Awesome Kong
Kia Michelle Stevens is an American actress and semi-retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with TNA Wrestling under the ring name Awesome Kong. She also worked with Ring of Honor, Shimmer Women Athletes, All Elite Wrestling, and with WWE under the ring name Kharma.
Stevens began her professional wrestling career in 2002 after appearing on a reality television show. For the first five years of her career, she primarily wrestled in Japan and held numerous championships there. In 2006, she began wrestling in her native United States again, wrestling on the independent circuit before appearing on national television with TNA, where she was a driving force in the foundation of their Knockouts division. During her time with TNA, she became a two-time TNA Knockouts Champion and one-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion with Hamada. She later signed with WWE, where she became the third woman to enter the men's Royal Rumble match in 2012, and she began making appearances for then-upstart AEW towards the end of the decade.
Stevens was ranked first in the inaugural list of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's PWI Women's 100 in 2008. She retired from professional wrestling in 2021 and was subsequently inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. As an actress, she is best known for playing Tammé "The Welfare Queen" Dawson in the wrestling-themed Netflix original comedy series GLOW.
Professional wrestling career
Early career
Kia Stevens was inspired to become a professional wrestler by Amy Dumas, known during her WWE career as Lita. In 2002, Stevens appeared on the Discovery Health Body Challenge as a contestant trying to lose weight in hopes of becoming a professional wrestler. Afterwards, Stevens trained at the School of Hard Knocks out of San Bernardino, California. Soon, she was able to have her first professional match in the Empire Wrestling Federation. Stevens also auditioned for Tough Enough 2, a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation contract, but failed her audition after Jim Ross told her that she was "too fat." After being signed to WWE in 2010, Stevens defended Ross, stating that "If hadn't shot from the hip all those years ago, I wouldn't have had the fire to succeed as much as I did."Japanese promotions (2002–2007)
After putting on an impressive showing at a tryout, Stevens was invited to further her training in the dojo of joshi puroresu promotion All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. While there she underwent a rigorous training schedule, became fluent in Japanese, and engaged in training for mixed martial arts but chose to pursue professional wrestling. She was given the ring name Amazing Kong by Masatsugu Matsunaga, who needed a replacement for Japanese female wrestler Aja Kong in several matches. Stevens, as Kong, worked for multiple women's promotions in Japan, and she defeated Ayako Hamada for the WWWA World Single Championship in late 2004. Later, Stevens cited Hamada as one of her favorite opponents.In 2004 Kong debuted for the joshi promotion Gaea Japan in a match against Aja Kong. At the promotion's ninth anniversary event Aja Kong won the match but gained enough respect for Amazing Kong that the two attacked both competitors in the main event, revealing themselves as a new tag team named W Kong. The duo soon made their presence felt when they challenged Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka for the AAAW Tag Team Championship on May 5 and won. The team defended the championship successfully all Summer, eventually losing to Manami Toyota and Carlos Amano on September 20. Going into 2005, Kong main evented the final Gaea show before the promotion closed down. In the final match of Fifth Anniversary, Kong teamed with Ayako Hamada and Mayumi Ozaki in a winning effort against Akino, Dynamite Kansai and Gami with Ayako picking up the victory.
After the closure of Gaea, W Kong went on to wrestle for a number of Japanese promotions including Hustle, where they were given the comedic gimmicks of Margaret and Erika which involved, among other things, wrestling in a yellow tutu. They won the predominantly male Hustle Super Tag Team Championship from June until October 2006. They were also the final team to hold WWWA World Tag Team Championship before AJW shut down. In early 2007, Kong also won the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Women's Championship in Tokyo, Japan and held it from January to May. She lost it to Nanae Takahashi in a three-way match, which also included Wesna.
Shimmer Women Athletes (2006-2010)
Championship pursuits (2006–2010)
Her success in Japan attracted the attention of United States promotion Shimmer Women Athletes, who began regularly booking her for their DVD tapingsin Kong's homeland from May 2006. Her debut came on Volume 5 with a win against Nikki Roxx. She defeated Roxx again on Volume 14: Hot Summer Nights in a rematch. The rematch was Kong's fifth successive win which led her to challenge for the Shimmer Championship in October 2007 against inaugural champion Sara Del Rey, for the Volume 15 taping. Del Rey retained to give Kong her first Shimmer loss, albeit via count out.
Kong then began another winning streak, losing only to Ariel by disqualification after using a chair on Volume 17 which set back her chances of being given another championship match. She was placed in a Four-Way Contendership match on Volume 21; during the match Mercedes Martinez used her Fisherman Buster finisher on Cheerleader Melissa but before she could be pinned, Kong dragged Martinez to the floor and the two battled it out while Ariel stole the win to receive a championship match. This incident led to a grudge match between Martinez and Kong on Volume 23, which Kong won. On the following show, instead of a Shimmer Championship match, Kong was put in a contendership match for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship, forming a brief alliance of convenience with Del Rey, who herself was having issues with their opponents MelissChif. After winning the match, they faced the reigning champions Ashley Lane and Nevaeh in the following match, and once again Kong was disqualified after using chairs on her opponents. An assault continued until Martinez and Serena Deeb, who was feuding with Del Rey, appeared to help out the Tag Team Champions. This occurrence led to another tag team match with Kong and Del Rey picking up a victory over Martinez and Deeb.
