Q&A With Koloff- #119

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, Lithuania.

He weighs 123 kilos. The Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolov. Welcome to another episode Q&A with Kolov, the devil's nightmare. Been with me today, Benny Tagani, and I think I said that right. Yes, you did.

I did. All right, Benny. Well, great to have you with us today. Benny, you're down, if I'm not mistaken, down in the Florida, the Sunshine State, right?

Yes, sir. We're Fort Myers on the West Coast. Fort Myers.

I was thinking it was Fort Myers, but I didn't want to blow it and go, you know, good memory, Nikita. So Fort Myers, so tell our listeners, what keeps Benny busy down in Fort Myers, Florida? What keeps me busy is work. I'm originally from Long Island, New York, sold my business and home, came down to enjoy paradise here down in Florida and got bored very quickly and got a job with a commercial landscape company.

Commercial landscaping. And your family, is your family down there with you? And tell us a little bit about your family.

Yes. Originally everybody came down, but my oldest daughter's married. She lives a little bit farther up the state of Florida. My youngest went back to New York.

She wanted to, I guess, experience that Manhattan lifestyle, I guess. And my wife is just at home, I guess, taking care of our dogs in our home. And just, we're basically empty nesters.

Empty nesters. Okay. And out of curiosity, and we may or may not have, wrestling in any history with professional wrestling, were you a fan at all there in New York and or Florida? I was a little bit. My brother was the really big fan. And I used to watch the Casey with him. I used to enjoy, one of my favorites was Jimmy Superfly Snooker, Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes. I remember watching with my brother.

So yeah, I didn't watch it as much as he did, but yeah, every once in a while I would sit down and catch a glimpse of it. So you're familiar with a few of the guys. Of course, you mentioned, you know, you're familiar with a few of the guys. Of course, you mentioned Dusty. Of course, one of my former tag team partners, Dusty Rhodes and the American Dream, baby deal, right?

The son of a plumber from Austin, Texas. And of course, Hot Rod. Hot Rod, Roddy Piper was, what a great character he had. And he'd do these, I think it was called Piper's Pit.

He'd have this, he'd do interviews, right? In Piper's Pit. And so, well, that's pretty amazing. And of course, Benny, of course, we met just not long ago at something called Advanced Bootcamp. And from what I understand, I've had your friend Chris on the Q&A show as well. And he was telling the story how, I guess, you and he were sitting with Robbie Dilmore, right? And Robbie was asking if you guys had met me or whatever. And the way Chris was telling the story is, it's like, at least Chris, he's like, get out of here.

And a kid would call off into here at bootcamp or whatever. And he's like, he's sitting right over there. Chris said like, did you Google me or something or pull me up on your phone or something?

Yeah, because I didn't, I watched, I guess I didn't really know much of the WCW. Okay. When Robbie was saying that and Chris kept looking over, I right away write down on my phone, you know, Googled your name and it came up with the official and I go, no, Chris, that's him. He's right there, Chris.

He's right there. Yeah, that's him. Yeah, who would have ever thunk it, right? As we say, right? In a good old expression. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. I know, I know Chris was like, of course, you know, he's an Alabama boy, right? So of course, wrestling was huge in Alabama. And he said, you know, every Saturday night, man, you know, he was there. He said, he used to keep his parents up at night, actually, watching wrestling. But well, and I realized this, not everyone is a wrestling fan. I get that. And sometimes that people apologize and like, dude, I don't, I don't have a clue who you are. I don't know. And I'm like, that's okay. No apologies needed. I know everyone is not a wrestling fan, but all that to say there are plenty who are though.

And it has a worldwide appeal, which is pretty amazing. Hey, let me ask you something about bootcamp. I asked Chris something similar. So you got this, you got to spend a couple, three days there at the camp in Mocksville, North Carolina. And, and what was one of, one of your biggest takeaways? Like how did the camp itself impact you?

