Q&A With Koloff- #105

Hey, this is Mike Zwick from If Not For God Podcast, our show.

Stories of hopelessness turned into hope. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. 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. Today, today, today, I got a precious couple here lined up to talk with today.

Richard and Nancy Bell. Guys, welcome to the Q&A with Kolov. Thank you. Well, great to have you guys with us. And hey, Richard, since you're on the phone, you're on the phone first. I know your lovely bride, Miss Nancy, is there next to your side. And it was a good place for her because I know you need a lot of help. And Nancy is a great helper.

Yes, she is. You know me well. I think that's pretty biblical. Let's see. Hold on here.

Let's see. God said, I'm going to send you a help meet, help meet. And so there's Miss Nancy by your side. Well, Richard, but let me just ask you real quick because we go back. Where did we first meet, Richard?

Do you remember? Yes, at a baseball card show in Hickory, North Carolina. A baseball card show? Yeah, you were there signing autographs. Oh, was I signing baseball cards? No, you were signing wrestling memorabilia.

Wrestling memorabilia. Did you ever play baseball, Richard? Yes, I did.

You did. How many years did you play? About 10.

10 years. It was like in the Minnesota... My last year was in about 10th grade. Oh, because I was going to say, was that like with the Minnesota Twins or who is that? No, I wouldn't have played for Minnesota. That's too far up.

I know too many people from Minnesota. Oh, ouch. I'm going to say ouch right there.

Ouch. But they're good people. They're good people. You're not related to Albert Bell, are you, by chance? No. Okay, just checking. Richard Bell, Albert Bell, thought, hey, twin brothers of different mothers. Who knew?

You never know. So 10 years of baseball, what position did you play? Short stomping. I was a catcher a little bit.

Wow. Did you enjoy catching? Yeah, but I was a little bit bat blind. I'd get hit by the ball every once in a while when somebody's swinging.

I'd get a little bit nervous and jerk a little bit. Oh, okay. That's why I wasn't a famous catcher. So you weren't a Carlton Fisk.

I'm aging myself here. No, I wasn't. Okay, you were not a Carlton Fisk. Okay.

For all the Boston fans out there, by the way. Well, okay. And so did hand Nancy the phone, because I need to find out if she played baseball or, not kidding, but...

Okay, I'm handing her the phone right now. Yeah. Miss Nancy, good morning.

Good morning. So I was asking him about sports. So did you play any sports back in the day, Nancy? No.

No? No sports? Cheerleading? Were you a cheerleader? No, I just liked watching. Okay. So you were a fan of sports?

Yeah. What would be your favorite sport, Nancy? Football.

Football. Okay. And do you have a favorite team? I used to like Cowboys. And then when the Panthers came on, I started rooting for the Panthers.

Okay. So you were all about America's team, as they, quote, call them. Yeah.

America's team. And then Carolina Panthers came into play. And of course, of course, you're a Panther fan, we didn't say, but you guys live in North Carolina, correct? Yes. Yeah. And so it's been fun to get to know your husband.

I didn't know he was a baseball player back in the day. And do you have any favorite college teams, or is it just professional? I root for Carolina, which is North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the real Carolina.

Yeah. Chapel Hill, the baby blue or Carolina blue. I don't know whatever color they call their uniforms, right? Carolina blue. It is Carolina blue.

Carolina blue. And hey, let me ask you a question since I got you on the phone, and then I'm gonna let you ask me the first question. But let me ask you a question. So of course, I met Richard at the card show, and of course, we've become friends. You've invited me over.

You've made some delicious home cooked meals for me in the past, and we've just developed a great friendship. Of course, Richard, since that meeting at the first introduction at the card shows has been to man camp. He's come back and staffed on man camp. Let me just ask from a wife's perspective, what jumps, what comes into your mind when you think about what he experienced at camp coming back home, and have you seen any changes in Richard since his attendance at man camp and or serving at camp?

I have. I've seen a lot of change in him. He's become more focused, and he's trying to do more within the church, and learning more about the Bible and stuff. So he's become more engaged within the church itself.

He's more, and I know he and I talk his desire to learn more and more and more about the Bible and scriptures and all of that, and so you see some very, it sounds like some very positive changes with him. Yes. And as a wife, for maybe a wife out there listening, or maybe a girlfriend, you know, has a boyfriend that would love to see some changes perhaps in them, would you recommend man camp to any wife or girlfriend out there listening?

Yes, he's made a lot of good friendships too. Okay. All right.

And so for the women out there listening to Q&A, you would say definitely you would encourage them to encourage the man in their life to attend a man camp. Would that be fair to say? Yes. Awesome. Well, good. Well, let's transition here, Nancy, the Q&A, and give you guys the opportunity to ask me some questions. So let's start with you since you're on the phone.

So do you have a question for The Russian Nightmare? How did you become a Christian? What happened and who influenced you? Well, it's a great question because I didn't grow up in a church just like most I think know by now.

