yeah.

Surreal would even exhilarating would certainly apply surreal would fit right in there as well. And, uh, so you had one final question. Um, you talked about the, you know, actually I already mentioned, but the great American bash 1987, the war games premiered and your question was what effect did those matches have on your body night after night in every city?

Well, I would, I would answer that question with this. Certainly that was a very intense match to say the least, but I'll just say this dusty. It wasn't just the war games. I mean, I saw all these years later, still feel the effects of probably every match I had, including the war games, um, between my neck and my lower back and just par all parts in between. Um, as much as wrestling is entertainment, there's a real side to it. I mean, when you get slammed on a concrete floor, you will feel the effects of that.

When a 500 pound behemoth like van Vader jumps off the top rope on top of you, you will feel the effects of those 500 pounds. Um, even if you know it's coming, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Yeah. So my body feels the effects of it for certain all the, all these years later.

And, uh, but I look back one last thought I'll give you is putting it in perspective for, for our listeners out there is in 1986, let's put it in perspective. I had 454 matches. Wow. So let's do the math on that.

Let's see. There's only 365 days in a year. So obviously I had more than one match a day and some on some occasions, right? Exactly. So, and it was a lot different than, than it is now that there was no off season and nights off were very rare. I mean, we got, we got some nights off, but they were very rare. So the nights off were probably just more as for travel.

Yeah. And in some cases, and, and, and in some cases we, we were like, we don't even want a night off. It's like our body's already in the grind and, and, and in, you know, kind of calloused to it. So, you know, let's just keep going, but it was nice to get a break every now and then. So, well, Hey, listen, I appreciate you submitting your questions, Dusty. And, and again, I, I thank you for being such a long time fan.

Uh, not only the Russian nightmare, but professional wrestling. Oh yeah. So, and hopefully, Hey, hopefully I'll get the opportunity to meet you face to face in person sometime. I'm hoping eventually maybe I will get to a cam, maybe a comment con or something like that for a sign.

Cause I have a replica NWA TV title that I would love to have. Well, we can perhaps work that out sometime, or I'll tell you what else. Go, Hey, go to, uh, go to man, man camp.info and perhaps Dusty, you and I, and Lex Luger will spend a few days together at, at our man camp. That's an option for you as well. Okay. Okay. I will. All right.

Well, Dusty, listen, have a great day. And thanks again for being on questions and answers with Kolov. Thank you for the opportunity. All right. Take care. God bless. God bless. This is the truth network.