Q&A With Koloff- #179

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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. Welcome back, Q&A with Kolov questions and answers. Of course, you guys are so faithful to tune in, dial in, and send your remarks with the Q&A show. Sometimes you get a personal phone call from the Russian nightmare, yours truly, and get the opportunity to ask me some questions.

Maybe they've just been burning, burning in your soul forever. Like, man, I wish I could ask Nikita this. Well, today I have a dear friend on the line with me, Eric Bowman. Welcome to Q&A with Kolov. Great to be here, Nikita.

Well, great to have you. Eric, I was trying to think on my drive into the studio today, sitting here at Truth Radio Network in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, how long our friendship goes back. I was trying to remember, I think, were we first introduced through the nutrition company way back when?

We were. I think we initially had made some contact maybe at a wrestling show in 2011, and then when we really started getting to know each other well was 2013, I believe. Okay, that's right, because you were the acting, quote, commissioner of that wrestling organization down there in the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina area, correct? That's right, and still am.

And you still, all these years later, wow. Yeah, we have a lot of fun with that. I didn't even realize, so you guys are still doing wrestling shows? Yes, we are.

Wow, I did not realize that. So you're still the commissioner calling the law and order for that organization then? That's right, I'm keeping them all straight. And, okay, now I'm jogging my memory here, and then we got involved with the nutrition company and have maintained a friendship all these years later. In fact, you and your lovely bride, Kim, are part of our prayer team.

You're a financial contributor, supporter of Kolah for Christ Ministries. I mean, you've been so faithful in supporting us in those ways as well. And, gosh, it's just, are you still mayor or no? No, no, I did that from 2013 to 2017. I didn't run for, you know, then we got blessed with Hudson, so with a small child, I just didn't have time for it.

So I just marked that off the bucket list. Yeah, at one point you were one of the few mayors that I personally knew, and I felt pretty honored to be able to say, I know a mayor of Liberty, South Carolina. That's right. Come on, right? Yeah, yeah. And so four years as a mayor, so you got that on your resume, and of course I mentioned Kim, so tell us about your boys.

So, yep, I have Houston. He is 23 years old. He got married last November. He graduated Clemson last May.

He is an environmental engineer, and he is married to Emmeline. They live in Easley, and then my little girl was seven in 2012. She went to heaven.

She was in an accident and went to heaven. And then the Lord blessed us back in 2016 with another little boy named Hudson, and he'll have a birthday at the end of this month, and he'll be eight years old. He's in second grade and doing well.

I coach him in baseball, basketball, and football, so he keeps Dad very, very busy. I'll throw a manager at angles and work, you know, 60 hours a week and then do all that. So I'm very, very, very, he's either going to drive me to early grade or keep me young. I was just going to interject and say, Ed, you're a marketplace guy. You're out there working in the marketplace, because you've been with the Angles, I guess, food chain, I call it, food store for many years, many, many years. Yeah, I left for a few years after Emma went to heaven, but for the most part, since 2003, I've been with Angles. And that was an interesting story.

I'm going to get you, we're going to bring you back, we're going to tell the whole story about Emma and your baby in heaven there. Because that was part of the reason, correct me if I'm wrong, why you got involved in the nutrition company. The company name at the time was Vema, V-E-M-M-A. Of course, your daughter's name was Emma, E-M-M-A. And you're like, you know what, I just feel the Lord prompted me, I'm supposed to be a part of this company.

And her name kind of connected with it. Of course, it's called Body Pro now, so it's still around. I still drink it, I drank one of them on the way here to the station today. And so, Koloff.info, if you want to know more about the healthiest nutrition on the planet.

And you're like, okay, what's Eric and him talking about? Hey, I still drink it too, and I still totally agree with that. I mean, on a serious note, 15 plus years, I've been pounding that liquid nutrition down. And Luger and I continue to look for something better, but the truth is, honestly, for the bang for your buck, there's just not a more quality nutritional drink somebody can get out there for the money. There's a lot of drinks out there, right, Eric?

But for the money. That's right, that's exactly right. And so, we have that history too, and you and I were working together and building a little side business with that over the years as well. And I mentioned, of course, your major supporters, Koloff for Christ Ministries. And so, I'm just honored to call you friend and brother, brother in the Lord. Well, and that feeling's mutual, Nikita. Your friendship means a lot to me. And I've seen firsthand the Lord working through you and the anointing that he has on you. And just your friendship is very, very important to me, and I love you very much. And you are like my brother. And I certainly have fallen in love with your family over the years. And you've been engaged too as well in some of the camps that we've done over the years, and a supporter of those camps as well, and experienced it for yourself. And so, I'm grateful.