Would you say one of the things that just jumps out at you when I asked that question, how did, how did it impact you? I would have to say at most was the guys from, Nashville and Journey, the brotherhood there, them telling their stories and, and just each one that spoke at some point in my life, it's just been exactly the same. So it touched me that I could listen to other men speak about the issues or problems of being vulnerable, telling a group of guys that maybe they've never met in their life. And they're there to help us bring us closer to Christ, closer to God, and to let them know that, yeah, we are the same as you, and that we have gone through the same issues or troubles that you may have had in your life.

So, so, and, and so far our listeners out there, you're, of course, you're referring to the staff, the masculine journey staff. So just, so them sharing their own personal stories, you, you, there was something, if I'm hearing you right, there was something about each one of their stories that brought some relatability for you. And then that, that helped you better identify your own journey and your own story and drawing you closer to, to the Lord. Would that be accurate to say?

Yes, very accurate. And it's just the way the boot camp works, usually the other ones is a lot of watching videos of a great program that John Eldridge has started, but these guys took away a lot of that video and it was just them being real and being forward and telling us about them, which made it very much more relatable to me. Made it more, made it more personal, made it more personal. I, you know, I just, you know, I just, Benny, I just happened to have somebody here in the studio with me today that just wants to, wants to say hi and, and perhaps just thank you for coming and attending. No, I do.

I do. This is Robbie. Surprise, surprise, surprise, Betty. As a producer of Nikita's show, I get a chance to hear these wonderful Q and A's as I just got a chance to speak with Chris as well. And I, you know, I know I joined Nikita in this. We are so honored, right? That, that we get a chance to, to be with such neat people that God brings from around the country. And, you know, it's really a neat adventure to, to, to do these different things. And now to get to hear you guys, you're back in Florida and he's back in Alabama and away we go. So I'm so grateful for a chance to, to meet you and, you know, how fun. No, to tell you the truth, Robbie, it's, it's, it's I, and hopefully I can't speak to the other guys, but just for myself, I am very grateful and very honored to meet you, Nikita and a lot of the other guys, but especially you because of your stories and what has happened within your life.

And I still keep saying it to my wife since I've been homeless. I'm still amazed that this man, with everything that's happened to him, all the trials, that he still has this infectious smile, this, this unbelievable laugh. He's always laughing.

He's always cheerful. And, uh, it was truly an inspiration to be around you. Oh, thank you. I received that too. That's wonderful.

So wonderful. Well, I suppose we got to do this Q and A thing. I guess we got to give Benny a chance to ask some, some questions. So, uh, and for those who maybe, uh, want more information, you hear us talking about masculine journey, go to masculine journey, dot O R G masculine journey.org and get more information. You too may want to find yourself, uh, on a more masculine journey and chasing after the heart of God and experiencing what Benny experienced. So Benny, let's transition into your questions and, uh, not having a clue what you might ask, but that's always the fun part for me.

Uh, go ahead and fire off your first question for me. I probably, you've probably been asked this quite a few times, Nikita, but it's something that Chris and I talked about is, is what was the turning point or what was the change in life that took you from wrestling to seek the heart of God and become, um, to start your ministries and help men in your, uh, camps that you hold and, and then the work that you do. 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. You're listening to the truth network and truthnetwork.com. Well, I appreciate the question. I really do. Cause you know, as I share, as I do tell, you know, some of my story and a lot of different formats and interviews and television and radio and podcasting and, and just in conversation, you know, whether it's at boot camp, man camp, or just out and about in the public, in the public eyes, I run into people, uh, who, you know, who are wrestling fans and, and recognize me. And, uh, in fact, it's, it's funny. It's a very quick side story.

Um, took a group down to it's called Narrow Way Theater in Fort Mill, South Carolina to, to watch a, we were at a, it's a dinner theater and we're going to watch the it's called, it was called the production was called the fourth cross. And this little girl kind of, you know, one of the actresses is looking at me. She goes, how do I know you? How do I, and she's like, yeah, like she's like a teenager, right? Or maybe, maybe early twenties.

I'm like, she's not old enough to really have watched professional wrestling, right? So I got that part. I go, I don't know. I go, I'm not sure. And she's just kept looking at me, staring at me. She goes, no, I know you.

How, how do I know you? So I just go, all right, I got it. I got an inkling here. I'm going to throw it out there.

