The group evolved out of a street ministry led by Carey Womack, who was studying to become a Baptist minister at the time. Several other members also had a background in ministry; Brian Wheeler was an Assembly of God evangelist, and Paul Q-Pek had sung with The Continental Singers. The band originally formed for a one time only performance at a local Christian music festival held on Labor Day 1985. Although they have not released any full-length albums of new material since 1991, they have written new songs, and have not declared their band broken up yet. They still play reunion shows at various Christian rock festivals.

According to CCM Magazine a One Bad Pig show was "kind of like a carnival/revival run amok." For instance, at Cornerstone 1990 they were reported to have leapt into water-filled plastic swimming pools and cut down a Christmas tree with a chainsaw. Often during the song "Smash The Guitar" the band would literally smash their guitars onto the stage. In contrast, each performance included an altar call where Carey Womack's preaching was said to have a "hometown passion." The band also placed a heavy emphasis on personal accountability. With the guidance of their pastors they once took time off from playing or rehearsing in order to refocus priorities.

The band was subject to constant criticism from the anti-Christian Rock movement. They were critical of the group for its concert antics, lyrics, and even for their name. According to some their name evoked stereotypes of punk music and rebellion in a way that, according to some, was contrary to certain principles of Christianity.

The origin of the bands' name was a picture of a pig in a local radio stations' advertisement, which Carey commented was "One bad pig". The full story as related in an interview on the "Breakaway Show" (broadcast from radio station KCFV) was that while driving from Austin, Texas to the Cornerstone Festival in 1985, Carey and Paul stopped in Saint Louis, Missouri at a local Pizza Hut. At the time, local radio station KSHE was running a promotion in conjunction with Pizza Hut selling sunglasses with the Pizza Hut logo on one lens and the new KSHE logo on the other. As they were leaving the restaurant, Carey looked at Paul and said "That's one bad pig". Paul replied, "That would be a great name for a punk band! We should form one." So, they did. The next year, One Bad Pig's first album was introduced at Cornerstone.