I really am. And I appreciate your time today. I know you've probably stepped away for a few minutes here to be on the show. And I'm going to tease the audience right now, so when we come back, when I bring you back on the Man Up show, we're going to tell the full story, because Emma's accident and her transition to heaven kind of inspired a book, correct?

Yes, sir. And I tell people Emma made me better in her life, but she made me even better in her death, because she got me through that experience just in a walk with the Lord that I never would have been in had that accident not happened. So she made me better when she was here, and she's made me better now that she's in heaven. And I would love to come tell your listeners that story. Preachers and pastors get behind a pulpit, and they preach as they've been called to do, but when you hear just a story of a regular layperson who can tell you from his own experience that the Bible is 100 percent true, I think that means something to people, because a lot of people, they may not buy into church, they may not buy into a preacher or pastor. I'm just a normal guy, and I can tell you that his strength and his grace is real, and I love to tell that story. Well, and what comes to mind as you're speaking, Eric, for all of our listeners out there is, because when someone loses a loved one of any age and you lost a seven-year-old, and again, there's a whole lot more to that story, I'm just going to kind of bait our listeners to look for the man up show somewhere down the road in the future, and how a tragedy like that, so here's what comes to mind, a tragedy can really take you one of two ways.

I mean, it can prompt you to completely turn your back on God, which many have, or in your case, as you're testifying to, it actually drew you closer to God, and then out of that came the book. The title of the book is? Emma, Her Journey from Here to Heaven. Emma, Her Journey from Here to Heaven, and what you're going to, you go pick up a copy of that book, Eric likes to just give them away, but you can go on Amazon and get that book, and what you're going to read about is not only an inspiring story of how, what we're just talking about, how her passing, how her death turned tragedy into triumph for Eric, and to become the husband, the father to his boys, and the man of God that he is today, and so I encourage you, go out and get a copy of that book, and maybe you know somebody who's lost a loved one, or is struggling right now, and that book can inspire them. So, well, wonderful, well, let's segue, Eric, get his Q&A with Koloff, so let's segue here and give you the opportunity to ask me a couple questions.

If you've got something in mind, I never know what it's going to be, so I'm curious to hear what you've got for me today, Eric. All right, so first I'll start with a wrestling question. In your life as a professional wrestler, and I will tell you, now that I understand the business, when I was a kid I didn't really understand it, but now understanding it and the work that goes into it and the psychology of it, man, you were so good, and you never had done that, but you came in, you hit the ground running, and that character you portrayed and the way that you did it was just amazing. In my opinion, even though you never went to the WWE, you're a Hall of Famer, and I hope that the people that make those decisions one day will see that and will make that move. But I think some wrestlers hang on too long, and I think some that don't hang on long enough, and I would put you in the ladder there, so by your own choice you left in your early 30s to pursue other things.

So my question is, if you had it due all over, would you have stayed in the profession a few more years, and if you did, where did you see that character potentially going, and how far do you think that you would have gone if you would have done that? It's a great question, and I don't think I've ever been asked that before, to my knowledge. And so as I kind of ponder that question, wow.

I see different video clips and things. Once I left, guys started jumping ship from WWF at the time. Next thing you know, Hogan and Savage and Bret Hart, and Gene Oakland is doing some announcing for WCW. And so you see all these guys coming aboard that, you know, I guess in my mind it might have been fun to get in the ring, get in the squared circle against some of those guys, against Hogan or Savage or, you know, Kurt Henning, right? Because I went to high school with Kurt, right?

It would have been fun to get in the ring and work against, I worked against Rick Rude, who I went to high school with, so it would have been fun to work against Kurt Henning. 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. Would your company, business, or you personally like to partner with me in supporting Kolov for Christ Ministries, the Man Up Show and Man Up Minutes? Go to kolov.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 Kolov 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.kolov.net and donate today. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. And so, gosh, I guess the sky's the limit is the expression that comes to mind, because there's no telling what I may have accomplished. And who knows, most likely the singles title, right, the world heavyweight title, that I actually was offered two different occasions and turned down, perhaps if I had hung around longer, I may have actually, had I been offered that, may have accepted on the third opportunity, perhaps. You know, we'll never know. Obviously, this is all hypothetical, right?

