Q&A With Koloff- #175

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When only the best is needed, see Dr. Johnny Gayton at eyesightassociates.com. This is the Truth 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 of Q&A with Kolov, the Devil's Nightmare. Always fun for me to do this Q&A show because, you know, as you listen to the man up show, you know, I'm usually asking all the questions here.

You get the opportunity to ask me some questions. If you ever want to be on Q&A with Kolov, go to kolov.net, submit a request and you'll get a personal phone call from the Russian nightmare and give you the opportunity to ask me a question or two or three. And so with me today in studio though, Ricky Pate, welcome to Q&A with Kolov.

Thanks. Great to have you in studio. You know, it's not always in studio. A lot of times Q&A, you know, I'm calling somebody and it can be all over the country.

And in fact, it can be anywhere in North America, really. But great to have you in the studio. And you got a really, I believe, a fascinating story and a relatable story for many, including myself, because, you know, I have, I would say, maybe similar upbringings. In regards to our family life and that sort of thing, I want to talk about sheepdogs anchored in Christ's ministries as well today.

So make sure and cover what you're doing with the ministry. Before we get there, though, quick backdrop, some quick backstory for our listeners. You a native of Minnesota like me or where'd you grow up? I grew up right here in North Carolina.

Right here in North Carolina, North Cackalacky. Yeah. Just down the road, right? Landis and China Grove, North Carolina, that area, right? Yes.

Born and raised and still live there. Yes. I'm living in Salisbury, but yeah, I'm right there by Landis and China Grove. Okay. Yeah. Salisbury is right, right, right, right in the vicinity. Yeah.

So, okay, so you're home, you're housed, call home Salisbury. And so early life, grow up, brothers, sisters? One sister. Okay.

One sister. And I know you've shared with me the pattern when I say there's some relatability there. I know your dad was in your life in your early years, but then a good portion of those formative years, he was not in your life, right? Right, right.

Had some struggles of his own. Yes. Is that right? Yes. And so really your mom kind of became a single parent? Yes.

For how many years? Oh, Lord. Roughly. Roughly.

12, 15-ish? Something to that effect, yeah. Okay. So became a single parent. And I know you've shared with me in the past, you ended up moving in with her parents, I think, right? Yes.

Just to make ends meet. Yes, yes. And your grandpas became really your male mentors, right? Yes, they did.

Yes, they did. And inspiration for you. In what way did they inspire you? They're the ones who taught me how to be a man. They're the ones who also taught me, they taught me about being a Christian. They're the ones who were my Christian mentors, too.

So faith was important to them, and they sowed that foundation into you and your sister at a young age. And you said, too, I think at least one of them were military as well. Both of them were.

Both of them were, okay. And that inspired you to eventually head off into the military as well. Yes, yes. Navy? U.S. Navy, yes, sir.

U.S. Navy. How many years in the U.S. Navy? Ten years.

Ten years. And what was your, what was a takeaway from being in the Navy for ten years? Well, in other words, just give me one nugget of something you learned in coming out of ten years in the Navy. You learned how to take care of your own. Okay.

You learned how to really be a team member. And you learned, I learned that when you're in that type of environment, you're a family regardless. Okay. Okay. So it created a real family kind of atmosphere. Yes.

Taking care of one another. I got your back. Exactly. Kind of thing, right? Yes, exactly.

Got your back. And you said many times, I've never been in the military, but I've been around enough guys who have and hear the different expressions. Like one of my good friends is Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin, for example. Yes. If you're familiar, I don't know if you may not be familiar with that name, but remember the movie Black Hawk Down?

Yes, yes. That was about Jerry's unit. Okay. That was his unit. Okay.

He kind of founded that unit. Anyway, all that to say, he's like, he goes, hey, I want to know, I want to know if you're in my foxhole, you're not a coward, right? Right. Exactly. I don't want any cowards in my foxhole.

I got to know you got my back if you're going to be in my foxhole. Yeah. One of the big things for those of us veterans is the letters I G Y six. Okay. I've got your six. Okay. So yeah, that's I G Y six. Yes. And those of my veteran friends and everything, I send that to them quite often. Okay.

