You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome to another episode of Q&A with Kolov, the Devil's Nightmare.
Super Bowl-winning quarterback Brad Johnson. As you know on the Q&A show, we kind of flip it around. For those of you who tune into the Manna Podcast, you know I'm usually asking the guests all of the questions, typically.
But here on the Q&A with Kolov, we flip it around. So Brad, welcome to the show first of all. Thank you, Likith. I appreciate you having my own show again. Thank you, man. Yeah, great to have you with.
And we did, I know the fans, the followers will enjoy your interview that we did on the Man Up show. And I appreciate you coming on the Q&A. So here it is.
I know we're just kind of, you know, this is spontaneous. You didn't submit any questions and I don't even know what you might ask. So I'm on the spot now. I'm on the hook. But fire away with a question. Throw a question at me. Let's have a conversation. Our quick background. So, Likith, I have a golf tournament up in Ashland, North Carolina called the Evelyn Tournament for Evelyn Foundation. And you've been one of my guests for over 20 years.
We've probably played the first six years. And I always thought your name, your real name, was Nikita Kolov. I thought you were Russian. I thought you were Russian. But as it went on, I realized that that wasn't your real name. It is now maybe by trade, you know what I mean?
Right. How did you, two questions, how did you get the name, how did Nikita Kolov come into play and how did you learn to speak Russian? Okay, great questions. Yeah, so my birth name is not Nikita Kolov. And you're not the first and you won't be the last, believe it or not, even with the Internet and everything else and my life story in a book. I wrote a book called Tale of the Ring of Redemption. In fact, I just did an updated version of that, added more chapters, more pictures. And for all of our listeners out there, go to kolov.net.
You can order that book. And so I tell the story that Sergeant Slaughter and Don Crenodle. Don Crenodle was Ivan Kolov's tag team partner.
They were the world tag team champions for the NWA. But Sergeant Slaughter and Don Crenodle came up with the whole idea of a nephew for Ivan Kolov. And how I came into the picture was Don approached a wrestler named Road Warrior Animal who, interesting background on that, I recruited Animal out of high school, Irondale High School in Brighton, Minnesota, to play college football with me.
He was a standout in high school and I was part of the recruiting team and we became best of friends. And later on, the tables are flipped and he calls me to recruit me into professional wrestling. And Don Crenodle asked him this question. He said, he said, Animal, do you know any big guys who wouldn't mind shaving their head and becoming a Russian?
That was the question. And he goes, I know the guy right now. So I show up in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jim Crockett Promotions the day that Jim Crockett said to be there. And he introduces me to Ivan and Don. Apparently I had the look they were looking for.
And that day Nikita Kolov was born in the hallways of Charlotte, North Carolina. And then to kind of to your point, I legally changed my name. So, so, yes, I really am. When people say, is that your real name? I can honestly say yes. Now, some are smart enough to go, but was that your birth name? I go, well, that's a different question. Right.
But and so that's how Nikita Kolov was born. And then to really get the character over, Brad, I was like, all right, how do I get this over? Because part of the story was I was right off the boat. I don't you don't speak any English. So that part was easy. I didn't have to talk. I didn't have to talk to anybody, you know, and I just had to look mean. And, you know, asked me to the ring and looked mean on interviews.
And so Crockett said, always have your shirt off and put that chain around your neck. I'm like, all right. And so, you know, apparently, you know, all these years later, just like you and many others thought I really was.
In fact, I had guys in the business who at first believed I was I was from Russia because they didn't know any different. A guy named Johnny B. Bad, his name is Mark Merrill. He told me one time at an autograph sign, he goes, man, when I first came to the Carolinas, he goes, we're in the dressing room and you're talking with that accent. And first I looked at he goes, first of all, you scared the bejeebers out of me. I mean, he goes, and I'm in the business. I'm scared of you. And he goes, but secondly, you're talking with that accent in the dressing room.
I lean over to some of the guys and go, does he know we're like smart to the business? You know, so I made a decision. If I'm going to get this character over, I've got to learn a few Russian words, you know, deva, like adin, deva, tres, tres, tres, tres, tres, tres. So I can count to ten in Russian. I can say, you know, hello, goodbye, goodnight, uncle.
And then I thought, well, I need a few phrases that sound Russian to throw off the stupid Americans, you know. And so I took about six months, like for real, Brad, six months where I didn't talk to anybody outside of the car I drove in or the place I was living in and very little in the dressing rooms to develop that accent, develop that character. And apparently I did a halfway decent job because many people like yourself believed I really was from there. So, yeah, you played it well. You've done awesome with it. It's been great to know.
I've known the story. I've heard you tell it a few times and I just I love hearing it and how you kind of made your journey. You know, I think one of the coolest things for me, I'd like to you know, like, what are your passions now? As you know, obviously, you've got your podcast and what are your passions now as you obviously moved on from wrestling and use the name.
