Peanut butter and Jello. Batman and Robin Thicke. Christianity and Pro Wrestling. Some things don’t always pair well together. Not that that stopped former WCW World Heavyweight Champion and pro wrestling Anti-Christ Vince Russo from attempting to merge the worlds of prayers and pile drivers. In 2005, the recently born-again Russo would launch a new type of pro wrestling promotion. Ring of Glory. The purpose? Bring the light of Christ’s love to the masses through the violent ballet of Sports entertainment. Together with former Power Team member and aspiring pro wrestler Andrew Minzy, the two would conceive Ring of Glory as a Christian Wrestling promotion, touring Mega Churches throughout the U.S. Of A and spreading the word of God.
They would only run two shows. Both of which took place in Georgia in 2005. The first of which was held in February. Emanating from the Covenant Life Worship Center in Chickamauga, Georgia, with their second and final show, happening at The Forum in Rome, Georgia, that December.
When booking the two, Russo stated he turned to the Good Book (No, not the Pelican Brief. That would be the Great Book) for inspiration. Tales of temptation. David v. Goliath battles. Multi-Man ladder matches where a sword hangs above the ring. Ya know, all the classic Bible stories.
In theory, this wasn’t a bad idea. The Bible is loaded with stories begging to be retold as wrestling angles. Russo and his Ring of Glory crew barely scratched the surface of what they could’ve done. Though, like many forms of religious entertainment, Ring of Glory’s intent seemed less to entertain and more to convert. And, hey, that’s fine, their promotion, their prerogative.
The shows each featured testimonials from wrestlers regarding their faith and devotion to Christ, a devil-like authority figure, a Christ-like savior, and even some wrestling. And to do that wrestling, Ring of Glory assembled a decent roster of veterans, up-and-comers, and never-weres. Names like Jeff Jarrett, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, and Disco Inferno were among the talents to grace the ROG Ring. Other names like AJ Styles and Ron “Farooq” Simmons made in-ring appearances, cutting promos about the Lord. The match quality ranges from questionable to poor. No Meltzer stars on these cards. Not even for the one and only match in the career of Joshua The Carpenter, aka Andrew Minzy, who injured himself in a Main Event against the masked giant called Evil.
Despite the injury, Minzy, now under the ring name Asa Andrew, would cut a promo to close the second Ring of Glory show. These closing sermons would’ve undoubtedly been a staple had the promotion continued. Not that longevity was ever likely. There was too much working against ROG from the start. Primarily the involvement of one of its key figures. No, not Andrew “Asa Andrew” Minzy, but rather Vince Russo. More accurately, his legacy.
If there is one thing history will remember about Vince Russo, it’s: “Swerves, Bro.” If he’s remembered for two things, the other would have to be his contributions to the Attitude Era. Good old Vince Russo played a critical part in creating the raunchy, in-your-face, WWE (Then F) product of the 90s. This perverse and crass form of wrestling reached such popular heights that it would become what most thought all wrestling was. Wrestling had a reputation for being sleazy, so much so that not even the Mega Churches—Whom we all know are never involved in any amoral activities.— Wanted anything to do with it. There is some measure of poetic justice to be found here. In a sense, Russo’s past actions played a crucial role in his inability to launch Ring of Glory.
Or perhaps it was just God’s will.
Ring of Glory Wrestling: The Great Commission (Their second/last show) is available on DVD, while footage from the first show is a bit harder to come by. It’s not hard to see what they were trying to do, and it might’ve actually been able to work if there were some different people involved. People who know wrestling and enjoy it, people not like Vince Russo. He’s never been what you’d call a Great Wrestling Mind. He’s not even a mildly good writer. But he’s always had a handful of workable ideas, coal that others could turn into gold. (That’s how gold works, right?) Had Russo had a wrangler on this project, it’s easy to see how it could’ve prospered. Never long term. Never on TV or PPV. But as a traveling sideshow? Sure. Ring of Glory could’ve found a niche somewhere. After all, the Christian Wrestling Federation did.
Yes, CWF is a real thing, and they run real shows with some stuff even available on their YouTube page. Since 2000, the CWF has been disguising church as a wrestling show by presenting the two side-by-side rather than mashing them together. Parables and religious allegories don’t fuel the in-ring action; wrestling fuels the in-ring action. Around that athletic competition, they read scripture and pray, spreading their gospel, doing what Russo and Andrew couldn’t, using wrestling to serve God. Proving that when done right, some things that shouldn’t work together can.—Begging the question: Why is Hollywood so scared to give us the Batman/Robin Thicke movie we all want and deserve?
If you have answers, drop them in the comments. If not, say something nice about the article and then check out some other stuff on the site.