England’s Wrestling Church seeks converts with baptisms and body slams

SHIPLEY, England (AP) — Sitting around a wrestling ring, churchgoers roared as local hero Billy O’Keeffe body-slammed a fighter named Disciple. Beneath stained-glass windows, they whooped and cheered as burly, tattooed wresters tumbled into the aisle during a six-man tag-team battle.

This is Wrestling Church, which brings blood, sweat and tears — mostly sweat — to St. Peter’s Anglican church in the northern England town of Shipley. It's the creation of Gareth Thompson, a charismatic 37-year-old who says he was saved by pro wrestling and Jesus — and wants others to have the same experience.

Thompson says the outsized characters and scripted morality battles of pro wrestling fit naturally with a Christian message.

“Boil it down to the basics, it’s good versus evil,” he said. “When I became Christian, I started seeing the wrestling world through a Christian lens. I started seeing David and Goliath. I started seeing Cain and Abel. I started seeing Esau having his heritage stolen from him. And I’m like, ‘We could tell these stories.’”

Church attendance in the U.K. has been declining for decades, and the 2021 census found that less than half of people in England and Wales now consider themselves Christian. Those who say they have no religion rose from 25% to 37% in a decade.

That has led churches to get creative in order to survive.

“You’ve got to take a few risks," said the Rev. Natasha Thomas, the priest in charge at St. Peter’s. She acknowledged that she “wasn’t entirely sure what it was I was letting myself in for” when she agreed to host wrestling events.

“It’s not church as you would know it. It’s certainly not for everyone,” she said. “But it’s bringing in a different group of people, a different community, than we would normally get.”

At a recent Wrestling Church evening, almost 200 people — older couples, teenagers, pierced and tattooed wrestling fans, parents with excited young children — packed into chairs around a ring erected under the vaulted ceiling of the century-old church.

After a short homily and prayer from Thomas, it was time for two hours of smackdowns, body slams and flying headbutts. The atmosphere grew cheerfully raucous, as fans waved giant foam fingers and hollered “knock him out!” at participants.

Some longtime churchgoers have welcomed the infusion of energy.

“I think it’s absolutely wonderful,” said Chris Moss, who married her husband Mike in St. Peter's almost 50 years ago.

“You can look at some of the wrestlers and think” — she scrunched her face in distaste. But talking to them made her realize “you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”

Thompson, whose wrestling moniker is Gareth Angel, both wrestles and presides over the organized mayhem. He’s a mix of preacher and ringmaster, wearing a T-shirt that says “Pray, eat, wrestle, repeat.”

He’s loved wrestling since it provided solace and release during a troubled upbringing that saw him survive childhood sexual abuse and a period of homelessness as a teenager.

“I could watch Shawn Michaels and the Rock and Stone Cold (Steve Austin) and I could be like, I want to be like them,” he said. “So it’s always been an escape for me, and a release and a way to get away from stuff. But then God has obviously turned that around now and it’s become this passion.”

He found Christianity in 2011, ran his first Wrestling Church event in a former nightclub-turned-church in 2022, and moved to St. Peter’s last year.

As well as the monthly Saturday night shows, his charity Kingdom Wrestling runs training sessions for adults and children in a back room of the church, along with women’s self-defense classes, a men’s mental health group and coaching for children who have been expelled from school.

For many in the close-knit community of U.K. wrestlers and fans, religion is a new ingredient, but not an unwelcome one.

“I’m mainly here for the wrestling,” said 33-year-old Liam Ledger, who wrestles as Flamin’ Daemon Crowe. Sitting in a pungent changing room as wrestlers discussed fight plans, donned knee pads and laced up their many-holed boots, he said it’s a bit “surreal” when baptisms are held between bouts.

“It works both ways,” he said. “There’s people that come here that are big on religion, and they’re here for all of that sort of stuff. And then they go, ‘Oh, actually this wrestling is sort of fun.’”

Kiara, Kingdom Wrestling’s reigning women’s champion, said the organization has helped her bring her Catholic faith into her wrestling life.

“It’s thanks to Kingdom Wrestling that I’ve had the confidence to pray in the locker room now before matches,” said Kiara, 26, known outside the ring as Stephanie Sid. “I invite my opponent to pray with me, pray that we have a safe match, pray that there’s no injuries and pray that we entertain everybody here."

Only a handful of people have gone from watching the wrestling to attending Sunday-morning services at St. Peter’s, but Wrestling Church baptized 30 people in its first year. Thompson, whose brand of born-again Christianity is more muscular than many traditional Anglicans', plans to expand to other British cities. One day, he says, he may start his own church.

There has long been overlap between Christianity and wrestling in the U.S., where figures like Thompson's hero Shawn Michaels proudly proclaim their faith. But Britain is a less religious place, and Shipley, a former mill town 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of London, is a long way from the Bible Belt.

Thompson, though, is unfazed by doubters.

“People say, ‘Oh, wrestling and Christianity, they’re two fake things in a fake world of their own existence,’” he said. “If you don’t believe in it, of course you will think that of it. But my own personal experience of my Christian faith is that it is alive and living, and it is true. The wrestling world, if you really believe in it, you believe that it’s true and you can suspend your disbelief.

