Q&A With Koloff- #174

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When only the best is needed, see Dr. Johnny Gayton at eyesightassociates.com where we discover what it means to be a wholehearted man. 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. Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian Nightmare, Nikita Kolov. Welcome to another episode of Q&A with Kolov, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to Q&A with Kolov Questions and Answers and of course if you're familiar with this show, you might get a personal phone call from the Russian Nightmare and get the opportunity to ask me a couple questions that you've always wanted an answer to and just didn't know how to connect.

Just go to kolov.net and you can make that happen and I'll dial up your number and get you on the phone. In studio, however, with me today is Taylor Vaden. Welcome to Q&A with Kolov, Taylor. Yeah, thank you for having me.

I'm excited about this. Great to have you here in studio. It's not all the time that I get to do Q&A in studio, but when I do it's always an extra treat for me, it's extra special. So great to have you here and of course we crossed paths recently at a men's conference in Kernersville, North Carolina and you were there performing, you're a music artist. You were performing with Jason Crabbe and some might be familiar with the Crabbe family out there if they're familiar with Southern gospel music, but you have a whole music background, so you do really a variety of types of music, right? Yeah, it really started when I was six years old with Elvis music. So I was, the story is I was six years old in second grade and my grandpa had a stack of records that we would listen to in the afternoons. It wasn't anything from Stalard Brothers to the Oak Ridge Boys to Willie Nelson to George Jones and we hit an Elvis record one day and Aloha from Hawaii was the Elvis record actually and we, from that point on it was kind of like, okay, who's this Elvis guy? I wanted to know everything about him and my birthdays and Christmases were filled with just getting Elvis movies and Elvis records and from there I did talent shows, did the second grade talent show, third grade talent show. Impersonating Elvis. Yeah, I had the gold jacket, I had a jumpsuit, all that good stuff. So yeah, it was kind of a little secret for a while until I did it for show and tell one day at school and my mom got a call from the teacher that afternoon telling her how good it was and she had no idea.

My grandpa was just having fun. But that led me into music as I got older and I started playing guitar when I was around 12 or 13 and in the church that I went to at the time and started writing music when I was in college and started out writing country songs and old heartbreak love songs. But then toward the end of college, right out of college I really focused on ministry and what my walk with Christ means to me and what all he had done for me at that time and started writing more Christian based music. And you'll do a mixture because I remember from the concert that night, you'll do a mixture.

Of course if they want, I'm going to go ahead and tease the audience right now, they're going to have to go over to and listen to the Man Up show, that interview we did because you actually give a live sampling of both the Elvis impersonation but one of the songs off your new CD called New Season which is, you've got a half a dozen songs on there, it's your latest project. But you do a mixture almost like a little blues sound to what you do sometimes, even a bluegrass sound, kind of a mixture, right? Yeah, it's just all the different music tastes that I grew up with. I grew up on Southern Gospel and love bluegrass too. I really am a big fan of Motown and 60s and 70s, obviously the Elvis stuff. But yeah, there's just a blend of music that I like. Country obviously and with being from Stokes County, it's kind of hard to get rid of the country accent so it comes through too.

Which Stokes have for those who may not realize, we're talking North Carolina, North Cackalacky as they say it. I say it sometimes, people are like, what's that? Who came up with that? I go, I've never really, I don't know.

I'm stuck. I've heard lots of people say it though. And I know you lead worship in your church there. Yeah, Living Word Ministries up in King.

That's in Stokes County, King, North Carolina. So if you're ever in the vicinity of King, North Carolina, I want to encourage you to, and you want to look for a church to visit one day, go to Living Word. I had the privilege of preaching there a while back and an amazing church, pastors amazing. The worship leader is pretty amazing as well.

I appreciate it. We've got a great team for sure. And it does take a team, doesn't it? It's not just any one individual. Yeah, that's what people, you know, I think they, nowadays our society, our culture and the church, we look at a worship leader and, you know, sometimes they're put on a pedestal and along with certain pastors too, but there's a whole team of people behind us. At the end of the day, we're all worship leaders. We're all called to lead in some way, you know, in ministry. Yeah, exhibit your gifts and talents, utilize your gifts and talents and skills and abilities, right? For God's glory, right?

Exactly. And I learned that very early on getting into ministry is that it's not about me. I mean, I've been blessed with the talent to play guitar and sing, but every person on the team, I mean, every person in the congregation, I mean, we can all lead together.