I'll just, you know, if we're talking, you know, texting or whatever, I'll end up sometimes with I G Y six. Yeah, that's awesome. Just so they know it. Now, now your dad's no longer with us. No. But, but it's a real story of redemption there because from what you've shared with me in the past, you were able to kind of mend fences and, you know, and patch things up prior to his passing, right?

Yes. In fact, he was the one who reached out to me. Okay. He reached out to you. That's awesome. Well, good. Well, that, that, that in itself warrants, you know, applause.

I mean, just that he was man enough to reach out to you and recognize he needed to patch things up with his, with his children. And so the, the redemption and reconciliation there. Now you currently, you've launched a ministry called sheep dogs anchored in Christ ministries. Yes.

Give us a minute. What, what, what's your vision? What are you doing with it? My, my vision is strictly to minister to veterans, first responders, people in uniform, people in uniform.

Yeah. Because being that I've worked in all those facets since I've been out. I mean, 10 years in the military, I've worked in corrections. I've worked in, I've worked in the Sheriff's department.

I do security right now for High Point university. You know, that's been my life pretty much, you know, for the most part. And I know what they go through. You, you know what it takes or to, when they're leaving the military and they need to transition into civilian life as it's called, how difficult that can be. Yes. And so your vision for sheep dogs anchored in Christ ministries is to help them adjust back to civilian life. Yes. And, and I think you said originally you were thinking just men, but the Lord recently has kind of broadened your perspective.

Yes. Originally I was the, I felt like that the Lord wanted me to make, to create this as a men's ministry, but over time and with real and actually being able to sit back and go, okay, Lord, what, what do you want me to, and with, you know, I've had conversations with my pastor. I've had conversations with other people who are friends that I can really trust. And it seems like God was telling me all along, I need you to minister to this group and this group only.

It doesn't matter if it's male or female, you minister to this group. And so this fits more being the sheep dog fits more with the military, with the police departments, with the fireman and EMS, those type of people are the sheep dogs. Okay. Which I got to get to that because there's probably somebody out there listening going, I don't, I don't understand the sheep dogs part.

So, so give us a, give us a minute on, on how you came up with sheep dogs. Okay. So, so the sheep dog analogy began with the Navy seals. Okay. And then it's a military term initially. Yeah. Initially over time, that analogy of, of the military and the sheep dogs spread throughout the entire military.

Okay. Then eventually it spread out into the law enforcement and that type of thing. So now if you're generally, if you're in any of those type of fields, that kind of that sheep dog analogy will pop up. And the reason I like it so much is because you look at what the sheep dog does.

Which is? Which is they are the ones who protect the sheep. And in this situation, the sheep are, you know, in my situation, the sheep are the average person. Anyone in uniform or anyone that's put on the uniform?

The sheep themselves are the average person. Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. The sheep dog is the one in uniform.

They're the ones that protect the sheep. Gotcha. You know, you've got the shepherd, you've got the great shepherd. Right. Right. But then he relies on the sheep dog to keep the wolves away.

Man, that's good. And that's the analogy that they use. It's really interesting because what you're making me think of, Ricky, is now I'm just getting kind of a different perspective on the military. Obviously, you know, the military, you know, the United States military protects the United States. Right.

Against foreign and or domestic terrorists. Right. And so the general population. Right.

This is like clicking for me. So the general population, you know, out there working every day and doing what they do can rely on or should be able to rely on the military to protect us as a nation. Yes. So sheep dogs.

So you just give me a whole different perspective on being a sheep in the natural sense. Right. And then ultimately, as you mentioned, we have the great shepherd, the Lord Jesus, who oversees it all, right?

Right. Well, that's pretty cool. So, okay, so the website, where can people go to learn more about sheep dogs anchored in Christ Ministries? The website is anchoredincrist.faith.

