Q&A With Koloff- #55

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Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw. Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian Nightmare, Nikita Kolov! Welcome to another episode Q&A with Kolov, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode Q&A with Kolov, Questions and Answers, where you get the opportunity to ask me the questions. Normally I'm the one asking, hey, if you'd like to get a personal phone call from the Russian Nightmare, Shatoita, then submit your questions.

Go to kolov.net, go to my website and just submit your questions and perhaps you too will get a call from me and we'll get you on the Q&A show today. I'm excited today. Rick Roark, Rick, welcome to the Q&A show.

Did I say that right? Yes, sir, you did and thank you for having me, sir. Well, it's great to have you on, Rick, and you know, I was joking before we went on air. I guess I might throw you under the bus here for a minute, but because I had your number but somehow, somehow it ended up being your sister's number who then almost gave me your dad, well did give me your dad's number, but then said, wait, who are you trying to get a hold of, my dad or my brother, because they're both Rick?

And I'm like, well, who's the wrestling face? She goes, oh, that would be my brother. So apparently you've left an impression upon your sister.

Oh yeah, they know. Actually, that same sister was with me. We were in North Carolina back in 2002, and I ran into Ivan.

My grandfather was having a quadruple bypass, and we were at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. I think it's one of the top hospitals on the east coast for cardiac, and we were in the cafe, and lo and behold, there's Ivan Kolos in there with his wife, and I looked over and I said, that's Ivan Kolos, and she looked at him and she says, it sure is, and we went over and introduced ourselves, and he was a kind enough gent to talk to us for about 10 minutes, and just a great, great guy, great, great gentleman he was. So you got the opportunity to meet Uncle Ivan.

I did, I did. You know, of course, his moniker was, you know, the Russian bear, and of course, back in the wrestling days, you know, he carried a much different, carried a much different, different persona than he did, perhaps, you know, when, when you met him there in 2002, although he still would have been. I mean, he was active, which you probably know, or maybe, maybe you don't, but Uncle Ivan was active in the ring, really, up until just, just a few years before his passing, before he went home to be with the Lord. I mean, it was, I used to look at him and go, Ivan, retire, stop, you know. I mean, his body was so beaten up from, you know, from all that fake wrestling, Rick, you know.

I don't know how fake it is, Nikita, I tell you what, they, they, all of you guys take a pounding over the years, and, you know, it definitely adds up, but, you know, the funny thing about that is my uncle, my uncle Doug lived in Greenville and he dabbled in the Amway business back in the late 80s. Okay. And he had gotten, he had gotten me the autographs of Ivan Koloff and Paul Jones. Mr.

Number one, Paul Jones. Yes, sir. He, he met both of them and told them what a wrestling fan I was, and he got their autographs for me and sent them down to me in a, I think a Christmas card one year. I live in Charleston, South Carolina, so it's a little bit of ways, but, um, so it's, uh, you know, just, just been a lifelong fan of wrestling. Yeah, that's, that's awesome. And, and, and I know, of course, I know Paul, I knew Paul and Ivan were, were involved in, in that business over the years, and, and, uh, and I, and by the way, I'm a fan of Charleston, man. I, I love, like for real, like, I'm a, I'm a history guy.

I love history. And, uh, so I am a real fan of Charleston. I love going on the tours, the carriage rides, Rick, the carriage rides there in the downtown Charleston. And yeah, and, uh, just visiting some of the historical places there and in Charleston, uh, I just, uh, I love it. And so I love your city.

Well, you know, I've never felt the need to leave here. I grew up on James Island, which is, um, it's a barrier island about five minutes from Folly Beach, just, just off of Charleston. And, um, you know, used to frequent downtown quite a bit. In fact, I worked downtown, um, for about four and a half years right there in the historical district before I embarked on my current career. And, um, now I live in Goose Creek, which is about 15 miles northwest of Charleston.

So I've always kind of kept them Charleston roots intact. Um, it's, it's one of the greatest cities on earth and, you know, settled here in Goose Creek and have, have no desire to be anywhere else. So it is a great place to live. And as you said, it is very rich in history. And, you know, I tell my kids all the time, you know, you can go on vacations anywhere in the world, but you're probably going to get more of a historical impact here than you will anywhere else.