I didn't grow up in Russia either. That was a part of the character I portrayed. But I didn't grow up in church, but that's not to say I wasn't familiar with the story, the man Jesus who died on a cross and as every Easter centers around that experience. And so I was familiar with the story, but the story, although I knew it in my head, never made the 18th trip down to my heart.

And so there was no real change in my life simply by knowing the story, knowing that socially, you might say historically, even philosophically knowing the story. And it wasn't until I had met a Christian couple after I left professional wrestling in 1993, invited me to their church. And it was just a divine moment for me, Nancy. There was just a day I called them up and said I'll be there on Sunday and showed up the day I said I'd be there, walked in to that church service. And it was a divine moment for me. I was prompted to respond to an invitation to come to an altar to surrender my life to Christ.

And it was an aha moment for me, meaning that even though I was successful in professional wrestling and I just knew, I just sensed there was something still missing in my life. I like Ecclesiastes. I think it's in the book of Ecclesiastes. I think chapter three, verse 11, don't hold me to that, but where it says God places eternity in the heart of everyone, every man, woman, and child that he's ever created. He places eternity in their heart. Thus the desire to want to spend eternity in heaven with him, but we have to search that out. We have to figure that out and search that out. And so for me, there was that longing, that desire in my heart, and that response to the altar filled that hunger, that thirst, that desire to figure out what's more, there's something more. And that's how I came to Christ.

Yep, that's the story. So why don't you hand it over to your hubby there and let's get a question from him and then we can come back to you with another one. That's a great question. Thank you.

Hey Nikita. Richard, so great question from your bride there. And what's burning in your mind to ask me today?

What was it like, how fulfilling was it? I know we've talked about this, but fulfilling, I'm not for everybody else to know how fulfilling it was for you to be baptized in Jordan River. Oh boy, you know, that was, oh, there were several moments over in Israel, which by the way, December of 2023, I will be hosting a Holy Land tour. More info coming, more information to come. And I know you and Miss Nancy have an interest in going on that trip with me. Yeah. We've talked about that.

Yeah. And I'm excited about that. It'll be my first time back since my one and only trip to Israel a number of years ago and the opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan. I just knew in my heart of hearts that that was something I was supposed to do, that the Lord was prompting me to do that.

I was over there with the million dollar man, Ted Dibiase, and Jason Sanderson, who was also a professional wrestler way, way back in the day, way, way, way back. And so there were a number of different moments over there. One going to what they believed to be the tomb where Jesus was laid, where it says, you turn around and walk down and it says, he's not here, he's risen. When I sailed the Sea of Galilee, that was another emotional moment. And certainly to stand in the midst of the Jordan River and we just took turns baptizing each other was a very, very emotional experience for me. And one that I will just never forget. And I would recommend to anyone who makes the trip, if you have that opportunity, even if you've been baptized before and, or you've never been baptized, boy, wow.

If you've never been baptized and followed in the footsteps of Jesus, what a special memory that would be to do that in the Jordan River. And so very, very, very special, Richard. Great question. Great question.

I think it would be just so awesome. Yeah, it really is. Now, does your, so does your wife have another question for me? Do you have another question, man? No, she said it's nice. Well, she asked a good one. Well, what about you? I'm guessing you have another question.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Nikita Koloff 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 Koloff Fans, and like it and follow today. 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. That's the biggest match of the time for you. Just explain to me how you felt going out there that night. I mean, just, I know you had butterfly.

I mean, it just, I just did not imagine that. I mean, being in front of the Memorial, I mean, what was the stadium? Memorial Stadium. Memorial Stadium. Yeah. Rick Flair coming in on a helicopter. I think that's tonight.

It is. He came in on the, it was pretty interesting. So the, so the, the sportscaster that was a huge Rick Flair fan was named Harold Johnson. Harold Johnson. You're close. Harold Johnson. Yeah.

Howard was like the hotel, Howard Johnson. But anyway, but you were close, Richard. You were close. Yeah, I was close. No cigar.

Yeah, that's right. No cigar for you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Maybe another time.

But Harold Johnson. So actually Uncle Ivan and I went down to the studio one time to do like a, I don't know, I don't think it was a live, it might've been a live interview. Maybe they recorded it though, but we crashed his office, right? And they did show it on the sports back in those days when they had, you know, sports, you had the news and then you had the weather and then he had the sports, right? On a 30 minute news broadcast back in the day. Some of you younger people out there listening, go Google that. You'll find that was true.

There was not a 24 hour news channel. Anyway, fast forward the story. And so Uncle Ivan and I show up, you know, and we're harassing Harold Johnson because we knew he was a Rick Flair fan, whatever, right? And I'll never forget, he pulls out from under his desk, this like rubber chicken, and he's like choking the neck of the chicken.