But what makes you tick every day? Yeah, no, great, great question. And I know, you know, when you and I talked, I kind of closed the man up show with our interview together, asking, you know, how how do you know, how do you want people to remember Brad Johnson? And I could relate to your answers.
So those who have not yet heard his, you know, his his podcast, my interview with Brad, go to the Man Up podcast and please listen. It's one of the best ones I've done. But I could really kind of resonate. Your answer resonated with me in that, you know, I wake up each and every day hoping to in some way make a positive impact on people's lives. And and like even through social media, like, you know, I got you know, I don't have a ton of followers, but I got a lot of followers on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. And I try to every day just put a little positive little note out there with with a few comments about the positive note. And I do get a lot of feedback from people that say, man, I I needed to hear that today. Hey, thank you for like there's one the other day I was reading it. It's like, who would have thought all these years later the guy feared the most in professional wrestling, Nikita Kolov, is now one of my inspirational coaches, you know, from social media.
Right. And so certainly that that's part of the drive that that that, you know, makes me makes me tick, as you said, every day going. And then for those most know, I mean, you know, ministry is is my number one passion at this point and and just sharing the gospel, you know, traveling, whether it's doing crusades, revivals, man up conferences. Lex Luger and I do a camp together. You know, they'll hear all about your camp experience on the on the man up show.
And I'll just say for those who listen to the Q&A, Lex and I do we do a camp called man camp, you know, where we just bring small groups of men into Georgia and and equip them to to be more godly men, godly husbands, godly fathers. And you're listening to the Truth Network and Truth Network dot com. Nikita Kolov here and I am excited. Did you hear the huge announcement, the big announcement?
Well, maybe it's a minor announcement. Anyway, Facebook, go look up my new fan page. Nikita Kolov fans and like it and follow today. If you are a business owner and would like to advertise your company or product on the man up show and or Q&A with Kolov, contact me directly.
Nikita Kolov at Kolov.net. The man up show is honored to have Dr. Johnny Gaten is one of our longest running supportive sponsors. Dr. Gaten is regarded as one of the world's leading elite eye surgeons. He is motivated by his faith and doing all things heartily as unto the Lord. His desire to do his best has contributed to success in his eye care practice, performing over 70,000 eye surgeries. In addition, he's a world renowned speaker, writer and author.
Go to eye associates dot com for more information. And so I'm driven first and foremost really to get that message out there of how Jesus changed my life personally. And wrestling is a lot of times a platform to do that because wrestling has an appeal all over the world.
So people from churches from all over the world will bring me in to either share my story or share the good news. So right now, it's been awesome to get to know you over the years. And it shows the way you care yourself and the impact that you make on people immediately. And it is awesome.
And it's so funny. One of my best friends, he actually has a barbecue restaurant down in Atlanta. And actually, Lex came in there the other day, was in the car. OK. And and and they ordered barbecue and stuff.
But he had a Bible right next to him. Oh, yeah. That's all my friend bragged about was just it's something that wasn't really just thrown on people, just something that shared. You've always done that, whether we're playing on the golf course or have a great little message or just a little impact that you do as a nugget has been very impactful and inspiring for me is just a print of yours. You know, I appreciate it for our friendship.
No, I appreciate it. Hey, you mentioned I got to say this. You you mentioned it. I don't know if this would come up or not, but you mentioned the golf tournaments and stuff a few times. And you may remember mentioning this to me or whatever, but I still get a kick out of this. I still I tell this story about you sometimes when it comes up in the right situation. But you mentioned, you know, playing together a number of times. And I remember when you got you got two boys, Max and Max and Max and Jake. That's what I thought.
Max and Jake. And I guess when they were little, I remember you tell me this story. If I if I have it right, if I have it accurately about how how every year like your boys are like, dad, dad, is Nikita Kolov going to be at the tournament again this year? And you're like, oh, yeah. You're like, what? What's the big deal?
Dad, he was a world champion wrestler. Like, hello, Super Bowl. Hello. Right on my finger. You're like, what am I, chopped liver, right? No doubt. You ever tell me that story?
They think I'm just. Yeah. Oh, I do.
I do. Well, you always ask if we won. I don't know if we ever won. But I always said, son, I said, well, my swing and Nikita is a great putter. I will say that he can read the putt for us.
But I said, with our golf game, I don't think we're ever really going to win. But we had a we had a great day. I can tell him that for sure. Yeah. Well, you be sure you tell him next.
I say, hey, Nikita said thank you for being for being a Nikita fan. Hey, but we did win the tournament one year. We did. We did. We brought in some ringers. We had exactly home and we brought in Casey Weldon and they were and you and I made a couple putts along the way.
