Bodyslamming for Jesus: Inside the Bizarre World of Christian Wrestling

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http://www.alternet.org/belief/bodyslamming-jesus-inside-bizarre-world-christian-wrestling

The Christian Wrestling Federation bodyslams for Jesus—literally. On the surface, the CWF looks like a normal WWE wrestling event, with costumed characters jumping from the ropes and wrestlers being hit in the back of the head with chairs. Sometimes there’s blood. Sometimes there’s an elbow to the thorax. Except, these violent wrestling moves are all done for the love of Jesus Christ and to save souls.

Welcome to the world of the Christian Wrestling Federation.

Like a “sleeper hold” from above, for the past 14 years, the Dallas-based religious grappling group has performed more than 600 events, in 34 states, and has seen over 25,000 people giving their lives to Christ, while simultaneously enjoying the benefits and thrills of professional wrestling.

In the wrestling world, there are three categories: the Major Leagues (referred to as the Show), Outlaw Wrestling (untrained, fringe wrestlers who partake in spine-breaking, backyard wrestling), and the Independents, which CWF falls under. Being it’s Christian and wrestling, I note their sizes range from grapplers with big pot bellies to scrawny skinny kids who portray “heels” and “baby-faces” (fancy wrestling terms for good and bad guys); with such wrestling names as Angel, Shiloh, Colt Smith, Billionaire Todd, Poco Loco, and the subtle and clever, Jesus Freak. Yes, this is the perfect marriage of Christian and WWE-style wrestling that screams: “USA! USA! USA!”

In the non-ironic words of the Christian Wrestling Federation, their goal is, “To be a Christian outreach ministry that shares the love of Jesus Christ, through wrestling events around the world.”