Like, this is what Rick Flair is going to do to you, Nikita Kolov. And some of the people, like for real, like I found out later, like they called, like they put security like on high alert because they thought, you know, everyone bought into the story, right? These guys are real Russians and they're going to beat up Harold, you know, in his office or whatever, right? So they kind of had extra security on hand. And then when he did the chicken thing, even more so, they were like, oh my gosh, Harold's like flipped out, right?

Anyway. And then, yeah, to say I wasn't nervous, fast forward to the match, would be an understatement. Flair flies in on that chopper with Harold, with Harold on the chopper, right? I'm standing in the ring, you know, and however many thousands of people in the stadium that night. And I'm only 13 months into the wrestling business. So I'm still a novice at this to say, you know, of course, some might argue and say I was a novice at the end of my career, as well as at the beginning of my career. But anyway, that argument aside, you know, to say I wasn't nervous would probably not be very truthful.

I mean, come on, I'm wrestling the legendary nature boy, Rick Flair, for the world heavyweight title, no less, this beautiful belt. And so, yeah, it was quite the encounter, quite the experience. And if that wasn't enough, that would be the first of six different times fans would attempt to come after me. And in this particular case, it is on video out there somewhere. The fan actually got his hands on me. I did not realize it was a fan in the moment, right? In the heat of the moment, in the heat of the battle. Flair's down on the canvas.

Ivan's down on the floor. David Crockett, who's the special referee, is within sight. And I'm like, I don't remember this being a part of the story. And then it dawned on me.

I'm like, this has got to be a fan. And then the cops had first thought it was part of the story, but once they realized that he wasn't a part of the story, they rolled in like the Keystone cops, got the guy out. Of course, they later arrested him, et cetera, and got in. And then the match continued. But certainly one of the most memorable matches of my career was that great American bash, that title, my first ever title shot that I had against The Nature Boy. And although I didn't walk away with the belt, I walked away with an incredible memory. So yeah, yep, absolutely.

You walked away with a lot of memories from rest. You know, I did. I mean, that's one of them. I'll just go ahead and tell you this, since we're talking about, because people will ask me, was that your favorite match or what was your favorite match, right? And that was certainly one of them. I mean, that certainly ranks up there. The very first ever War Games was another one that really brings back some really fond memories and the electricity in the arena that night and the anticipation with nobody knowing what was really going to happen because it had never been done before. The genius of the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, who came up with the concept and the idea of the War Games, two cages and two rings and that whole deal, pretty amazing in and of itself.

And then last but not least, since we're talking about wrestling and we get a lot of wrestling fans that listen to this show, would be the best of seven against Magnum T.A. Do you remember that series of matches? Yes, I do.

You do. How big a wrestling fan were you? Back then, I was real big. I was a big wrestling fan when I was a kid.

And about 88 or 89, I discovered other things. Gotcha. I just quit watching wrestling, you know. Gotcha. Yeah, so you moved on.

I mean, you know, as I got older, I got other interests. And who was, so let me ask you, I know as you get to ask me, let me ask you, who was your all-time favorite wrestler? I'm sure it was Nikita Koloff, but outside of Nikita Koloff, Richard, who was your, for real, who was your favorite, and you're not going to hurt my feelings by not saying the Russian nightmare, but who was your favorite? Well, actually it was Ricky Morton.

Ricky Morton, rock and roll express, come on. Yeah. He was a good one. Yeah, he was a good one.

So yeah. I was there tonight. They won their titles at Shelby, first night in the NWA. The first time they won the belts. Who did they defeat, by the way? I think they won them from some guys, count ourselves the Russians. Two Russians. Yeah, two Russians, yeah. Interesting, interesting. Now, for the record, it was Krusher Khrushchev.

I should have posed the question for all the listeners out there. Krusher Khrushchev and Ivan Koloff, right? Because we were the six-man tag team champs, and so we could, we struck a deal with the NWA where we could, any combination of the two or three of us could defend those titles. And the truth be known, they wanted to keep me strong and didn't want me losing, because at that time I predated Goldberg's string of victories.

We weren't counting, but there were, I don't know, I went for a long time there before I ever actually lost a match, so. Well, very good. Well, great questions, and I want to thank you and Miss Nancy for being on the Q&A show with Koloff today. Well, thank you for thanking me. Yes, and certainly appreciate your guys' friendship. Yeah, thank you for your friendship. Yep, appreciate you, appreciate your servant's heart and coming down and serving on Man Camp staff.

I really enjoyed that. Yes, sir, wow. All right, and thank all of you out there in Listening Land, tuning in each and every week to the Q&A with Koloff, and also make sure you're going over to the archives and catching the Man Up show, and or if you're in the Truth broadcast network, radio network, where you can catch it live on Saturdays, go catch the Man Up show live on Truth radio, download the Truth radio app, and you'll be glad you did. So, God bless you, have a wonderful day. 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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