Wanting to focus on her singles career again, Kong wrestled LuFisto on Volume 27 in a match to take on the Shimmer Champion. It ended in a double count-out, with the two brawling outside the ring through the building and even during the next match in the show. This meant the championship match on Volume 28, in November 2009, would be a three-way elimination match including the champion MsChif. Kong eliminated LuFisto early on with an Amazing Bomb, essentially leading to a rematch of Kong and MsChif's critically respected Volume 9 match. In this match, however, MsChif took a return win after kicking out of the Amazing Bomb and delivering all of her signature finishing moves on Kong to become the first woman to pin Kong in Shimmer. She appeared for one more appearance in September 2010 for the Volume 35 event, answering an open challenge by Kellie Skater with an emphatic victory.
Ring of Honor (2007, 2010)
Owing to Shimmer being a promotional partner of Ring of Honor, Kong was noticed by ROH and scouted to appear on both products. On 15 September 2007 she made her debut for ROH at their Man Up pay-per-view. Teaming with Daizee Haze in a tag team match, they defeated Sara Del Rey and Lacey.Kong returned to ROH on May 8, 2010, to take part in the promotion's annual Supercard of Honor V. Once more she wrestled Del Rey, this time in a singles match which she lost after Del Rey used a weighted elbow pad thrown to her by Kings of Wrestling stablemate Chris Hero, sparking a rivalry between the two. Kong returned to settle the score with Del Rey two months later at Hate: Chapter II on July 23. The Kings of Wrestling were in the midst of a rivalry with The Briscoe Brothers, and so Kong teamed with them in a six-person tag team match, where they defeated Del Rey, Hero and their stablemate Claudio Castagnoli, though Kong did not secure the pin. Consequently, they had a singles rematch the following night, with Kong finally defeating Del Rey one-on-one. At the end of the year, ROH held their live PPV Final Battle 2010, which saw Del Rey challenge Daizee Haze to bring more competition to ROH. Haze responded by bringing Kong back for the December 18 match against Del Rey and her partner Serena Deeb. In the match Del Rey pinned Haze, while Deeb successfully neutralized Kong with a spear.
Independent circuit (2007–2010)
After growing success in Shimmer, Kong began appearing on the American independent circuit bringing with her the AWA World Women's Championship from Japan. She put it on the line in a champion versus champion match against MsChif's NWA World Women's Championship on May 5, 2007, becoming a joint champion with her win. A rematch between the two in September, exclusively for the NWA belt after Kong lost the AWA title in May, headlined the NWA No Limits 3rd Anniversary Show which saw Kong retain the title. Kong defended the belt in a number of promotions throughout the year but 11 months later, in April 2008, MsChif won back the title via countout under a special stipulation to retain Kong's stature. The following year, Kong once again challenged for the NWA World Championship at NWA Charlotte's Valentine's Day themed inaugural show, Thorns & Roses, in the penultimate match of the evening. With Daffney in her corner, MsChif and saved herself from the Awesome Bomb by using her green mist, disqualifying herself to retain the belt in the process.In June 2007, Kong toured Great Britain under the ChickFight promotion, wrestling guest matches under that banner for other promotions. The tour started on June 15 in Wales for Celtic Wrestling, where she picked up a victory over ChickFight stalwart Cheerleader Melissa. The following day Kong debuted for Real Quality Wrestling and took part in a Four-Way RQW Women's Championship match, that saw Wesna win the belt from reigning champion Eden Black, with Jetta also coming up winless. The following day Kong competed in Chickfight IX, the ninth and final all-women knockout tournament under the ChickFight banner. She received a bye via forfeit, owing to a severe injury Cheerleader Melissa had given her opponent Sweet Saraya at RQW the night before, which allowed her to be fresh against Blue Nikita. After defeating Nikita in the semi-final, she faced dethroned RQW Champion Eden Black and won the trophy.
After achieving notoriety on national television, Kong received more bookings including for the all-female company Women Superstars Uncensored in March 2008. She appeared at their First Anniversary Show answering an open challenge made by Rick Cataldo and Roxxie Cotton, defeating them both in a handicap match within a minute. Later in the same event she teamed with Amy Lee and defeated Angel Orsini and Shimmer rival Mercedes Martinez. Despite picking up the victory, Kong felt that Lee stole the glory of a win from her and went to attack Lee; this led to an Amy Lee's Rules match in the main event of Dawn of a New Day which Kong won after Lee passed out, refusing to submit. The two had a rematch at Army of One which Kong lost by disqualification after hitting a referee leading to a deciding rubber match contested under Last Man Standing rules. At the Second Anniversary Show, Kong narrowly beat Amy Lee after charging at Lee with a chair only for Lee to pass out to the ground and Kong to hit the ropes and knock the chair back into herself. Judging Lee to have been down one count before Kong, Kong won the match but bowed to Lee afterwards out of respect.
After winning this match, Kong was given a match against Martinez for the WSU Championship in December 2009 at a WSU and National Wrestling Superstars co-hosted event. Kong received another chance at the title at Evolve 5: Danielson v Sawa for the Evolve promotion but still could not bring an end to Martinez's two-year reign.