A message of hope – and struggle |

GRIFFIN — Marty Miller has been a wrestling fan his whole life and on his 18th birthday, he went to a show in Atlanta and met one of the wrestlers who managed to get him into the business.

The 1998 Henry County High School graduate started by helping assemble the rings and doing other behind-the-scenes work. He eventually became a professional wrestler, but his life took a different turn in 2001. He became a Christian.

“God completely took me out of wrestling because, for me, professional wrestling became a god,” he laments. “It had become more important than anything in the world, and so when I got saved, learning and putting God in His place, He took me out of the business completely.”

His life took another turn a few years later with the birth of his son Caleb, who inherited a love of professional wrestling.

“One day I came home from work and he was watching it and so it became a point of connection for me and him,” Miller said.

Miller eventually got back into wrestling as a local show promoter and he began to merge his faith and wrestling.

“Once that happened, the doors started to open for me to come back to wrestling in a variety of ways, so I just spent some time in prayer and said, ‘My God, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it.’ to glorify you, to honor you,” he said.

He originally wanted to become a chaplain and visit other wrestling organizations, but eventually formed Hope Championship Wrestling over two years ago.

“I wanted to reach the wrestlers more than anything else, but I found out when I did my first show that it was a better opportunity for me to reach them and the people and it was a better opportunity, it “That’s what we did,” Miller said. said.

One of the highlights was a show in April in an unlikely venue: a youth detention center in Montgomery, Alabama.

“We had to take this ring and about 10 guys inside the prison and perform in front of about 39 kids who were there for reasons ranging from terrorist threats to drugs to murder and some may not see not daylight for the rest of their lives for whatever reason, and we were able to perform for them and give them a message of hope – and 23 of those kids gave their lives to Christ that night.” Miller said.

Over the past two years, Miller said about 135 people have come to Christ during the shows — which feature not only headbutts and body shots, but also messages of faith.

“For me, I love wrestling,” he said. “I’ve been a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember, but to be able to use this ring and use these guys’ talents and glorify God, that’s all we want to do and to me, that’s what we “I was able to do it.

The mission is not only evangelism, but Hope Championship has held fundraisers for various churches, charities and organizations.

A recent show — the Rumble for the Rollins Family at the Griffin Skate Inn — was held to help a family whose 11-year-old daughter died in a fire in April.

“I didn’t want to do just another wrestling promotion,” Miller said the night of the May 19 Griffin show. “There are wrestling promotions all over Georgia, and I didn’t want to be another one. I wanted to be something different – ​​something to help the community, to help people. We’ve been able to do a lot of fundraisers and this one tonight for this family – I can’t imagine, I can’t even imagine what they’re going through – and if we can help them just a little bit and not just money-wise, but if we can help them have fun tonight, it’s worth it.

About 30 wrestlers performed at the Griffin show, and one of the referees was Harold “Radar” Martin of Jonesboro.

Martin has been a local wrestling referee for approximately 13 years for various wrestling organizations, including Hope Championship Wrestling.

“I love that we have a Christian history and a Christian lifestyle that we pass on,” Martin said. “Usually at intermission we have a message of hope and a call to worship if anyone wants to come to Christ – and that’s what we’re here for.” If we did this show and only one person did it, then we did what we could.

Since Hope Championship Wrestling is a Christian promotion, the content of the shows is clean and kid-friendly.

“To me, the kids are the lifeblood of professional wrestling,” Miller said. “Without children in the crowd, it doesn’t exist. There are promos that have profanity and blood and all that and I guess for that audience it’s fine, but for me I always wanted something I could take my kids to. Even before Hope Wrestling, I wanted something that I could take my kids into that I could be proud of and not be ashamed of what they’re going to see. For me this is a pillar – we have to do this.

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Upcoming shows:

June 30 — Rock Methodist Church, 151 The Rock Road, The Rock. Free event at 3 p.m. with bell at 5 p.m.

Aug. 17 – Silvertown Baptist Church, 300 W. Goodrich Ave., Thomaston. To be determined

Sept. 7 — Trinity Christian School, 2000 W. McIntosh Road, Griffin. To be determined

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For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/hopewrestlingministries