Yeah. And it's interesting, right? How many people you talk to, that's a great perspective you have. Cause you know, how many people do you talk to that, that live in a city that, that, that has, you know, a variety type of history or, or arts and entertainment or art, you know, arts and culture or museums, or, you know, just a number of different things. And you say, Hey, have you ever been to such and such where they're like, ah, no, I never have. You know, they've been there their whole life. Right.

And, but people will travel into a city just to go there. Um, and, and yet they've never been like, like, I, one thing that comes to mind is the Billy Graham library in Charlotte. Right. Like, I mean, how many people have lived in Charlotte their whole life and, and, and never gone to the Billy Graham library, you know, just as an example, one example. Right.

Um, so that's a great perspective. You have, now how many, how many kids, Rick, do you have? I have, we have three. I have a, I have a stepson who just turned 23 and I have a 14 year old son and a 12 year old daughter. Awesome.

14, 12, 14 and 23. And, uh, some great advice you've given them. Uh, learn to love the city you're living in. Right.

That's a fact. We, um, we try to go to Myrtle beach once a year for our anniversary, which is in July. And, um, we, we did vacation up in Charlotte, I think three years ago. We went to the, uh, the great Wolf lodge up that way. Oh yeah.

Concord Hills. Yeah. I don't, yeah. I don't, I don't think that was far from the Billy Graham library. I think I remember seeing signs for it as we were driving through. Um, so that's definitely on the bucket list to be able to get up that way again and check that library out before my time here is up.

Yeah. Do it, do it, do it Rick. Cause, and, and just for the listeners out there, maybe they're not familiar with, with the it's cause they hear built, they hear library. They thinking, Oh yeah, I'm not really into the library thing. You know, I don't even have a library card.

No, no, no, no, no. It's, it's not, they call it that, but it's a walkthrough history talking about history. It's a phenomenal, actually one of the most amazing walks through history that I've ever experienced. I did it with my dad the very first time, uh, of, of the life of Billy Graham.

It's all from start to finish, you know, his life story. And people are blown away when they see that presentation is kind of a self guided presentation. And, and, uh, and, and so I recommend anybody you said it's on the bucket list, you know? Yeah.

Make a point of doing that. You know, you get to Charlotte or anyone else listening to this, that's coming through Charlotte or making a trip to Charlotte, go to the Billy Graham library. You will not be disappointed. And, uh, that's, that's really, really cool. And, and so, you know, the, so you've been a wrestling fan for, for many, many years, as far as, as far back as, uh, how long can you remember? How far back do you go, Rick?

Well, it's, it's a funny story. I was, um, I turned on my TV set one Saturday morning. I guess it was probably June of 1985. And who were the first people I see on TV? It's Ivan and Nikita and Crusher Khrushchev.

And they were, they were doing a replay. I think the Russians had just dropped the, uh, world tag titles to the rock and roll express in a little town called Shelby, North Carolina. Yep.

But good history. Yes. I remember seeing Ivan and Crusher and then I remember seeing you for the first time. And I remember thinking, I want to be built just like that guy right there. I became an inspiration.

You, you, you did. And what's funny is the year before we had visited my uncle in Savannah, Georgia, he was living down there at the time and he had a copy of a muscle and fitness magazine. And I was flipping through there and I saw, um, they had a picture of Lou Frigno and he was, uh, advertising a, a, a weeder, a Joe weeder protein powder, you know, those crude powders from the eighties. They were rough. He was sitting there holding like a, like a Hercules sword. And I remember looking at him thinking, you know, I need to start lifting weights. And of course only being about six at the time.

Um, you know, my parents wouldn't let me work out at, you know, at that particular time. So fast forward a year, I see the Russian nightmare on TV and just, just followed you ever since, you know, I, you know, can, can recount the, the, the feud with Magnum TA, um, you know, leading up to the, uh, summer of 86, where you won the title and that best of seven series, um, went on the Starrcade to, uh, face Ric Flair and the main event. And then the following summer, would they, they introduced us to the war games matches. And I think that following July, I think you, you had dropped the US title to Lex, but, um, but, um, you know, just continued to follow your career. I would, I read an article on a magazine one time when, uh, I think it was your first wife, Mandy took ill. Um, one of the, one of the wrestling publications that article on that. So I was fairly up on that and just, just tried to follow you as much as I could. Um, we have a mutual friend, Mike Mooney ham. Um, Mike would get me tickets to, to the shows as they would come to town on occasion. Now I never got to see you in person, but I think Mike tried his best to kind of keep up with you over the years.