You think about it, our church services, our worship services are, are really just rehearsals for what we're going to be doing in heaven. Come on. That's good. I mean, that's a good picture right there. And, and so like, cause you do travel, like you will go to other churches or sometimes festivals or other places you used to even still do the Elvis thing, right? Oh yeah.

Still got the sideburns on. So people love the Elvis stuff, which, you know, I mean, I do too. I mean, that's where it started for me, you know, and Elvis's love of gospel music really inspired me too. Elvis won three Grammys. The only three Grammys he won were for gospel music.

Which is amazing, right? Out of all the songs he did. And you, you know, and, and I know when I visited Graceland three times now, man, the, his music just gets me every time.

It just, like, especially the gospel songs hits me every time. And I know I played just quick, real quick side story. I played a number of different golf tournaments. And in fact, I played a couple, three times with old rock and rollers. I'm talking around like, like back from the fifties and sixties and, and, and some of the guys I played with actually were some of the backup or did some of the opening or, but were, were brought up throughout the wee hours of the night to play gospel music up in his suite.

He so loved it. Like, they're like, man, we're exhausted from the concert or whatever. And he's like, no, you got to come up. You got to do gospel music. So, so you can, you travel and do that.

And if people wanted to, if there's a pastor out there listening or churches had an interest in, in, um, uh, one, get, getting your music and, or, but to have you come in, they can just go to taylorvayden.com. Yep. Yep. They go there.

They can email me directly. It's a booking at taylorvayden.com booking at taylorvayden that's vayden with a V as in van vader. They call that a time or two. Did you watch any wrestling growing up? Oh yeah. A little bit. That's a huge wrestling fan in the nineties for sure. Back in the day.

Back in the day. Um, well, so, so tell me, uh, cause I know you've got a beautiful bride and a lovely little, little girl that just tell us, take a minute. Tell us about your family.

Yeah. Leanne and Paisley. I've been super blessed. Leanne and I will be married. Well, we met in 2014.

So it'd be 10 years since we met, but we've been married since April of 2016. And you're a Facebook romance. Is that right? Yeah. So one of the good things that's come out of Facebook, uh, Leanne and I, yeah, we met through Facebook actually through our mutual love of Elvis's music. And that's amazing.

Yeah. You fast forward 10 years and now we've got Paisley and um, she was born April 1st of 2022. So she'll be two years old, April 1st and she's into music like we are. I mean, we both, Leanne and I both love music in general and not just the Elvis stuff, but that's been a big part of, you know, our relationship and Paisley's fallen right into that. She loves singing and dancing. Uh, our song is my girl by the temptations. So she loves singing that. I want to, you know, you mentioned Motown and you know, for the record, I mean, it just, what amazes me is some of those groups that that's saying to get is just the harmony and just nothing like it. Wow.

I mean, right. Just talk about God given talent and abilities. And so, well, and I, of course I have been blessed. I, you know, you, you'd given me one of your, your CDs and I've listened to it and been blessed by it. And of course the concert, uh, when, when you play with, with Jason crab was, was blessed by it as, as well. And, and so I just want to encourage you to go out there, taylorvayden.com and can people, uh, I guess, uh, they're all the typical platforms, right?

Spotify and Apple music. It's all, it's all there. Okay. And that's Taylor Vayden with a V V V Taylor Vayden. 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. You're listening to the truth network and truthnetwork.com would your company business, or you personally like to partner with me in supporting Koloff for Christ ministries, the man up show and men up minutes. Go to koloff.net and click the donate button.

You can give monthly, annually or one time. God bless you for making a difference around the world. 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. And so, all right, well, it is called Q and A with Koloff. And so I have no idea, Taylor, what you might throw out there at me, but let's fire away with your first question. Well, since we're kind of talking about the Elvis stuff, you mentioned you and Dusty going to Graceland on one of your trips.

Yes. So, well, I guess what was, uh, was there any kind of funny moments that stuck out on that trip? You know, it was a very rare day off. We just happened to be in Memphis. I don't remember if we had a show the night before or, or, or it was that night.

I'm thinking we had a show the night before there with Jerry, the King Lawler, speaking of the King, Jerry, the King Lawler. And, uh, and I think we just had a day off and, and he and I looked at each other and go, and we'd never met when neither of us had ever been to Graceland. Let's go, bro.

Let's go. So I think we jumped in a cab, you know, and tooled on down to Graceland. And I think the, the, probably the biggest memory is, I don't know for some, cause you know, the super powers at the time were pretty hot in wrestling. And so I don't know if we were a bigger attraction or Graceland was a bigger attraction, but I assure you, we were recognized.