We're just speculating. But all that said, it would have been fun to get in the ring with some of the major stars of wrestling in that era that I was not able to get in the ring with. And the other part of your question was, in a sense, do I regret leaving early and not? And I appreciate you saying, you know, I left too soon or it's too bad I didn't stay around longer. Because here's the other thing, I'll just say this too, Eric, like Luger said one time when he first heard I left, he's like, he goes, I'm not sure if I called you a moron or an idiot.

I can't remember. Or maybe I called you, maybe I called you both because, you know, they just started, WCW was just throwing around crazy money. I mean, millions here and there and, you know, big contracts. And so had I said, he and I tried to calculate it out one time on a conservative basis, I probably walked away from no less than $50 million.

No less than. You could probably easily have doubled that if you added in action figures and all that sort of thing. But all that to say, I don't regret, Eric. When I look back, little did I know 11 months later I'd be at an altar surrendering my life to Jesus Christ. And that set me on a whole different trajectory that fast forward 30 plus years later, I never in a million years would I have dreamed, you know, I'd speak, you know, minister to an audience of one, but Luger and I would minister to an audience of over 73,000 on the island of Jamaica. And see tens of thousands of people over the years, literally tens of thousands. You know, Sting and I did a dramatization in the old Indianapolis Dome in Indiana in front of 43,000 teenagers. And we saw over 10,000 respond to the altar that night when we gave an invitation after sharing our stories after the dramatization. So I say all that to say, how do you put a price on it, Eric?

Right? That's right. What's one soul worth and how do you put a price on that? So when I think about the thousands of people that have made some level of decision about the cross, the 50 million or 100 million or whatever I walked away from of earthly gain, I feel like I'm hopeful anyway that I've stored up treasures in heaven that moth and rust will not destroy, even though I walked away from that kind of income. So yeah, so there you go.

That would be my response. Alright, so my next question is kind of on the ministerial side. You know, you have a lot of ministries. You do the evangelism side, you do the man camps, you also do the wrestling appearances where you mix in the gospel. So my question is, which part of how the Lord is using you do you enjoy the most?

And do you see other potential ministries on the horizon? So, like, did I, I mean, this interview today, right, on Truth Radio Network, Stu Epperson, the founder of Truth Radio, comes to me three years ago and says, you know, calls me up randomly out of the blue. I'd met him a couple times in passing. He's like, we need to talk.

And I'm like, okay. And so he books it down in my house, spends three hours at my house. The founder, president of Truth Radio Network fed him lunch and we talked. He says, you need a radio show, you need a podcast.

And I'm like, in my mind, I'm like, oh my gosh, where do I have time to do that, you know? And then the Lord reminded me, Eric, kind of tapped me on the shoulder after Stu left. He goes, you know that prayer you pray, you know, fairly often? Like, Lord, expand my voice, expand my reach, expand my influence.

You know, the radio airwaves is a pretty good way to do that. I'm like, duh, okay, hello. And so that said, you know, you fast forward. So we launched it in September of 2020 and fast forward, you know, these years later now.

The latest count, 93 different countries have downloaded the Q&A with Koloff and the Man Up show. And it's growing across America. And in fact, my daughters and I were recently just talking about this, you know, as I move towards the big 7-0 mark. I still got a few years before I hit it. But I'm thinking long-term, right? I'm thinking ahead. And so what's that look like?

What's, you know, long-term planning? And so I could potentially envision this show continue to grow and expand, maybe syndicate it and be able to reach more people that way. I've absolutely loved preaching.

I really do. I mean, what an incredible honor, Eric. Anytime I get to step up to a pulpit, let's say on a Sunday morning, open up God's Word and share that. Whatever God's put on my heart is an incredible honor.

The camps, Eric, as you've experienced, to see guys' lives impacted, to hear the stories later how marriages have been restored from guys who attend man camp or a relationship between a father and a son or a father and a daughter. Those are invaluable, right? And, you know, the books I've written, I mean, you know, the list goes on and on. You know, still sprinkling in the autograph signings and be able to pray with people at an autograph signing. You know, not something that's of the norm, but when God puts it on my heart, I'll stop the line and go, hey, hang tight for five seconds here, 10 seconds, you know, 15 seconds while I pray for that individual.