And even when you weren't wrestling or on TV, you know, I would ask, Hey, if you heard anything from the Kita and he would, of course he would fill me in on, on whatever knowledge he had. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. We'd see each other at a golf tournament in Asheville. Good friend, dear friend, bill Murdoch, uh, would, would host, uh, and Brad Johnson actually super bowl quarterback for the Tampa Bay bucks was, was the, the, the, one of the hosts, bill Murdoch, uh, host, uh, up there. And Mike Mooney ham was, would typically always be there with his, his lovely bride. And, and, uh, so man, you, Rick, you're just taking me a walk down memory lane right there, man, like bam, bam, bam, from one to the next, to the next, to the next, to the next and, uh, all incredible memories. Uh, you, you do know your wrestling history. Well, uh, from back in that time for me, it was probably the best time in wrestling.

I think that, you know, I still try to watch it a little bit today, but I just think that from a fan's perspective, who who's been watching it now, I guess for about, you know, 37 years, however long it's been as they don't build storylines the way they used to. No, they don't. Nikita Koloff here.

If you're needing to buy a car and have marginal credit and considering using buy here, pay here, that's worse than taking the Russian sickle. Winston-Salem motor cars will put you behind the wheel of a car you can rely on while helping rebuild repair or establish your credit score. Conveniently located on Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem. Be sure to check them out today at wsmc1.com because you are number one. And, you know, they, they pass these world titles around like they're candy. And I was talking to a buddy of mine the other day, you know, if you take somebody like a, a guy like a Telly Blanchard or an Arn Anderson, you know, guys who were, who were really good in the ring and who were really good on the mic. And they were multiple time world tag champions, but, but they never got a run with the, you know, with the world title itself. And I was telling somebody that if they were wrestling today, they would probably be multiple time world champions because they were great with promos on the mic. They had great work in the ring, very believable characters. And then you take a guy like Telly Blanchard.

I couldn't stand Telly growing up with, which means he, he really did his job in that aspect. Right. That guy, that guy could generate heat like nobody else. Yes. Yes, he could. He could, he, he'd get under your skin real quick. It was definitely a different era.

Most, most fans call it the golden era of wrestling. And so you are, you are a spot on in, in, in regards to that. And, and you know, one, one quick thought on, on Charleston there on King Street, that building on, I just want to tell you right now, that building on King Street, every time we went, we, we never knew two, two memories of Charleston. We never knew if the building was still going to be standing when we got there. And I say that to say, every time we walked into that building, there was like the, the, I don't know how many termites were in that building, but in the dressing rooms, they were like, like literally piles from termite dust, you know, from chewing. And I'm like, is this, is this roof going to hold up, you know, long enough for us to have a match? And then here's the other memory of Charleston, like an infamous for me, infamous memory is that's one of the cities that Jim Crockett Promotions got a phone call from that said, if the Kolovs show up in Charleston tonight, we're going to kill them. That kind of, that, yeah. And so Crockett's like, well, we'll just beef up security.

You'll be fine. I'm like, thank you, Jim, for your confidence there, you know, but, but so to your point of, of how much heat Tully had, that's how much people loved to hate us as well. So, but great memories, Rick, great memories. Well, it is Q&A with Kolov. I do want to give you the opportunity to ask a couple, three questions here. In addition to helping me walk down memory lane, but so why don't we transition and throw out your first question for me? Okay. From a, from a salvation standpoint, was there a particular trial or tribulation, or perhaps a void, a missing piece, which led you to seek out the Lord at the time that you did? Because I think we share somewhat similar baptism dates. Okay.

