Q&A With Koloff- #93

This is Robbie Dylmore from the Christian Karkai and Kingdom Pursuit, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom. Your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it and share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one fall. Introducing first, through Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolov. Welcome to another episode, Q&A with Kolov, the devil's nightmare. Today, a special, extra special guest on the show today, Travis Orndorf. Now, hold on, you may recognize the last name.

Then again, maybe not, but you might know the name Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorf. Well, today I have the privilege of having his son Travis on. Travis, welcome to the Q&A show with Kolov.

Hey, thank you so much. I'm ready for aim and fire. Ready, aim, and fire. Well, that out of the gate should catch some people's attention, Travis Orndorf. And of course, you know, we've done a man up show before. I'm going to encourage people to make sure they go and listen to the interview you and I had reflecting on your upbringing and the wrestling world and, you know, being the son of a very famous professional wrestler like your dad.

And so I want to encourage people to go there. But you have a story of your own. So obviously your dad has a story, but you have a story of your own. And so let's do this for our listeners. Tell us where you live and what, you know, what are you doing?

Tell us real quick about your family. Let's share that with our listeners. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah.

In case somebody missed the episode. Yeah. So, you know, grew up born in Tampa, Florida. Just, you know, my dad was, you know, lived in Tampa and went to school, University of Tampa and but grew up in a small town in Fayetteville. I have two amazing children, 21 and 18. One is going to college at Kennesaw State and plans to go to law school. And my youngest is a freshman at College of Charleston.

So proud of both of them. I have a beautiful wife, a Mayu, and we live up here in Kennesaw. And I work for one of the nationwide banks as a vice president performance manager. And so go, you know, I have a go to a church locally here. Many people are familiar with Passion City. And so, yeah, that's kind of me in a nutshell. I grew up in, you know, Fayetteville, like I said, and lived just south of the airport. And I grew up around several wrestlers, as you can imagine.

A lot of people moved in into that town if they didn't Marietta. And, you know, very fortunate, 44, you know, coming and coming and getting a little bit older, but feeling better. And, you know, just, you know, just blessed and grateful. You know, that's that's honestly how I feel right now. Just blessed and great.

Sure. And and for those who may not know, because this this show now is listening to seven currently 74 different countries. So you're throwing out a bunch of names, cities, and for those who may not know, the state of Georgia is is where Travis is residing. The state of Georgia, Marietta, I'm familiar with all those names, but some of our listeners may not be Kennesaw and all those.

And so, and you mentioned Passion City. Is that is that Pastor Louie Giglio? Is that who that is? That is that is that is Louie Giglio's church. Yeah, he's a senior pastor there. Yeah, and I know he does a huge, huge youth there at the dome in Georgia.

I think every like new year, January 3rd, 4th and 5th next year. And I'm actually signed up to volunteer for it. Yeah, because they'll get that man. They'll get 30, 40, 50,000 youth there, right? Young people there, right?

Every year. If you have that, I will tell you, if you ever get the opportunity, it is arguably the best group of faith-based conferences. It is, in my opinion, in spite of it being for high school, is one of the best conferences I've ever, ever watched or been involved.

Yeah, I've never seen, I've seen, you know, clips and bits and pieces and I've never attended myself and but never just always good things about that. And so, that's pretty amazing now. Now, I want our listeners to understand too, we mentioned your dad, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorf, and I knew you grew up on, really, in that whole world.

You got a lot of opportunities to travel on the road. Again, we're not going to go into full detail. They're going to have to listen to the Man-Up Show to catch all of the more detailed part of your story. But, of course, obviously, you know, your dad wrestled the likes of Hulk Hogan. Who are some of the guys, besides Hogan, who would he have wrestled?

Throw some names out there. Gosh, Don Morocco, Tito Santana, Rick Rude, Big John Studd. He was with Paul Roma. He wrestled Sting. He wrestled Flair at NWA. He, you know, dad was around from the mid-70s until really 99. So, I can't really think of many wrestlers that he didn't.

He wrestled Mean Mark before he became the Undertaker, when he was being managed by Paul Heyman, like, 9192. So, man, that's an endless list. I don't think. Yeah. Barney Anderson, The Clash of the Titans, you know, all of them. And I was trying to remember it.

I, the fans are the best because they'll post stuff on my social media. And I'm like, oh, wow. I didn't even realize I wrestled Diamond Dallas Page, you know, or.

Oh, yeah. And I'm thinking, I'm thinking because, you know, you mentioned because I was in WCW 91 and I wrestled Mean Mark before he became the Undertaker and as well. So, it's quite possible your dad and I did get in the ring, either as an opponent or side by side.

