Awesome Kong

 When one thinks of dominant women in wrestling, several names come to mind: Fabulous Moolah, Lita, Trish, Chyna and Beth Phoenix. The most destructive force in women's wrestling has yet to step foot in a WWE ring. She was the NWA Women's champion and the TNA Knockout champion. She is currently one-half of the Knockout Tag champs in TNA. She's a California girl, but doesn't look anything like the stereotypical blonde beach bunny. She is Awesome Kong, the most brutal woman to ever step in the ring. She's also this week's Wrestler of the Week.

The Legend of Kong begins

  Kia Stevens, the woman now known as Awesome Kong, grew up in Carson, California. It is unclear how Kia made her way to Japan. Once in Japan, she was trained, in 2002, by the legendary Aja Kong and others at the Inoki Dojo. Kong is a title of honor in Japanese wrestling. Aja dubbed Kia "Amazing Kong" and they formed a successful duo known as "Double Kong". Amazing Kong also captured the women's heavyweight title during her stay in Japan.

Kong destroys the world

On the suggestion of her trainers at the Inoki Dojo, Kong decided to branch out from her Japanese home territory. Her first stop was the UK. She worked for four different promotions throughout Great Britain, dominating all of her opponents.

Kong was invited to the United States to compete for both Shimmer and the re-created AWA. On a visit back to Japan, Kong took the AWA Women's title. That was in January of 2007. Later in the year, she lost the title in California. Kong spent a great deal of time going back and forth to Japan.

TNA-Total Non-Stop Awesome

  Amazing Kong was approached about working for the newly-created TNA Knockout division. She agreed to accept the offer and also agreed to become the second wrestler to use the ring name, Awesome Kong. The original was a mid-carder that worked for WCW back in the mid 80's.

Kong instantly set her sights on the Knockout title. After a few weeks of destroying the lesser women stars (Ms. Brooks, Christy Hemme, Velvet Sky, etc...), Kong began storming the ring carrying a photo of the then-champion, Gail Kim. Kong failed in her first attempt at the title, due to being disqualified by the ref. A few weeks later, on a episode of Impact, Kong got a re-match and took full advantage of it. She caught Kim with two standard Powerbombs and her signature Awesome Bomb (Sit-Out Powerbomb).

After destroying Kim, Kong stood ready for all challengers. ODB stepped forward to go for the Knockout (or as ODB calls it...the Knocked-up Championship). It was around this time that Kong brought forth her translator, Raesha Saeed. Saeed dressed in Middle Eastern attire, including veil across the face, stated to the world that "Kong comes in peace". It's a bit hard to swallow that when one watches her annihilate her opponents.

Double (champion) Kong

Kong won and held both the NWA and TNA World titles, at the same time. She would eventually drop the NWA title to MsChif and the TNA title to Taylor Wilde. Kong would eventually take the title back from Wilde, only to drop the belt to Angelina Love. Kong would then head into numerous feuds against other Knockouts, including ODB and Tara. She would refocus her career after disposing of her handler, Raisha Saeed, and join with Japanese second generation star, Hamada. The duo would upset Taylor Wilde and Sarita to end their run as the very first Knockout Tag Team Champions. Kong and Hamada have defended the belts, occasionally, since winning them. Most of their battles have been against The Beautiful People, which they dominated.

Kong's current TNA contract is due to expire and there are rumors that she is ready to leave TNA. WWE would be wise to snap her up. Sadly, Kong doesn't fit the profile for most Divas, so she may end up in Japan...if she leaves TNA. The NWA is another option open to Kong, as is some of the US Women's wrestling companies.

In Conclusion

Amazing/Awesome Kong is one of the most dominant female wrestlers to ever work the US market. If she does leave TNA, there are many other companies that would love to have the larger-than-life warrior in their midst. Clickwrestle.com has tons of video clips of the big Californian battling in the indies. OnlineWorldofWrestling.com has Kong's bio and pictures a plenty. I'll be back with you all, next week, from my new home in Nevada's smallest city, Fallon.

Peace

--Jay Shannon

Jade89512@yahoo.com