Well, great question. So, you know, part of my story is not, you know, you mentioned Tully, like Tully, you know, Tully failed a drug test in the WWF, and, and, and that led him into a tailspin that at like 4 23 in the morning, one morning he woke up and had a vivid encounter with, you know, encounter with Jesus that transformed his life forever. So, so for me, it wasn't like I came out of drug addiction or I was an alcoholic or, you know, spent time in prison or, or, you know, any of those types of things. For me, it was what you said when I left wrestling at the end of 1992 and made the decision at the beginning, you know, the tail end, the beginning of 1993 to walk away under my own terms. It was in that year of pursuit on a quest, if you might say, of what holds, life holds next for Nikita Kolov that I realized something was missing.

I'm like, wait a minute. I climbed the pinnacle of success in wrestling. I've been a world champion, you know, different belts, eight different times, been all over the world, but yet I'm not content. I'm not happy.

Something's still missing. I was successful, but I was unfulfilled. And through, just through some friends in other business ventures, I met this Christian couple, Dick and Charlotte, who invited me to, to their church. And it's not that I had never frequented a church, but I didn't grow up in church, but I knew the story of Jesus.

I mean, I'd heard it numerous times, but that story had never made the 18 inch trip from my head down to my heart. And on that particular day, 17 October, 1993, the first time ever in that particular church was, I say my day of destiny, that, that I met Jesus at the altar, encountered him on my knees and life has just never been the same since. And I went from, I like to say from success, in unfulfillment to, to a, a heart, a fulfilled heart. And, and now for the first time in my life, I felt I had a real purpose to my life. I was here for a reason. That's awesome. Okay. I'm a bit of a gym rat myself. I try to get in about five days a week.

Out of everybody that you were in the ring with, who would you say was, was physically the strongest guy? Good question. And by the way, you know, you mentioned Muscle and Fitness magazine. I'm very familiar with that magazine. It takes me, it takes my memory back to the very first magazine. I don't know if you remember this one or not, called Iron Man magazine. You may or may not. I do.

Yep. Bodybuilding magazine. And, and so that started, at age 12, started me on a path of, of health and wellness and that, that still lasts to this day. I still typically will get in the gym five days a week myself. My, now my workouts have changed over the years, of course, in 50 years of, of exercising and, and eating, to where I'm not trying to bulk up and impress anybody in the gym anymore. I'm just trying to take care of this temple that God has given me, right? Just be a good steward.

Honor God with this body at this point. Back to your question, the wrestling days. There were certainly some strong guys I wrestled. The, the Barbarian was one. If you remember the Barbarian.

I do. Yeah. Mr. Paul Jones was his manager for a while and he teamed up with the Warlord for a while. And yeah, he had a number of different characters, both in WWF and, and NWA. But the Barbarian was definitely one. The Road Warriors, without question, Animal and Hawk. Animal had legitimate 23-inch arms.

Like, that's like tape measure for real. You know, arms bigger than some women's waist. And was one of the strongest guys around. Hawk was pretty strong as well. A different type of strength and, and a more reckless type of strength was Van Vader, Big Van Vader. Was recklessly strong and, and actually would injure some guys in the ring.

Actually injured me in my very last match in Winston-Salem, right here with Truth Radio Network is, is housed right here in, in Winston-Salem. So those are some of the stronger guys. Yeah, I think, um, I think it was said that Animal had a legitimate 600-pound bench press at one time. Um, well, I read that somewhere. Well, you're a gym rat.

You'll appreciate this. I know, I, you know, I, I don't know about bench wise, but I do remember he and I used to kind of compete. If, if you can visualize, and I know you'll know what this is, a seated, seated, seated behind the neck shoulder press. Okay. Now these weren't machines. These were Olympic, right? The 45-pound Olympic bar and the York plates.

Okay. And, and the heaviest I ever got for reps. Seated behind the neck was 315 pounds for reps.

Animal, 365 pounds behind the neck for reps. That's, that's impressive. Didn't you say one time that he had gotten away with a, he had, he had gorilla pressed you in a match one time and he said never again? He did. He, uh, you know, that was one thing I was not getting, you know, these press slams. There were certain things.

