By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
It is only natural that Danny Rolin’s first literary effort carries a “wrestling” theme and features several wrestling terms and metaphors amid the author’s coming to grips with his religious faith.
Danny, a former pro wrestler, wrote and rewrote the manuscript over a six-year period before finally publishing Wrestling With Grace, the story of how the Biblical Saul wrestled with his conviction to Jewish law and his belief in Christ until he became St. Paul after an encounter with the Holy Spirit during which he literally “saw the light” as he traveled to road to Damascus. It’s also about Danny’s grapple with his own feelings about religion and salvation.
The first-time author will be signing copies of Wrestling With Grace from 1 to 3 p.m. this Saturday, December 14, at Seriously Southern on West Ridgeley Street.
“It took me six years to write,” he said. “I was basically wrestling with grace, trying to get the story across.”
Connie Rolin said her husband “worked really hard” on the book, which is available online or in-store at Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads and other platforms. She added that she is “so proud of him” for baring his soul through the book.
The former wrestler, who was separated from his wife at the time, moved to Atmore after several years of guarding medical marijuana for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Gainesville, Fla.
He said the impetus for his newfound belief came several years ago when he experienced his own “Road to Damascus” and began to look into the conversion of Saul to St. Paul, as well as taking a deep look inside himself.
“I grew up in Assembly of God churches, and they don’t discuss Paul a lot,” he explained. “I was divorced at the time, and I was about to walk away from my wrestling career. I attended a lot of different churches, and I kept searching.”
Danny and Connie eventually reunited, and Danny, who has three daughters — Katie and Riley who live in Milton, Fla. and Reagan, who currently lives with the couple — moved to Atmore, where Connie grew up.
One of the most interesting aspects of putting his book together was the design of the leather-and-metal championship belt Apostle Paul is holding on the cover.
“That belt was made by a guy in Pakistan,” Danny said. “I can’t remember his name — it has a bunch of letters in it — but they have a lot of metals in Pakistan, and a lot of these type belts are made there. The craftmanship is just amazing.”
Danny got to share Christ’s message with the beltmaker, who is a Muslim. He also shares that message in his book, he pointed out as he sat in his home gym-man cave, in which the walls are covered with posters and photos or adorned with shelves full of collectible action figures (including a figurine of Danny as Black Sheep Danny Rolin) and other mementoes of his career and his childhood.
He noted that he also grappled for money under the monikers Son of Tennessee Stud and Dangerous Danny Tatum.
The wrestler-turned-writer, who has already started work on his second book, owned and operated Atmore’s Main Event, a pro and amateur wrestling venue here, for about four years before trading the sport he once loved for a sales associate job at State Line Pawn Shop.
“I wrestled professionally from 1996 to 2019, and I have friends all over the world,” he said. “I’ve wrestled with or on the same bill with some big names, like [World Wrestling Entertainment] Hall-of-Famer Bullet Bob Armstrong, and with some of the up and comers. But, since it doesn’t pay the bills anymore, I don’t pay much attention to it.”
Now, through his own testimony and the Saul-to-Paul story, he hopes to help others who are wrestling with their faith. Danny’s new religious vision sprang from a question asked him by an area preacher.
“I remember it was August 23, 2013 and Pastor Byron Wiggins [of Grace Believers Bible Study Church in Milton] asked me if I trusted that Christ was crucified, buried and rose on the third day for my justification,” he recalled. “I told him I did, and I felt like I was on fire, that I had found the truth. I hope others will find the truth in my book and not have to wrestle with doubts and confusion anymore.”