Anchoredincrist.faith. Okay, so go check out more, be praying for Ricky as he's launched this new ministry, sheep dogs. And hey, if you've put on the uniform, who knows, you and Ricky may meet up one day and he can pour into you and sow into you and help you as well.

So very good. Well, Q&A with Koloff, it's your opportunity now. We're going to segue and give you the chance to ask me a couple questions. Ricky, I have no clue what you might ask, but let's fire away with the first question.

What do you got for me today? Okay. Wow. First of all, I just want to say that I'm also one of those who saw you as you went through your wrestling career. Man, when you first come out, I didn't care that you were a heel. You were just the most awesome thing I've seen. So there was a big fandom there. Okay. Not everybody was a fan of the Russian nightmare, but it's good to know I had some fans out there initially.

So, all right. 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 Man 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. I'm just kind of curious, I've read your story. Okay. Well, I've read the Wrestling with Success. Yes. And I just kind of want to get a taste of what it was really like doing that for the many years that you did it.

It was, I mean, it was a grind. Like, you know, people see the fanfare, like you watch on TV, right? You see all the fanfare, you know, or maybe you go to a live event. Had you ever gone, did you go to any live event or just see it on TV? I just see it on TV. Okay.

I can never afford that. Okay. And I understand that, respect that, I get that.

You know, but I like to ask, sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't. So you see all the glitz and glamor, what you see on TV. If you do go to a live event, you know, you're going to see nowadays, you know, all the flashing lights and loud music and all the fanfare that happens inside the arena. And so that becomes kind of your, you just see that.

And what you don't see is the grind behind it, right? In the early days, the 2,000 to 2,500 miles a week in a car as we drove from town to town. In those days, way before pay-per-view and, you know, the multiple millions of dollars that companies now generate through that avenue. You know, we got paid, there was no contracts, there was no guarantee. The guarantee was you'd make $50 if there was only two people in the building.

That was your quote guarantee air quote, right? And so out of that came your own travel expenses, your own food expenses, and all that. So we typically would ride together, like Uncle Ivan and I, Crusher Khrushchev, or Don Crenodle and Ivan and I would ride. Dusty Rhodes and I, when I became a good guy, we'd ride together. Or there was a time where Sting, Lex Luger, Road Warrior Animal, and myself, the four of us, would ride together, kind of jump in a car together and help, you know, help with minimize our traveling expenses and our cost, right? So I say all that, you know, 2,000, 2,500 miles a week, then we go on the Superstation TBS and we start flying places. Now we got to, in addition to driving everywhere, now we got to fly different places.

We're staying in hotels and, you know, and so the grind of the road, right? Of course, I'm a weightlifter, I'm a bodybuilder, so I've got to get in the gym two, three hours a day back in those days. You know, I'm eating anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 calories a day back in those days, right, to maintain my physique.

And, again, a different era. Before pay-per-view, we ran what they called house shows just about every single night. And so it was not uncommon to have multiple matches on the weekend. And to really put it in perspective, in 1986, I had 454 matches.

So now you don't have to be a mathematician to figure out there's only 365 days in a year. Right. And if I wrestle 454 times, boy, I must have had multiple matches on certain days, and that would be the case.

And so that part of it, people really didn't relate to or understand. Like, I come to your town of Salisbury, North Carolina, and we're going to wrestle in your high school gym for you. That's a big deal, right? Right. Maybe that only happens once every six months or once every couple of months, and that's a big deal.

But now I realize in the night before I was in Baltimore, Maryland, and the night before that I was in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the night before that I was in Louisville, Kentucky, or whatever, right? Right. Just picking random names, but you get the point. So all that to say, as much as you saw the glitz and glamour through the television screen, it was a real grind behind the scenes.

And I'll just say this. The real avid fan knows, you know, there's been a lot of tragedy in pro wrestling. What ends up happening sometimes, unfortunately, is because of that grind, you know, our bodies ache from all that, quote, fake wrestling. Yeah.

Our bodies ache, and so guys start taking, you know, painkillers, and that opens the door to, unfortunately, other things and other addictions. And unfortunately, quite a number of guys in our profession, you know, died unexpectedly or prematurely, as far as I'm concerned, right? Yeah.