I just can't remember. But those are some of the legendary names of wrestling. And of course, your dad had just an amazing journey in in wrestling. And you had shared a story, too, how your dad, Dr. Ike Reichert, right down in Georgia, had through an encounter in the gym, an introduction in the gym.

Ultimately, I'm condensing the story. But ultimately led your dad to giving his life to Christ. And you saw a real life change. And I'm guessing that had an influence on you. And I know at some point you had made that decision. But Travis, you also shared, too, how even through making that decision, how you're an overcomer of substance abuse and just life's challenges, right?

Yeah. And, you know, I would share, you know, not to not to dismiss, you know, addiction is something you don't overcome. It's something you, you know, it's a disease. And I think what I would share with you is if you really take the time, and I have obviously, because it's my own health, if you take the time to really dive into anxiety and depression and specifically addiction, one of the things that happens when you go down the path of addiction and you use alcohol or drugs as a way to soothe yourself and soothe your anxiety or anger or whatever that is, your brain makes synapsis changes. And now your brain starts to tell you when you are sad that drugs will make you feel better or alcohol will make you feel better. And then the scary part is now your brain starts to put that into a survival mode.

So now you're like, I won't be able to live unless I have this alcohol or addiction. So when we talk about going down this path and really diving in, mental health has not been prevalent of a realistic scientific endeavor for more than really, in my opinion, 40 years. It was the mid-80s before we even started to attack things nationwide like child abuse and pedophiles.

So you know, mad, Mothers Against Strong Driving, that was like 84, 85. So this is still brand new in comparison to a lot of medical science. And it's scary to know that for myself, you know, it's something I'll deal with for the rest of my life. But as you know, when you put your faith in Christ, that doesn't fix everything. It makes you righteous, but you daily have to die to yourself. And that's the same thing with addiction. Every day you have to say, I'm not going to soothe myself with that because it's not going to bring me peace. It's not going to bring me happiness.

And ultimately, it's going to bring tragedy. Hmm, man, that's a good word right there. And I hope that's encouragement to someone out there listening who maybe is struggling with, whether it is drugs, alcohol, pornography. I mean, there's so many food. I mean, there's so many types of addiction.

Sugar, caffeine. Yeah. I mean, I think what we got to understand is, and you know this better than anybody, is that the level of anxiety, and I read this, the level of anxiety in today's society, then the average person has the same level of anxiety as people in the 60 that were lobotomized and sent to institutions. That's our new baseline. And, you know, so addiction and the suicide rates going up at the levels we see are direct reflection of the culture we live in. And as we know about our culture, you know, at least the U.S. culture globally, Christianity is growing, and China and India specifically, but in the U.S. we're seeing a change in culture from our, you know, our values and our belief in Christ, where we saw, you know, when I was a kid, 96% of the country believed in God. You know, that was an indicator.

Now it's closer to half, I think. So, you know, you see a lot of things going on in culture, and that's why we see the levels of addiction. You know, people, I mean, obesity is the number one killer, you know, in the U.S. And, you know, so we have to realize we are comforting ourselves with the things of this world that are bringing us pain, but, you know, we've demonized alcohol. We've demonized drugs, but we haven't demonized obsessive behavior or demonized, you know, obsessive or compulsion, you know, whether it be that 80% of the U.S. eats fast food once a, or no, 80% of the U.S. eats fast food once a week, 36% eat once a day. So addiction in our country is rampant, and we're using those things to bring us peace, and it's not working.

And we see more and more divide happen because what we're trying isn't working. Well, and we're going to get to your questions here in just a second. I just, I'll conclude what you just said by just encouraging our listeners out there. I mean, if there is something you're struggling with, some type of addiction, let's just encourage, can we encourage you today to seek help? There's plenty of help out there, and we want to encourage you to seek help, and I appreciate you sharing that, Travis. Well, let's do this. This is the Q&A with Koloff, and so I want to give you the opportunity to ask me a couple, three, four questions, and just have some, you know, maybe some fun with this. And so let's go to your first question, Travis. What do you have for the Russian nightmare?

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. 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.

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You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. You know, I know when you came to faith, how did you, knowing you came from and the majority of your friends were the boys, I'm assuming at least that's the way my dad was. He had a couple of friends, but, you know, it was before cell phones and text messages. So, you know, it was basically who he was around. But how did you approach sharing your faith once you came to Christ?