I go, so when you were younger, did you ever happen to watch a show on lifetime called Preacher's Daughters? And her, I mean, if I wish I'd had a camera of her expression in her face, she's like, no, you, you're not him. You're, you're not really him.

And I just started laughing. She goes, you look a lot like him though. You look a lot like him though. Like, like I go, so I'm laughing at my whole groups around me and they're kind of listening in on this and I go, so I go casually, I go, so was Colby your favorite? She goes, oh my gosh, you really are him. I mean, she was like, like flabbergasted, right? She's, I loved Colby.

I loved Colby. Your daughter was the best, right? So she just goes the whole deal. I go, hey, never know who you're going to meet, you know, at a dinner theater, even if you're the actress, you know? So she was a fan of Preacher's. Like a lot of people don't know, you know, we had a reality show for a couple of years. I say we, you know, we were part of a reality show called Preacher's Daughters. It's centered around my youngest daughter, Colby, her life as a, as a, a kid of a preacher, right? A daughter of a preacher. And so anyway, shameless plug for the Preacher's Daughters Day.

It was, it was quite an interesting experience for the whole family. All that to say, let's see, what was your original question now, Benny? What led you? No, no, no, no. I know what drew me to the foot of the cross. No, I got you.

Just kind of half teasing. What drew me to the foot of the cross? So all that to say, didn't grow up in church, you know, didn't grow up in Russia. Russia Nightmare did not grow up in Russia. Didn't grow up in church. Not to say I didn't believe in God, cause, cause I would tell you I did. I did believe in God.

But you know, just didn't know him in a personal way. So at best it might've been religious without the relationship, right? And, but, and if I went to church in my early years, you know, I would say probably it was all for the wrong reasons, you know, not necessarily for the right reasons and just, you know, maybe trying to build some brownie points with God, you know, maybe, Hey God, I went to church today, right? But it was 11 months after I left wrestling that, that I'd met a Christian couple and through that relationship invited me to their church.

This was in Concord, North Carolina. And in 17 October, 1993, I walked through the doors of, of that facility only to find myself at an altar, wooed by the Holy Spirit to the altar to surrender my life to Christ. And what I recognized at that moment in my journey, Benny, was, was, you know, cause I left wrestling.

I'm like, what's life hold next for Nikita Koloff? I recognized that something was still missing in my life. I had climbed the pinnacle of success, right?

In the ranks of wrestling, having become a world champion multiple times and, and achieved a level of what some people call fame, right? You're that famous wrestler guy, or, you know, the girl going, how do I know you? I know you, right? And so what's funny is she didn't know me from wrestling. She knew me from the preacher's daughters, but all that to say a recognizable face, but I knew in my heart of hearts, something was still missing. And what I come to find out and realize what was missing was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And on that day, that story of what Christ did on the cross, him living, him being beaten and crucified and dying and rising again, now to live at the right hand of the father. And one day to come back again, it took, it took a hold in my heart.

That story moved from my head to my heart and life has never been the same since. And since that time, Benny, I would have, who would have known? I'd have a radio show, a podcast, a TV show that I'd, Lex Luger and I'd be doing man camps together that I'd be traveling around the world, now 36 different countries and territories in all 50 States and preaching in over 1200 churches and writing books. And I wouldn't imagine any of that, but God, but God. And so he's the one who's provided all those opportunities and I'm just living today, each day that he gives me to hopefully make his name famous.

So there you go. That's very good to hear. And it's amazing what he does when you turn your life up to him and follow his word.

It is, it is. I spent plenty of years chasing after my own dreams and pursuing my own desires. And at the age of 34, surrendering my life to him, I found out actually for the very first time that somebody else had a plan for my life. Oh, God has a plan for my life. And to everyone listening out there to this conversation, you may not know him in a personal way.

And I encourage you to open up your heart and ask him in and let him lead you. And as Benny just said, you'd be amazed. It's not always gonna be easy, but I'm gonna paint some rosy picture for you. Not always gonna be easy.

