The year 1986 was pivotal for the wrestling career of Nikita Koloff.
It was 40 years ago that he and Magnum T.A. told the timeless story of their legendary wrestling feud with a best-of-7 series for the vacant National Wrestling Alliance United States championship. The series ended with the unthinkable climax — Koloff, a Russian, leaving with the United States belt in his clutches.
Two months later, Koloff shocked everyone when his hatred for America and Magnum was transformed to respect and empathy. In what lives on four decades later as perhaps the greatest face turn in the industry’s history, the fans’ rabid boos turned to celebratory cheers of acceptance as Koloff broke free from Mother Russia. From the Kremlin.
From Uncle Ivan.
Both moments helped define Koloff’s career, and it was all accompanied by plenty of championship gold. Through all that success, however, there was one thing that was avoiding him.
“Successful, but unfulfilled,” as he calls it.
“Big-time world champion, climbed the ladder of success, but yet realized, recognized something was still missing, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it initially,” he said.
Then came October 17, 1993. A date that was far more profound for Nikita Koloff the man than either of those career-defining moments were significant for Nikita Koloff the wrestler.
It was on that day that Koloff accepted some friends’ invitation to join them at their church. And that’s when it happened.
“They met me there, and it was there that I really had what I would call an ‘a-ha’ moment in realizing what was missing,” he said, “and that was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“And I say that to say, it’s not that I had not ever heard the plan of salvation or the story about Jesus. But I would say the story never made the 18-inch trip from my head down to my heart until that morning. And when that happened, I would say instantly that sense of not being fulfilled vanished, went away, and I would add, for the first time in my life I realized in that moment that my life had a greater purpose than just entertaining people in a squared circle.”
Entertain he did, but Koloff has been able to use his status as a famed professional wrestler to talk about his faith journey. He has written three books on the subject, and he attends a number of autograph signings where, within certain parameters, he shares the message of Jesus Christ.
One of those appearances will be at The Bash in Beckley 6 at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center on Saturday, June 13. Koloff will be one of several legends on hand, joined by the likes of Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Demolition Ax and Smash and Ron Simmons.
Those signings serve a dual purpose for Koloff.
“It’s fun for me now to hear all of the fans’ memories, stories,” he said in a phone interview. “You know, ‘This is what me and my dad did,’ or ‘My grandpa and I, this was our thing.’ Or, I literally just saw a post on social media that said, ‘I’m 50 years old, my brother’s still deathly afraid of the Russian Sickle after I hit him with it on the front porch.’ So it’s fun.
“And then, more specifically, it gives me the opportunity to be what I call salt and light, meaning just to be a witness for Christ. Now I don’t necessarily wear it on my sleeve, so to speak. However, it seems more and more people now know that ministry is what I do full time.”
Koloff has encountered fans at autograph shows who remember his preaching at their church or heard him as teenagers at youth events.
“More recently,” he said, “I had a man come up to me, I think I was in Long Island, New York, and he said, ‘You probably don’t remember this. Three years ago, I met you. I was going through cancer treatment, and you stopped everything and you just prayed for me. It meant a lot to me.’”
When the man told Koloff that he was still fighting, he stopped all that was going on and prayed for the man again.
Koloff has also played an important role in the Christian walks of many former pro wrestlers like himself, including Uncle Ivan Koloff — the man who unleashed the Russian Nightmare on the United States — Sting, The Road Warriors and Lex Luger, the latter of who will join Koloff among the legends signing autographs in Beckley.
Koloff and Luger — who beat Koloff for the first of his five United States championships in 1987 — co-founded Man Camp, which is held every spring and fall at Camp Little Light in Royston, Georgia.
“I’m not (witnessing) for a show, I’m not doing it to impress anybody,” Koloff said. “I’m doing it because that’s what’s on my heart to do.”
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Of course, wrestling will be an obvious topic as Koloff signs autographs and takes pictures. And among the talking points is sure to be the night he changed the trajectory of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions when he joined forces with Dusty Rhodes to form what came to be known as The Superpowers.
With Magnum T.A. sidelined after what would be a career-ending and life-changing car accident, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes was left without a partner for his upcoming cage match against members of The Four Horsemen. When Rhodes made his way to the ring through a sea of people that night, behind him was none other than Koloff — the same proud Russian who was still in possession of America’s championship.
As Ole Anderson and James J. Dillon, confused as they were by Koloff’s presence, began to pound Rhodes, Koloff slowly made his way inside the cage. He paused at the ropes and gave a mysterious stare, then stepped through before rushing and attacking Anderson, one of the founding members of the hated Four Horsemen.
To say the crowd roared would be an understatement. In fact, legendary broadcaster Tony Schiavone, who has called some of the biggest moments in wrestling since the early 1980s, confirmed on his podcast that it was the loudest pop he had ever witnessed.
And the reaction was completely authentic, from the crowd’s explosion to Ric Flair’s incredulous expression, because the wrestlers were just as surprised as the fans.
“Probably one of the best kept secrets in wrestling, for real,” Koloff said. “Jimmy Crockett, the promoter, and Dusty and I all agreed to keep it between ourselves. I didn’t even tell Ivan. I’m a man of my word, I agreed to it, so I didn’t tell anyone. Because we agreed to it about three weeks prior to that cage match.”
Much like the night 30 years ago when Hulk Hogan betrayed all his little Hulkamaniacs in a monumental turn, Crockett, Rhodes and Koloff were unsure of how the fans would react to the move. After all, the Cold War was still in full force, the world still three years away from the fall of Communism.
In both instances, no one had anything to worry about.
“Once I tore into Ole and, as the old expression goes, the roof came off the place, that kind of set the stage for what was about to happen over the next two and a half years,” Koloff said.
As for the best-of-7 series with Magnum T.A., Koloff said a commemorative book is close to being released. Nikita and Magnum will do some signings together to promote the book.
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Koloff wrestled in West Virginia many times during his days with JCP. He’s looking forward to returning next week.
“I’m no stranger to Beckley,” he said. “I certainly have been there a number of times over the years. I remember wrestling there. I’m really looking forward to coming back and meeting and greeting all the fans up there.”
The meet-and-greet will start at 4 p.m., with wrestling beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets for the event can be purchased online at beckleyconventioncenter.com.
Fans can connect with Koloff any time by visiting his website, koloff.net. The site has links to his social media channels, his books and the Man Camp registration.