That's a great question. Just in general, you're speaking just to the general, to anyone and everyone I ran into. Maybe not how you did it, but more of what were the emotions you were going through as you shared it and, you know, kind of diving into some of those, you know, fear and anxiety and worries about would you be rejected. You know, what was it like that first time when you like, you know, for example, I've been like, when was the first time you were like, hey, buddy, I just gave my wife to Jesus Christ.

I know I said the F-word 36 times two days ago, but yeah, okay. So, so, you know, when there's a genuine my experience in 28 plus years and walking with Christ now is revealed to me that when there's a genuine life change, a genuine hard experience, not just somebody praying a prayer or, you know, seeking their their fire insurance, you know, their escape card from hell, you know, but but has a genuine encounter with Christ like Paul had on the road to Damascus and whose life was forever changed. And so when you have that, there's a certain level I found of courage and boldness that you then are given thanks to the Holy Spirit to be able to and use wisdom to know what to say and when to say it, you know, it's the right time, right word, right place to share your faith. Now, early on, there was a few times like I cornered Sting at a wrestling event. And I like to say I threw up Jesus all over him for about a half hour. And to the point, he's like, I got to go. And I'm like, we'll continue this conversation. Like, oh, no, we won't, you know, he later would tell me stories like that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he came to Christ and Dr. Ike was driving and Dr. Ike was trying to share his faith. And I was like, would you shut the F-up and he's trying to share God with you. Right, so out of excitement, you know, as a new believer, you know, those things do happen as well. But I think for those who've had that genuine encounter, there's, again, just a level of boldness and courage that's placed in you that gives you then the opportunity.

And the Lord will bring you opportunities to share your story with other people. And so, you know, one quick example, we'll move on to your second question. One quick example with Ivan, you know, again, traveling the roads, like you said, your dad basically traveled, you know, was around the boys mainly. And those were, quote, his friends mainly, right?

Maybe a couple friends outside of wrestling. All that to say, I knew Ivan's lifestyle. And so when I gave my life to Christ and I was a part of a revival, I just reached out. The Lord put it on my heart to give him a phone call to invite him to a revival. He came, he came to the altar that night and was radically changed that night. And that just set him on a whole different trajectory and destiny for his life. And so really for the listener out there, one by one by one, you know, look for opportunities, you know, for the Lord to bring people across your path.

I've got a good friend, his name's Rocky Wagner. Every morning he gets up, he says, Lord, bring someone across my path today that I can share my story with, how you brought me to the foot of the old rugged cross. And so just an idea for maybe somebody listening out there. So great question, Travis.

Travis, question number two. All right. So I know for myself, you know, with all the mistakes that I made, and I came to Christian 18, you know, to this day, I will tell you, I dismissed at a young age, the concept and reality of spiritual warfare. And I did not understand it and God had gotten a hold of my life and there was a projected plan, right? And yet I got off that plan, you know, for 15, 16 years. So, you know, I know that I've struggled, you know, and again, I've been in counseling, I stay in counseling, I'm a firm believer, I have a faith-based counselor, Britt Perrimer with Pathlight Counseling.

And, you know, I think that's very important to be able to talk through, but also have those same values. But one of the things I've struggled with, and I was curious how you've dealt with it and, you know, at times, you know, was there times where, you know, at least for me, knowing that I am righteous, but I'm unrighteous, right? You know, high by myself, was there times where you struggled with shame or embarrassment about your past?

About my past? Yeah, before you became a Christian. Right.

So, you're asking, since coming to Christ, have there been times that I've struggled with my past since coming to Christ? Is that the question? Correct, correct. Okay, great question, and I would say, the short answer would be yes, and you said warfare. Like, I just had, a while back, we did a huge conference in Fort Mill, South Carolina, Man Up Conference. You know, I do these one-day intensives where I come into a local church community, and for several hours spend with a group of men to challenge them to be godly men, godly husbands, godly fathers, you know, equip them and train them and empower them, deploy them, send them back home to hopefully walk out some of the tools we give them. Lex Luger and I do a camp together called Man Camp.

Now, where the conference is a one-day intensive, this is a five-day full-blown camp where, again, we're going to equip and empower men through teaching and training, deploy them back home to walk this journey out. And I often say that the warfare is real. Once you give your life to Christ, it's game on. I mean, there is an enemy of our soul. His name is Satan, and he comes to steal, kill, and destroy, the Bible says. And hence the importance, Travis, of putting on, as Ephesians chapter 6 says, the full armor of God.

And that's just not something you do want. Like, hey, I can check the salvation box. I gave my life to Christ. Now it's going to be smooth sailing from here on out until Jesus brings me home.

