ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING (2010) – playing at Korean American Film Festival in NYC – June 8th & 10th
June 2nd, 2012 by Mr. C
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Director: Jae-Ho Chang and Tara Autovino
Stars: Modern Day Warrior (Rob Adonis), God’s Property (Billy Jack), Custodial Crippler (Justin Dirt)
Genre: Documentary – wrestling, religion
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The thought of preaching christian faith through the ranks of professional wrestling may seem like a foreign idea but the more and more I thought about it, this progressive method doesn’t sound so strange after all. Everyone knows that professional wrestling is part super human feat and part acting – playing a role. Wrestlers who have devoted their soul to christianity have a strong mind and body so why not use them to relay the message of the gospel especially when a lot of our youths look up to the sport? This is the exact case with ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING, a professional organization based in Georgia with wrestling in mind but with the teachings of Jesus in the heart. They perform at free shows in small towns throughout Georgia. Rob Adonis – the Modern Day Warrior is a wrestler/founder of UCW who uses wrestling as a vehicle to spread the teachings of Jesus through reenactments before & after the matches. The UCW mixes ministry with wrestling. As Adonis recites John 3:16, he also reminds his wrestlers that a modern day 3:16 for him while working out in the gym can also mean 3 sets – 16 reps!
This documentary would follow 3 members of the UCW around to show us the day in the life of a devout christian worshiper while also revealing their more personal side as well as other everyday musings with relationships and other day to day hardships. The trio that got spotlighted in and out of the ring are: Rob Adonis (Founder of UCW), Billy Jack (God’s Property) & his young son Kody, & Justin Dirt (Custodial Crippler).
The film does not really go too in depth with the faith but rather it exposed individual relationships to us viewers in order to reveal the nuts and bolts, the guts of who they really are whether a father, a brother, a husband, a modern day christian warrior, a person with strong faith, or just a young man trying to find their channels in life while abiding by the teachings of the bible wholeheartedly.
The Modern Day Warrior – the founder of UCW, Rob Adonis is the driving force behind this movement, this unique organization. He is ultimately responsible for keeping the UCW boat afloat while also mentoring his younger christian warriors like the Custodial Crippler. There are struggles with trying to find sponsors and hosts for this rag-tag wrestling ministry but if anyone can do it – Adonis can!
The 2nd person that we would get to know is Billy Jack aka God’s Property. Billy is a blue collar worker currently employed as a handyman at Dr. Fix It. Kody – Billy Jack’s young son is a wrestling fanatic and is ‘religiously’ involved with his dad in the UCW. Unfortunately, Kody is caught between a crossfire custody battle between the mom and pops. Billy is also struggling financially with paying his mortgage. He carries about $36 in his pocket with a savings account that barely equals that. The father and son relationship will tug at most hearts.
Last but not least is 22 year old Justin also known at the Custodial Crippler in the ring. He works the grill at the Waffle House when not suplexing his opponents in the square. He is portrayed as a genuinely nice kid with great values deeply steeped in Christ. Justin’s relationship with his younger brother is also of merit even though they don’t share the same religious beliefs. The Custodial Crippler struggles with finding a niche for himself in the working society. He contemplates a life in the armed forces.
Ultimate Christian Wrestling broke my mold and perception of the overly obsessive, religious type and intimidating physical creatures that these athletes could be as I find myself cheering them onto better pastures in god’s country while they do the good deed spreading the holy fight with words and examples leading to the salvation led by our saviour – Jesus Christ. Even more than that – though as I look around to make sure lightning does not strike upon me, I found myself feeling quite sympathetic with the main characters as they struggled living day to day with things such as family dynamics, relationships, money, and “finding” themselves. It was quite impressive though that through their religious beliefs, they maintain a certain resolve, a certain pride, and morality to not steer to the dark side when things get tough. I think we need a UCW in every major city!
Ultimate Christian Wrestling screens at the Korean American Film Festival in NYC on June 8th – 7pm at the Anthology Film Archives and also on June 10th at 6pm with the Directors on hand for a Q&A after the film at both screenings!
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Tags: documentary, korean american film festival 2012, ultimate chrisitan wrestling
Posted in community, movies, mr. c | Comments (0)