I'm like, everybody else ain't doing that to the Russian nightmare. Well, he caught me off guard and, and he was kind of giggling as he was holding me up. I mean, he lifted me up like a, you know, 10 pound sack of flour, you know, and had me pressed over his head. So I'm like, all right, wise guy. So I just put my arms out, like, you know, like Superman.

And, and cause, you know, normally you put your hands on the shoulder to kind of help support your weight and, and stabilize yourself. But I'm like, all right, wise guy. So I just put my hands out like Superman and let him fully, of course, he pressed me in him and, you know, him and Hawk had a good giggle about it, but I just looked at him and I'm like, all right, buddy, never again. You never get that opportunity again. So I was on guard from that point on.

And of course he never did, but he got the one shot in on me. Yup. You got time for one more? We do. We have time for one more question.

Absolutely. It's been great. Great conversation, Rick. Um, it was said that it's Starrcade 86 that Magnum was supposed to go over Ric Flair for the world title. And I think I had heard this mentioned on, maybe it was a Jim Cornette podcast or something. And after that, I think it was said that you and Magnum were supposed to resume that rivalry and feud over the world title and perhaps exchange it back and forth several times. And of course we know Magnum had that terrible accident, I think, in October of 86.

And you ended up in that spot for Starrcade. Now, my personal opinion of that time was that they could have given you a run with the belt because I think, and I think even Dusty set it up until his last days that when you attacked Ole in the cage that night, that that was the biggest fan pop he had ever heard in his entire career. So I think you were pretty, pretty well over at that point and could have definitely had a run with the world title in late 86 headed into 87. But was that, did you catch wind of any of those plans that perhaps Magnum was supposed to win the title at that time and you and him were supposed to resume y'all's rivalry thereafter? Is that something that you can expand on?

Yep, I certainly can. He was days away prior to the accident. He was days away from flying to New York and signing the contract and securing that belt. And of course he had the wreck, as you mentioned.

I was thrust into the match. And obviously most were just hypothetical speculation on what woulda, coulda, shoulda happened had he not had the wreck. Now we do know he would have become world heavyweight champion. And certainly with the chemistry he and I had and the matches that we had for the best of seven for the U.S. belt and the, I mean the fan appeal, how much the fans like yourself were followers of that storyline, it would have been relatively easy to continue that feud well into the future and as you said, exchange that world heavyweight belt back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Or maybe not that many times, but once or twice or whatever. But that would have been, that would have just been a natural part of the storyline. It just would have fit, right?

I think so. Yeah, people would have fully, of course, fully bought into that. And of course all that because the accident, all that became not, didn't happen. And so the fact that they never chose not to put it on me that night at Starrcade was whether they felt, maybe I just wasn't ready, even though I was over, maybe I just wasn't ready to care.

I don't know their decision-making, the reasons for their decisions. But nevertheless, we went on to do what we did and generate a tremendous sellout business anywhere we went without the belt. And so I'm just grateful to have the career I had and been in the ring with the guys I was.

Absolutely. You accomplished a lot over a short period. And I tell you what, to this day, there's a, I don't know if you know, there's a streaming service called Peacock. I've heard of it. And they have all of the Starcades, the Great American Bashes from about 1988 onward. They have all the old worldwide wrestling shows that you guys used to tape every week. So, you know, anytime I want to revisit those moments, I'm in there re-watching those matches, whether it's you versus Rick for the world title or you and Terry Taylor for the TV title unification.

It's right there. Well, you're a great fan. And you took me down some, some of our walk down memory, memory lane. And I really appreciate you being on the, on the show today and being a fan, Rick.

Yes, sir. I appreciate you having me on the show. It's been a, it's been kind of a dream come true to be able to be able to chat with you. And I really do appreciate it. Well, thank you.

And hey, and thank your sister for giving me your number. I sure will. All right. God bless you. Have a, have a wonderful day. You as well, Nick. God bless. All right.

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Man up Saturday afternoon at 1230 on the truth network. If you would like to support Koloff for Christ ministries for a gift of $25, Nikita will send you his two CDs, adoration and declaration for a gift of $50. Nikita will include his book wrestling with success. And for a gift of $100 or more, Nikita will include a signed copy of his newly updated life story, a tale of the ring and redemption. Go to www.koloff.net and donate today. This is the truth network.