So that's some of the downside, right, is the train wreck behind the scenes that people don't see. So great question. Long answer, but that's how I would answer that question.

Got another one for me? Yes. What inspired you and your buddy Lex to start the man camp?

Start the man camp. Great question. Totally different from the last. Yeah. Which is okay.

Which is okay. I'm just kind of, you know. Yeah, well, so, you know, many people know my, well, some know my story, you know, leaving wrestling 11 months later, finding myself at an altar, 17 October 1993, surrendering my life to Christ, encountering Jesus, like genuinely encountering the man Jesus Christ, the person Jesus Christ, and life has just never been the same since, set me on a whole different trajectory, a whole different path. So I had this, if you want to say, illustrious wrestling career, and now I'm sensing, having given my life to the Lord, he's taken me in a completely different direction. And so ultimately, fast forward about 13 years, I go to a camp in South Texas, and I was introduced to it the year earlier, introduced and invited to it.

I go in March of 2006, and my life, my world's rocked all over again. So not only at the altar in 1993, at this camp in South Texas, and I come home from that camp with a whole different, again, now another different perspective on life, including manhood. You talk about your grandpa's kind of taught you manhood, you know, because your dad was out of the picture, my dad was out of the picture. So my view of manhood was really, the world shaped my view of manhood.

The Bible didn't shape my view of manhood, the world did. But at that camp, I got a different perspective on God's view of manhood. That inspired me to want to get into men's ministry. I partnered with that ministry for 12 years, facilitated about 60 camps for them, and then Lex and I, Lex Luger and I got together.

He came and lived with me for 10 months in 2015. And out of that time together, we birthed the Man Up Conference. The Man Camp was birthed.

Eventually the Man Up radio show, the Man Up podcast, the Man Up TV show. And so men, the Lord began to make it clear that I was to sow into and pour into men. And the objective, the goal being that when a man comes to Man Camp, regardless of where he's at spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, whether he has faith, doesn't have faith, you know, any man 18 years and older is welcome to come. We've seen many men give their life to Christ at camp. We've baptized men at camp. We've sent men back home, better equipped and empowered to be godly men, godly husbands and godly fathers, and I like to say godly grandfathers. And we have numerous, I have a letter from a wife thanking Lex and I and the staff for sowing into her man, her husband, and too many testimonies really to even share in one interview.

And if you're out there listening and you want to learn more about, go to colof.net, colof.net and click the Man Camp link. If you're a woman out there listening right now, our goal is just that, send your man back home, better equipped to be a godly man, godly husband, godly father, and just numerous testimonies and stories on the website from guys, personal stories from wives and women on how grateful they are that their man went to Man Camp. So, all that to say, Lex and I are just inspired to help men be better, men. So, especially in today's world, with the attack on manhood, right?

You know, this whole expression of toxic manhood or toxic masculinity, and we're not at all about that. We're about godly masculinity and what's the Bible saying, showing men how to be men. So, we've got time for one more, if you've got one more, or we can wrap it up. I really don't have any more questions. You pose some great questions, Ricky Pate. Sheepdogs, Anchored in Christ Ministries, go to anchoredinchrist.faith and check out Ricky's ministry and keep Ricky in prayer. He ministers to men and women in uniform, currently in uniform, or had in the past put on the uniform that he can sew into them and help them segue back into civilian life and overcome any of the challenges that wearing a uniform might bring.

Thanks for being on the show. If I may, just real quick also, we're not just for transition, that's one of our primary goals, but we want to lead these people to Christ too. We want to be there.

We want to provide those services, if necessary, whatever they need, just so they know. At the core, at the foundation, having that faith. All right, well thank you for tuning in to another episode of Q&A with Koloff. I appreciate all of you out there. Let me just say, go out today and live a God-filled, God-blessed 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. Now, key to 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.

If you're looking for a car that's relatively located on Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem, be sure to check them out today at wsmcthenumberone.com because you are number one. 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. 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. This is the Truth Network.