Awesome Kong, the Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Knockout that has set the bar for it’s women’s division. Kong does not speak, nor does she need to. Her intimidating presence, sheer power, and arsenal of hi-impact moves make her, arguably, the most dominate female wrestler of her time.
Real Name : Kia Stevens
Alias(es) : Awesome Kong & The Amazing Kong
Date Of Birth : September 4, 1977 Height : 5’9 Weight : Approx. 280lbs
Pro Debut : October 20, 2002
Wrestling Organization : Total Nonstop Action (TNA)
Trainer(s) : Inoki L.S. Dojo
Finisher(s) : The Awesome Bomb & The Implant Buster
Awesome Kong vs Gail Kim #2 – TNA Knockout Championship
Kong and Gail Kim continued their feud, but she held the title and continued to brutalize Kim. After Kim left TNA, Kong began a ‘decimation tour’ of the rest of the Knockout Division defeating both of The Beautiful People, ODB, and shelving Christy Hemme after almost breaking her in half. Once Kong went through the entire locker room of Knockouts, she and manager Saeed offered $25,000 to any female audience member who could pin her. Weekly, unknown female wrestlers would sign a contract of non-liability and get in the ring with her. She would then beat them down, throw them out of the ring, smash them into audience barricades, and ‘Implant Bust’ them. Finally, on July 10th, 2008, a relatively unknown wrestler named Taylor Wilde (who was giving this challenge a second attempt) actually beat Kong, not only making her $25,000 richer, but also making her the newest TNA Knockouts Champion.
Awesome Kong vs Taylor Wilde with $25 grand on the line
Soon after this humiliating defeat Kong tried in vain to recapture the TNA Knockouts Championship from Wilde. So she and Saeed started tag team wrestling, still mostly trying to get the best of Taylor Wilde. Eventually, they put together a short lived group of four wrestlers named the Kongtourage featuring Awesome Kong, Raisha Saeed, Sojourner Bolt, and Raka Khan. The Kongtourage dominated the Knockout division for weeks, mostly sabotaging matches and attacking their opponents (four on one) pre/post match. It did not take long before the Kongtourage began breaking up due to internal disputes over who should hold the belt.
As the Knockout division grew more competitive, some of the female wrestlers, namely The Beautiful People (Angelina Love,Velvet Sky, & Madison Rayne) upped the ante and on April 16, 2009 the Beautiful People , in a fit of insanity, attacked Kong and cut her hair. This sent her into a lunatic rage and on the following weeks, she cornered both Sky and Rayne, beating them senseless. As you can see in the following video, Kong was none too happy with Rayne.
Awesome Kong vs Madison Rayne – TNA Stretcher Match
After dealing out punishment upon Sky and Rayne, she earned a chance at sweet revenge on Angelina Love (leader of The Beautiful People) and a TNA Knockout Championship title shot at Slammiversary in June of 2009. She lost the match, but the feud continued with the Love, Sky, & Rayne. On July 2nd, Kong and Tara successfully tagged to watch each-others back during a match with Love, Sky, and Rayne. After the bout, she looked shocked and panicked as Tara pulled out her pet tarantula and laid it on the prone body of Sky.
On August 27th’s iMPACT! episode the tag team of Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed beat Traci Brooks and Sharmell that began a tournament to crown TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions. The following week, they were eliminated from the tournament by the team of Taylor Wilde and Sarita.
In summary, Awesome Kong lives up to every bit of the hype. Kia Stevens professional wrestling abilities, ground breaking performances, and pure savagery in the ring will keep fans watching to see what she does (or who she lays out) next.