You know, my bald head and his big old blonde head, you know, and, and, uh, and so we, we, I guess that's probably the, the, the funnest moments, uh, that I can remember from that trip is, is just all the, all the fans who were both Elvis fans and wrestling fans, uh, and being able to take pictures and sign autographs there as we were touring Graceland. So that's awesome. Yeah.

So good memory. I can just picture that I've been to Memphis a few times. We actually took, uh, my first trip to Memphis was with some friends of mine from church, Paul, that you met. Okay.

Uh, Paul had all the wrestling belts that you had to sign that day. Right. So that's one of the pastor's sons. Yeah. Yeah. So Paul was taking pictures of all the light switches in Graceland.

Okay. I was like, wow, why are you doing that? He said, well, Elvis touched these at one time. He had, he had pictures of random light switches.

Like, is he electrician? What's the deal? I had to tell that. Oh my gosh. That's great. That's great. He's right. I mean, there's no doubt.

Elvis flipped those switches up and down. Right. That's pretty smart anyway. All right. All right. Uh, should we stay on the wrestling? Well, it's up to you.

It's totally up to you. Let's who was your, who was your favorite, uh, wrestler to wrestle with? Like, who did you have the best chemistry with boy? There was, there was a number of guys that I felt like, uh, and that is the right word, you know, that I had chemistry with. And, and I mean, guys like Ricky, the dragon steamboat, he was just so smooth in the wrestling ring and such a great, uh, ring tactician.

I would call him great psychology for the business. Um, I mean, one of, one of the best, as far as I'm concerned, um, certainly flare, you know, I don't even know, I don't even know how to count how many matches I had against him. Um, I mean, cause we were, I think it was about a four or five, six months stretch that we worked just about, just about every night together. And, uh, and, and there were some where it very rarely, did you ever go less than 30 minutes against him? Like he, he just liked to put time in, you know, it's a world heavyweight title match and he just believed, you know, you know, for the, for the belt to mean something, you know, it had to be a lengthy match.

And, uh, so I'd say on average, anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes. And, and there were plenty of times that we did what was called a one hour Broadway, which, which man, which meant the time limit draw. So time went, ran out and, and yes, I had my tongue dragging on a few of those because as you might guess at 285 pounds, you know, and he was constantly on the move.

He wasn't one of those guys who just, you know, like to lay in a hold as we'd say, you know, we, we, we, we, we work holds, but, but then he liked going to, you know, the, Hey, let's go into the next spot or whatever, you know, let's, let's keep this thing moving. So, so certainly Rick, um, the Stinger, uh, staying, I thought we had some, he and I had some, we kept ravishing Rick Rude is another one. And, and, and I thought Luger and I, Lex and I, you know, had some, some pretty decent matches together and, and, and the list really is quite a list.

It's not an exhaustive list, but, uh, uh, rock and roll express when Ivan and I were together and, and the road warriors, a lot of people talk about the Russians against the road warriors and, and how those matches panned out. And so there's, yeah, so there's a few names that, that pop in my head as far as, um, put, putting on a, uh, I feel a pretty good performance for the fans. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So I grew up a sting fan, just so you know, I've told you that before, but yeah, sting was one of my favorites as well. And I think really what got me with him later on in life was his, his testimony when he came to Christ.

Yeah. And so I guess one of the questions I was thinking about earlier, how, you know, I've heard your testimony when you spoke it at living word, but if you would have, let's say everything would have happened earlier. How do you think it would have affected your career? Like sting, I look back, what if he had made that commitment, I don't know, 10 years prior, how would it have affected the career and like those around you and then with your walk, you know, how do you think yours? Yeah, that's a great question.

Cause there's not, you know, the word, cause people do ask you, you know, were the people that were, you know, followed Christ back in those days. And the only one that I'm aware of is a guy by the name of George South, who, you know, George, George is one of, they have a fancy name for it now called enhancement talent. Back in the day, he was known as a jobber, right? He did the job for, jobbers made guys like me look good. Yeah.

Okay. And so Chuck coats and George South and, and, uh, you know, Tommy, uh, um, Tommy angel and so many others that got in the ring, the Mulkey brothers, Mulkey mania, remember Mulkey mania, Mulkey mania, uh, bill and Randy, Randy Mulkey. So anyway, so, so these guys made us look good. And, um, and, and so, you know, when I look, when I look back on, on my career and think about it, by the way, you always knew when George was in, in, uh, on the show, cause he had what, you know, what are known as tracks, which is what they call a gospel track, which is the plan of salvation. Right. And, you know, George would leave those lay to like all the different bathroom stalls and stuff were like, ah, George South's here again, you know, kind of thing. Right.