And so I guess what I'm saying, I'll summarize all that to say my vision at this point in life is I hope, I hope that every single day in some way I'm making a difference in helping build the kingdom of God regardless of what I'm doing. So that's the goal. Amen.

Yep. So, man, two really great questions. Are we done or do you have one more? Well, I mean, I had kind of a bigger spiritual question if you want to tackle this one. Well, let's try. Throw it out there.

Let's try. So my thought is that there was a generation of people who walked the earth when Christ walked the earth and there will be a generation that will be here when Jesus makes his return. And personally, I believe that we are in that generation. But, you know, 2000 years ago, the disciples thought that Jesus ascended and that he was coming right back. And now here we are 2000 years later and I feel like every generation has faced trials.

I mean, we've had World War One, we've had World War Two. Those people probably thought that Jesus is about to come back. So my question is, do you believe and I know no man knoweth the hour, but do you believe that Jesus' return is imminent?

And what about 2024 and what we are facing now as not only a country, but as a world? You know, what do you think might be different in the adversity that we face that may cause the Father to say, Jesus, go and get your children? That's a great question. And we could spend an entire show on that question, like for real, because there's a lot I could say, speak into that.

I was thinking about this the other day. You know, just recently having celebrated, you know, the resurrection of Jesus, you know, Good Friday, you know, Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and just the worldwide celebration of his resurrection. And yeah, it seems like every generation is like, okay, well, this could be the generation that he comes back, right? So I think the key to all of that is that your heart is in the right place, that you're prepared for whenever he comes back, whether it's 100 years from now or this afternoon, that you make sure your heart is prepared and in the right place in terms of a relationship with God and that your name, most importantly, according to the Book of Revelation, is in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Because if not, then you will not like the outcome and his conclusion when you stand before him or kneel before him. And so I say all that too, Eric. So here's what's interesting. He said in his word that a day is as though a thousand years, a thousand years a day. Well, if that be true, and I believe the Bible is true, well, then he's only been gone two days. That's right.

He's only been gone two days. That's right. So, you know, so I don't know. As you said, no man knows the hour, he said, no man knows the hour, you know, but the Father. But I can't emphasize enough, and I'll say this too. When I look around, man, I don't know what it was like in Sodom and Gomorrah, but I know you destroyed those two cities. God destroyed, he goes, okay, the decadence, the perversion, the filth, the sin, just all of it, right?

The idol worship, all of it is enough. That's enough. You're done, lot, get your family, get out.

I'm done, right? And I don't know. I look around, Eric, and some of this stuff's going on in our culture today. I'm like, wow, Lord, how much more are you going to put up with? I mean, people are losing their identity, they're confused over their gender, they don't know what this is, what that is. Like, at what point do you just sound and blast the trumpet and go, Jesus, go get them?

You know, mount up. Yeah, I don't know. I think that too. If Sodom and Gomorrah was worse than this, I'd be surprised. It was pretty bad.

It was pretty bad. So, anyway, so I'll end on that. Again, I could, man, we could talk a whole lot longer about this, but I'll just, for sake of time, respect of you.

And as well as the listener, I'll just say this. Make sure, no matter when he is coming back, let me just say for the record, he is, there's no question of that. There were more prophecies in the Bible about his second coming way more than his first coming.

Way, way, way, way, way more. So, and we know he came the first time because it's documented and historical that he was here. So just make sure your heart is in the right place, that you've surrendered your heart to Jesus, that if either you died today or he came back today, that you'd be in paradise with him. Like he said to the thief on the cross, hey, when you come into your paradise, remember me.

He said, today you'll be with me in paradise. So, Eric Bowman, one more time, the title of the book, one more time? Emma, her journey from here to heaven. Emma, her journey from here to heaven. If you run across Eric Bowman down in the Greenville, South Carolina area, Liberty, maybe you frequent his store that he runs, you ask him for a copy, the man will just bless you and gift you with a copy.

Otherwise, go to Amazon.com, pick up a copy of that. You know somebody that maybe has lost a loved one or going through some sort of tragedy in their life and they need to be inspired. I assure you, you'll be inspired by this book. Eric, I appreciate you. I love you and your family, my friend. Thank you. Love you, Nikita.

Thank you for the time. All right, and to each and every one of you, thank you for being so faithful to tune in each and every week. 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. 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 Amazon.com. Go to MorningStarTV.com or the Truth Radio Network. Check out your local listings, or better yet, download the Truth Network app today.