In fact, it may be at points in time even more difficult, but at the end of the day, it's well worth it and very rewarding. So great question, Benny. You got another one for me? It's just how has it been going, I guess, trying to, I guess, bring more maybe wrestlers into the fold, the ones that are recently retired or just still within the wrestling community of bringing them into seeking the Word of God and if their lives are going through a certain trial of helping them out? Yeah, that's great.

That's a great question. And I've had a lot of opportunities over the years to have some level of intelligence, some level of involvement in either my wrestling peers either coming to Christ, my colleagues coming to Christ or planting a seed or watering a seed or literally leading them to the foot of the cross. And some bigger names than others, some names people would recognize, my old partner, Ivan Koloff, Uncle Ivan, and inviting him to a revival in 1995 and him coming to the altar that night and him getting set free, literally set free of tobacco addiction, drug addiction, alcohol addiction. I mean, I don't know another cuss word ever came out of his mouth the rest of his life.

I may have, but every time I was around him, I never... And I heard plenty of cuss words, BC, before Christ in Ivan's life and out of my own mouth as well for the record. But all that to say, Ivan Koloff, the road warriors, Animal and Hawk, I invited him to a conference in Phoenix, Arizona and saw Hawk go to an altar. Jensen Franklin was the preacher that night, the keynote speaker. And Hawk went to the altar and we baptized him in the pool there in Scottsdale, Arizona, and then brought Hawk on the road with me for a year and a half to share his story and his testimony before the Lord brought him home. Shawn Michaels, Tully Blanchard, one of the four horsemen, Magnum TA, one of my nemesis, we have shared a platform and him is sharing how he overcame a car accident that nearly ended his life and nearly left him paralyzed from the neck down and how the hand of God sustained him through that entire journey. And over and over and over again, I mean, I witnessed it to Dusty Rhodes. I gave him a copy of my first book, which he read from cover to cover, kind of sharing some of my salvation story and the list goes on and on.

And so, I've had opportunities more recently with guys at Legends Autograph Signings or other events to just be a witness to them. And at times, share my faith, sting. I mean, I cornered Sting Benny. I cornered him for about 30 minutes and threw up Jesus all over him in the Coliseum of Charlotte that night. He's like, I got to go wrestle. I'm like, we'll continue this conversation.

He later told me, walking away, he's like, oh, no, we won't. And only to find out three years later, he gave his life to Christ, right? Lex Luger, you know, who helped me found Man Camp in 2006 through a jail chaplain, gave his life to Christ.

And then I've had the privilege of helping to disciple Lex in his walk with Jesus. And so, I would say to the world out there, whether it's professional wrestlers or athletes or people of any walk of life, if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, be salt and light. Don't hide your light under a bushel.

Put your lamp high on the hill. Let people see the light that is the light of Jesus that lives in you. And don't be afraid to share your testimony and your story because scripture says we are known by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. So, you don't have to be a pro wrestler to be able to share your story.

Everybody who's come to faith in Christ has a story, and I want to encourage you to share that story. So, awesome, Benny. Awesome, awesome. I want to thank you very much for allowing me to come on your show. Also to say hi to Robbie, which was very nice to hear his voice. And I hope to see you at your camp or at future Masculine Journey camps.

Absolutely. Well, God bless you and each of you out there in Listening Land. Thanks for tuning in each and every week. And hopefully, you were intrigued by the questions today and by some of the stories. And Benny, have an amazing day, as well as all of you out there in Listening Land.

Have an amazing 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. 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. Hi, Nikita Koloff here, and I am excited to announce the second annual Man Up Men's Conference, a Champions Summit at Morning Star Ministries in Fort Mill, South Carolina, June 15th through the 17th. Why should you attend the Man Up Conference? There's never been a more critical time than now for men to stand up, step up, rise up, and man up. This is a rally call for men of all ages, teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, who desire to grow in their manhood and masculinity, enhance their marriage and fathering skills, be better equipped as a godly man, godly husband, godly father, be more effective in the marketplace as salt and light. We'll have a special Father-Son workshop and rite of passage ceremony to celebrate this special Father's Day weekend. Be there. Go to koloff.net to get registered today. 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.