Yeah. Um, but I would say had that happened earlier for me or Stinger, which by the way, I cornered sting for about 30 minutes in the Charlotte Coliseum, uh, in December of 1995. So I give my life to Christ in October, 93.

I haven't seen any of the guys in between that time until December 95, they're in Charlotte Coliseum. I go down to visit them all and I corner him. And, and basically I like to say, I kind of vomited Jesus all over staying in the corner. And he's like, I got to go get ready for a match. And I'm like, we'll continue this conversation.

He's, he told me later on, he walked away going, Oh no, we won't. You said all you need to say. Right. And then it was August of 98, uh, that he gave his life to Christ and somebody else had led him in a hotel lobby in Florida to Christ. Like, I think maybe I planted a few seeds, you know, all that to say, I think, uh, Taylor, I think it would have changed my career tremendously. In fact, some know, some know, some don't know that I was one of the finalists for the Ivan Drago character for Rocky four.

Oh, wow. There's Dolph Lundgren and myself and a guy named Kerry Von Erich, who was another wrestler guy. Uh, we're, we're the three of us, they flew us out there.

Okay. One of you three is going to get this role. And, um, and in my mind, I feel confident to say, had I landed that role of Ivan Drago, I feel confident to say, I don't know that we'd be sitting here having this conversation right now. I believe had I landed that role, that would have taken me on a whole different path, a whole different trajectory. And I call it one of the defining moments, looking back that, that, you know, God, even though I wasn't serving God, I feel clearly he had his hand on my life, directing and steering my life. And like, no Sunday, you're not going to go to in that direction down that path, you're going to, you're going to go on this path and end up having the career I had in wrestling, which now has become a platform to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, yeah, I think it would have changed things dramatically had I given my life to Christ earlier. And I think Sting would say the very same thing. Yeah. Yeah. He always knows best.

I'm telling you. Yes, he does. His timing's perfect. So you got one more? We got time for one more.

You got one more. So let's go with something generic here. Okay. Let's go with favorite food. Favorite food. Favorite meal, I guess.

Favorite meal. You know, what's interesting is just is now I like Italian food and I like the, you know, I've last couple, three years I've visited what I, you might call higher end Italian places. And I found that, you know, the old saying, you get what you pay for, that there is a difference when you go to a restaurant that has a higher quality food and or chefs who prepare it. Yeah.

There's an, there's a decided difference. And so I've, I've garnered an appreciation for the higher end restaurants. And that's not to say I don't, I don't go all the time.

I might go a couple of times a month or whatever. So it's not so much any particular kind of food as much as just the finer dining places that make that higher end meal. But for sure Italian, of course, you know, can never go wrong with a, with a good steak. I'm kind of, I guess you'd say meat and potatoes man. So, you know, good roasted chicken, you know, good, good, good piece of steak, you know, baked potato, you know, salad.

That sort of thing. And I will say for the record, I do like a good brisket. Oh yeah, I love brisket. And I am a fan of barbecue as well. So those are some of my favorites. You ever hit up Lexington much, Lexington, North Carolina for their barbecue?

Been there, been there. Not anytime recently, but probably I would say, so here's, let me go back to wrestling just for a second. Probably the best brisket I've ever had was in Texas on a ranch owned by a guy named Dick Murdock. Dick Murdock, the redneck Dick Murdock, old school wrestling wrestler. In fact, he and Dusty teamed up over the years. You know, I think they were the outlaws or something or whatever, but we were doing a show in Amarillo.

I believe I want to say it was Amarillo is where he had his ranch. We were doing a show in Amarillo and all the boys went out to Dick's place after the show. And he had been cooking that brisket all day. You want to talk about melt in your mouth and like a knife, a hot knife through butter. I mean, it was so good.

That sounds good. It was so good. Yeah.

So anyway, so great question and actually tied into wrestling, back to wrestling. So Taylor Vaden, and I want to encourage you to go to Taylor Vaden dot com. Pick up his music, go to Spotify, all the different music platforms. Right. And I know you'll be blessed by his music.

Go over to the man up show and look it up. And you're going to appreciate a sampling of his music live in studio, a sampling of his music. And so thanks for being on Q&A. Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me. And thank all of you. You're so faithful to tune in each and every week. And thank you for all your wonderful comments that you send me and go out today and live a God filled, God blessed day.

Until next time. 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. Nikita Koloff here.

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