Religious influence in wrestling?

[The Great Cochrane]

Being not too much of a wrestling fan myself, but being a proud christian.. I can definitely see where religion has its place in the wrestling world.

Some people may fail to see it but christianity has a big place in wrestling. Chris Jericho got his name from a Helloween song but it is actually from the bible that was the whole root of the inspiration. In Joshua 6:1 -21, it states - The capture of Jericho may be selected for mention, not only because of its extraordinary character, but also as being the beginning of the campaign in Canaan, the first necessary conquest that opened the way to the rest. The history is not further pursued in detail, this being sufficient to suggest it all. Only, for a special reason, the case of Rahab has attention drawn to it. This verse is the root of the story in which Joshua and his followers march around the walls of jericho for days in which they finally break down.

Another one that can be taken into is John 3:16's verse For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. In which Stone Cold Steve Austin renamed "Austin 3:16 says, I just whipped your ass". The only inspiration behind that is I guess the number, but the bible influence is still there.

So how bout it, punks? Do you think christianity has an important place in wrestling.

 

[Hoss]

Not really. I'm a Christian as well but the things you mentioned really don't have much impact at all in the wrestling world. In Jericho's case, he could have had many other last names to propel him just as far and the Biblical aspects of his name have never had any effect on his persona. Austin 3:16 was just a genius idea from Stone Cold to taunt the 'reborn Christian' Jake The Snake after his KOTR win.

"Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass."

I guess you could say religion played a role because if Jake wasn't a reborn Christian then that quote never would have come about. But Stone Cold would go on to have many more taglines and catchphrases later in his career so it's easy to assume that he could have spawned an equally catchy tagline at the time.

As a whole there are very few times religion has actually been a major gamechanger in wrestling history. One instance I can think of was when Kurt Angle was at an ECW event before he signed with WWE and Raven crucified Sandman. Angle was so offended he refused to compete for ECW and would go on to be one of WWF's most brilliant performers during the twilight of the Attitude Era and beginning of the Ruthless Aggression era. Otherwise I can't think of a religious incident or otherwise that has really altered the course of wrestling history as we know it.

 

[Alex Scott]

The only time I've seen any true religious influence is in HBK in his later years after he found Christ. It influenced his entire character as well as his pants. Looking at how he was before Christianity and after, completely different guy. He even added a prayer to his entrance. Plus, it influenced how he acted. He had to work around his faith, especially when he reformed DX with HHH.

 

[Postman Dave]

If you're looking for religion in wrestling, wait for Bray Wyatt. He has a lot of "faith".

 

[Wangman Page]

While not a Christian per se but based on televangelists how can anyone forget Brother Love. Heeee Loooves you.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Hoss]

Well I don't think this is exactly about religious based superstars or we'd have a slew of them... Raven, Daniels, Kizarny sorta, Teddy Long, Brother Love, HBK, Mordecai, Jake Roberts, Kevin Sullivan, Judas Mesias, etc. Those characters are obvious but I think the topic is more on how real life religions have influenced events, decisions, and other things throughout wrestling history.

 

[Alex Scott]

Lol the Kizarny reference made me laugh lol.

Well in that case, I'd definitely have to say no. The only thing I've seen religion do in wrestling is make HBK not take part in as many skits with DX in the later years. Other than that, I've never really seen religion influence anything in the business.

 

[Death Dealer]

You guys remember that time Vince made Shawn and God job to him and Shane? lolz