No, no, no, no, no. You have now dropped behind enemy lines. We live in a fallen, broken world. And, Mr. Ma'am, you better armor up every single day and put on the full armor. Go read Ephesians chapter 6 sometime.

If you're not familiar with the armor, put it on. And then because there is an enemy of our soul, the question Travis asked was, do I ever struggle with some of my past? Well, I would answer that too by saying the enemy is good at reminding us of our past.

But the good news is our past is covered under the blood of Jesus. So even if he reminds us of our past, we can remind him of his future, which is the lake of fire, which is where he will end up. And so, Travis, yes, from time to time, things pop in my head. Images pop in my head. I like the, hence the importance of Romans 12 too. Renewing your mind every day.

I like to say it this way. Every now and then, I might even wake up from sleeping and an image be in my head and go, that's not godly, right? And have to pull that stronghold down and cast it to the foot of the cross as I renew my mind every single day. So two key things, renew your mind every day with the word of God, put on the full armor of God.

And when the enemy tries to remind you of your past, remind him of his future. There you go. I love it.

I love it. All right. Hey, we got, we got time for one more question, Travis.

All right. Here's my question. I know that God gave me a life verse about that would be going on six years ago. Uh, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things that should be added into you and do not be anxious for tomorrow. For tomorrow will take care of itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own. What was your, or what is, if you have one, what is your life verse? That's really good. Is that, is that Matthew chapter six year? Your, uh, come on, come on, um, Colossians one 10 Colossians one 10. And then before I share it with, with you and, and all of our listeners out there, let me just encourage our listeners. If you don't have, you're a Christ follower and you don't have a life verse, I asked the Lord for one and let him give you one that you can internalize and embrace and maybe repeat each and every day or multiple times a day if you need to. And, and so for me, it is Colossians one 10 and there's four parts to it.

Uh, and I'm essentially, I'm not quoting it word for word, but kind of paraphrasing. But so the first part is this, uh, my goal, my hope, I just prayed it this morning, actually. My hope and my goal is, uh, today is to, to live a life that's worthy of the name that I bear, which is the name of Jesus. And in other words, I hope through my action, through my words, even through my thoughts today, that I bring honor to my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. In other words, I don't leave a mark come the end of the day. I don't leave a stain, but I leave a mark for him. Okay.

That's part of it. The other part is that I would fully police him and in every aspect, in every way of life today, today, cause no promise of tomorrow. So through my words, through my thoughts, through my actions, I'm fully pleasing him with how I'm conducting my life today. Part three, that I would bear fruit, good fruit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.

My man, Robbie in the studio is looking at me, probably going to get on me for missing one of the, one of the fruit. But anyway, bearing fruit for every good work, not some good work, but every good work. And last but not least, growing in the knowledge of God. And that's just not head knowledge, that's heart knowledge. In other words, I do want to study the word. I want to internalize the word. I want to know, I want to be able to memorize and repeat the word when I need to, but I also want to grow in intimacy with him. And that's the heart knowledge, that intimate, passionate relationship, that love relationship that I have with him. I want to grow in that every single day.

So that breaks down collages 110 Travis. I like it. I like it. I, you know, it's funny when you, you know, hearing you talk about that, the first thing that comes to mind in my mind is, you know, are you bearing fruit?

And that being an indicator, you know, when spiritual warfare comes, that's usually a sign you're doing God's work. Yes, absolutely. So, well, Travis, it's such a, what a privilege, man. I'm glad you reached out to me and we are going to, I'm going to have you, I have to have you back on some of the shows again. Are you up for that sometime?

Absolutely. Where's the studio at? Well, the studio's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And that's where we record from.

And my man, Robbie Dilmore, sitting in front of me here with a huge smile on his face, is the man that makes this all happen. And so I would love to come back on and, you know, if I ever make it up to North Carolina, I want to end studio interview. Yes, that would be awesome. And when I come to Atlanta, you and I are going to have to break some bread together. Okay.

I would love that. Fair enough. Yes, sir.

All right. Well, thank you, Travis Orndorf. Mr. Wonderful, Paul Orndorf, living under, following in the footsteps of his dad. And thank you for tuning in today to Q&A with Koloff.

Tune in for another episode. God bless you. This podcast is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers, support, and generous gifts.

May God bless you for your continual contributions. Go to Koloff.net and donate today. Hi, Nikita Koloff. Be sure to check out The Man Up Show, now available on television, broadcast, and podcast. Go to MorningstarTV.com or The Truth Radio Network. Check out your local listings or better yet, download the Truth Network app today. Nikita Koloff here.

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