“You suspend it because you want to get lost in it. You want to believe in it. You want to hope for it.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

CORRECTS NICKNAME TO KIARA - Stephanie Sid aka Kiara is proclaimed winner over Scarlett during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

CORRECTS NAME TO SCARLETT - Scarlett high fives fans as she makes her ringwalk before fighting Kiara during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

CORRECTS STAGE NAME TO KIARA - Stephanie Sid who goes by the stage name Kiara poses for a picture before a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

A six-man-scramble plays out in the ring at a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Spectators cheer proceedings during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Spectators cheer proceedings during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Kingdom Wrestling merchandise is seen for sale at St Peter's Church in Shipley before one the charity's monthly wrestling shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Stephanie Sid aka Tiara is proclaimed winner over Sarlett during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Wrestler Brandon Prince makes his ringwalk at the Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

A six-man-scramble spills out of the ring at a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

A six-man-scramble plays out in the ring at a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

A detail is seen on the shirt of Gareth 'Angel' Thompson, founder of the Kingdom Wrestling charity at St Peter's Church in Shipley after one of the charity's monthly wrestling shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Wesley Nsereko, right, is proclaimed victor over Daemon Crowe aka Liam Ledger by referee Kate Crosby during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Gareth 'Angel' Thompson body slams Young Johnty during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

A cross is seen on the hand of Gareth 'Angel' Thompson, founder of the Kingdom Wrestling charity during a wrestling bout at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Tucker, a former WWE NXT UK wrestler, stands on the ropes at the Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Sarlett high fives fans as she makes her ringwalk before fighting Tiara during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Referee Katie Crosby holds up the contested belt before Tiara's bout against Sarlett, left, during a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Spectators queue outside St Peter's Church in Shipley before one of the Kingdom Wrestling's monthly wrestling shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Stephanie Sid who goes by the stage name Tiara poses for a picture before a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Mini wrestling belts are seen with self-help and religious themed books backstage at St Peter's Church in Shipley before one of Kingdom Wrestling's monthly wrestling shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Wrestling figurines are seen backstage at St Peter's Church in Shipley before one of Kingdom Wrestling's monthly wrestling shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Gareth 'Angel' Thompson, founder of the Kingdom Wrestling charity stands ringside at St Peter's Church in Shipley before one of the charity's monthly wrestling shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Wrestling themed memorabilia is seen backstage at St Peter's Church in Shipley before one of Kingdom Wrestling's monthly wrestling shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Wrestlers prepare backstage for a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

Wrestlers Will Valour, left speaks with fellow competitor Lawson, both stage names, backstage at St Peter's Church in Shipley before one of the Kingdom Wrestling's monthly wrestling shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Wrestler Liam Ledger aka Daemon Crowe sits backstage at St Peter's Church in Shipley before one of the Kingdom Wrestling's monthly shows, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

***HOLD FOR JILL LAWLESS STORY***Rev. Natasha Thomas is preaching to spectators before the Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Billy O'Keefe celebrates victory in a six-man-scramble at a Kingdom Wrestling show at St Peter's Church in Shipley, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Moscow freed a Russian American convicted of treason in exchange for a Russian-German man jailed on smuggling charges in the U.S., a prisoner swap that was completed Thursday as the two countries met to repair ties.

Ksenia Karelina is “on a plane back home to the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on social media platform X. She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. U.S. authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.”

Arthur Petrov was released as part of a swap in Abu Dhabi, United Araba Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia's main security and counterespionage agency. Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the U.S. on charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia and extradited to the U.S. a year later.

Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the U.S. carried out in the last three years — and the second since President Donald Trump took office and reversed Washington's policy of isolating Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.

Russian and U.S. diplomats met Thursday in Istanbul for another round of talks on improving diplomatic ties. The discussions ended after six hours without statements from the delegations, the Tass and RIA Novosti state news agencies reported.

In February, Russia released American teacher Marc Fogel, imprisoned on drug charges, in a swap that the White House described as part of a diplomatic thaw that could advance peace negotiations. That same month, Russia released another American just days after arresting him on drug smuggling charges.

Karelina, a former ballet dancer also identified in some media as Ksenia Khavana, lived in Maryland before moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested when she returned to Russia to visit her family last year.

The FSB accused her of “proactively" collecting money for a Ukrainian organization that was supplying gear to Kyiv's forces. The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the charges stemmed from a $51.80 donation to a U.S. charity aiding Ukraine.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said on Instagram that she had been in touch with her family since her release.

“I am overjoyed to hear that the love of my life, Ksenia Karelina is on her way home from wrongful detention in Russia,” Karelina’s fiancé, Chris van Heerden, said in a statement. “She has endured a nightmare for 15 months and I cannot wait to hold her. Our dog, Boots, is also eagerly awaiting her return.”

He thanked Trump and his envoys, as well as prominent public figures who had championed her case.

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on X that “President Trump and his administration continue to work around the clock to ensure Americans detained abroad are returned home to their families.”

The exchange was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Karelina was headed to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, according to a person familiar with the situation who insisted on anonymity to discuss her case.

The United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency released photos of Karelina boarding a plane and one of her standing next to Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the U.S.

The FSB, which said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had pardoned Karelina before the swap, released a video that showed her being escorted to a plane somewhere in Russia. The footage then featured of what appeared to be the scene of exchange at the Abu Dhabi airport, with Petrov walking off a plane and shaking hands with Russian officials on the tarmac.

The same video showed Petrov undergoing medical checkups on a flight to Russia. “I have no particular complaints, just a bit tired,” he said.

Petrov was accused by the U.S. Justice Department of involvement in a scheme to procure microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical components for the country's weapons industries. He was facing a 20-year prison term in the U.S.

Abu Dhabi was the scene of another high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the United States. In December 2022, American basketball star Brittney Griner was traded for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The UAE has been a mediator in prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine, while the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai has become home to many Russians and Ukrainian who fled there after the start of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.

This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the U.S., left, standing next to U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)

This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina getting on a private jet after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)

FILE - Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.(AP Photo/File)