We did get right flax. And I still I still tap it like play like a champion today. I said, at least I was a champion one time.
That's right. We had a ring in the ringers for sure. Well, I was just thrilled to be able to contribute something to the team. You know, I'm not as you know, I'm not you know, I just love going out. And of course, I the reason I came, you know, up there for 20 plus years is one to support you support Evelyn. But, you know, just all the great work that they've done over the years.
And and of course, developing a friendship with you is has been amazing. Now, one more question. Do you have one last question? You'd like to fire away? Nikita, what's next?
Who? You've been a world champion. You are a podcast guy. What's next? I mean, I just I'm amazed by your story.
The impact on you have. I know you got many, many more years. Like what's next for you? Even with these podcasts. Man, that's a great it's great. So part of my goal and I'm here is sitting in his studio with with my main man, Robby, who helps me helps me get the word out on the on these podcasts. And it's a weekly radio show to on Truth Radio Network up and down the East Coast. And but Stu Epperson, as we had talked and even as I've talked with Robby, we have some pretty aggressive goals with the radio show and the podcast. We're you know, as we build more sponsors and advertisers, we want to syndicate the radio show and get it on our goals. Maybe two, three hundred stations around America is one goal. Presently, we're somewhere somewhere between 30 and 40 countries that the show has been downloaded in less than a year so far. And again, very aggressive goals of I want to see this show, this message get out.
Your story and many others get out to over a hundred countries and it can do it. Yeah. And and here's the thing about that, Brad. And really, I appreciate the question because like many things in my life, OK, like let's go back to wrestling.
I wasn't looking to becoming a pro wrestler, as they say here in the south, a pro wrestler. Right. Right.
We won them. You do that rasslin, don't you? Apparently I do.
How do you spell that? Anyway. But wrestling a door of opportunity opened up for wrestling and and I took advantage of it. I never in a million years thought I'd be an evangelist, a minister, a missionary out preaching about Jesus. But 11 months after I left wrestling, 17 October 1993, I find myself at an altar and I was altered that day. My life has changed forever. And little did I know it would take me now.
I've been to it. I've personally traveled to a total of 30 different countries. And so to answer your question, I'm not done yet. I'm not done traveling.
Not done yet. No, in fact, last year I was I was supposed to go to eight different countries in 2020, eight different countries, several of which I had never been to before. And so I'll do more traveling and share the good news and some of it will be on a personal side. But I just want to make a worldwide impact and utilize my platform and my voice for the kingdom. And you are.
And you are. I got one more quick question. Yeah. Who made the biggest impact on your life, you think, whether it's wrestling or got you into something or who do you think was your mentor? Man, you know what? I can actually answer that relatively quickly.
So I'm going to say this. Bill Burke, Jerry McFarland. Bill Burke, Jerry McFarland. My dad, for some who know my story, and again, if you don't know the whole story, go get Nikita, Tale of the Ring of Redemption. But my dad left when I was three, so I had no real male mentorship growing up until seventh grade when when I met my first football coach, Bill Burke. And he kind of knew my story. I mean, I was a welfare kid, Brad.
I mean, I came out of the projects, the ghettos of Minneapolis, and so really had no money. And but, man, he'd take me to the sporting goods store and buy me equipment and stuff. And he just embraced me and took me under his wing. And then simultaneously, I picked up this magazine called Iron Man. It was a bodybuilding magazine. I remember that, yep. Yeah, and I was like, I was enamored by it. I'm like, oh, and I got a vision. I thought one day I'm going to look like one of those guys.
Right, right. And two years later, I meet this guy named Jerry McFarland, a good Scottish name. And Jerry was the health teacher in junior high school, but he was also a professional bodybuilder.
So he took me under his wing and began to teach me about nutrition, exercise, weightlifting, eating, all that kind of stuff. They were the first two guys. And probably like yourself, there's a number of other coaches. I mean, Ross Fauci, Dave Skrine, Irv Nurdahl, John Richman. There's a number of other football coaches that were instrumental through high school and college that also impacted my life. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. That's what you want to be as a coach. You don't remember sometimes, you don't remember all the wins and losses, but you do remember the people that impacted you. And that's what you want to do as a coach or a mentor, and for you to give back to them and praise them is pretty cool.
Yeah, for real. Well, hey, great questions, and thanks so much for being on Q&A with Koloff and, again, on the Manna podcast as well. And look forward to our pass crossing here sooner than later, Brad. That's right. That's right. Awesome. I appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Have a blessed day, okay? You too, buddy. Thank you, man. Thank you.
All right. Bye-bye. 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. If you are enjoying Q&A with Koloff, would you help us spread the word? Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your neighbors to download, subscribe, and leave a comment. Are you looking for the perfect gift for your pastor?
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