Congratulations and good luck to WWE's recent signing Awesome Kong

by Keith Harris on Jan 3, 2011 9:22 PM EST in WWE

Will the strain of being the only ugly sister in a promotion full of Cinderellas exacerbate Awesome Kong's mental instability?

A couple of days ago, Dave Meltzer confirmed that Kia Stevens, better known by her current ring name of Awesome Kong, had been officially signed by WWE, despite a possible last minute hiccup caused by Kong prematurely tweeting on December 29th that:

My dreams just came true today. I got my dream job. Yes, THAT one.

This wasn't the only hiccup, as Jason Powell reported yesterday that WWE asked her to sort out an outstanding legal issue before they would sign her to a contract:

WWE sources say Awesome Kong (a/k/a Kia Stevens) was asked by WWE officials to clear up her legal situation in Florida before going to work for the company. Thus, she turned herself in to Hillsborough County, Florida officials so that her driving without a license charge could be resolved.

... One source stated that Kong moved out of Florida recently and returned there last week specifically to deal with this situation.

The signing is an intriguing WWE decision given that Dave Meltzer speculated several months ago that WWE were leery of signing Kong, despite her proven talent, possibly due to her mental instability and a past suicide attempt. I wouldn't blame WWE for being wary, given that Kong exhibited plenty of strange behaviour before, during and after her bizarre backstage fight with Bubba The Love Sponge that eventually led to her leaving TNA.

Moreover, as Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun notes, Kong is the exact opposite of what WWE usually looks for in a woman and they haven't got a perfect track record of pushing such a monster female heel either:

Despite being one of the most talented and unique performers in the business, the 275-pound Kong doesn't come close to fitting the WWE Diva mold and therefore always seemed like a long shot to be signed by WWE after she was released by TNA last March.

For years, WWE's female roster has been filled with swimsuit and fitness model types, some who were capable workers and some who were not. It's been more than a decade since "anti-divas" such as Luna and Chyna (the pre-surgery version) were in WWE.

The last time a woman of her size was in WWE, it was Bertha Faye back in the pre-Diva era of the mid '90s (although, to be fair, there aren't many women in wrestling that are Kong's size).

Let's just hope that the similarities between Kong and Faye end there. Faye was pushed as a killer heel under the name Monster Ripper in Japan and Mexico. However, as Faye in WWE, she was used as comic relief, including doing a story line in which she was romantically involved with sawed-off, smarmy manager Harvey Wippleman.

So I would like to conclude this column by congratulating Kong on signing with WWE and would like to wish her the best of luck in avoiding the obvious potholes of being pigeonholed as humiliating comedy fodder and the strain of being the only ugly sister in a promotion full of Cinderellas. As being put in such a position did Luna Vachon's mental health no good, whose bipolar issues "were compounded by her belief that she was too ugly to be a major star in wrestling".

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Obviously very talent and I wish her the best but there is enough elements to this to make it a powder keg situation.

Fingers crossed for her own sake.

by rovert on Jan 3, 2011 10:45 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

As far as Kong’s rep goes…

You have to bare in mind TNA is a horribly mysogonistic company (run by a woman, which is even more puzzling) and it wouldn’t shock me if a lot of it was exaggerated by the people in management who resented her for one reason or another (she complained a lot about pay and wouldn’t just take the bad treatment like most of the women did)t . Have there been a couple of incidents? Sure. Although I don’t think beating up Bubba the Love Sponge is an indication of a mental disorder…who doesn’t want to beat him up?

But compared to some of the wrecks in TNA (Angle, Hardy) I think Kong is, generally, pretty normal.

by S.Bruce on Jan 3, 2011 10:47 PM EST reply actions

Everyone says she is the nicest person in the world.

by rovert on Jan 3, 2011 10:55 PM EST up reply actions

I think she’s a nice women 99% of the time, but she probably does have a short fuse if you piss her off. But, again, compared to a lot of the guys and what they get away with, it’s not so bad,

I’ve heard a lot of the problems TNA management had with her was mostly standing up for herself and the other women. And because of that, she got labelled a harpy and a whiner and then management were telling Melzter and all theother dirtsheet writers she was crazy. Nevermind, that she had valid reasons for being angry.

by S.Bruce on Jan 3, 2011 11:01 PM EST reply actions

i think you could say that about most people

Men and women. Lets not forget WWE has Randy “Crybaby” Orton, who apparently has never messed up a move in his life.

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by Troy J. on Jan 4, 2011 6:13 AM EST up reply actions

I think you bring up a great point that her craziness was likely exaggerated to some extent by TNA management, given their track record of smearing talent on the way out of their promotion. Still, I doubt Meltzer would have reported that she had once attempted suicide if he wasn’t certain about the story, which suggests that like Luna Vachon she may have difficulty fitting into WWE.

by Keith Harris on Jan 5, 2011 6:58 AM EST up reply actions

I wonder if they'll push the Kong-Gail Kim fued.

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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 4, 2011 12:02 AM EST reply actions

You just know

this is gonna end in some random “face” superstar calling her some combination of beast nicknames with the audience cheering in delight.

So congratulations Kong, you get to take some of the heat off of Vicky.

I don't want to say he's dirty, but Forrest Griffin looks like directly after a workout his crotch might resemble a cajun swamp.

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by Fake Emcee on Jan 4, 2011 12:27 AM EST reply actions

Cole and Lawler will be the first

The announcers are the worst at quickly slamming someone based on looks. I’d expect a whole lot of mistreatment. Hot chicks are great if your watching porn or a bad TV show, but this is wrestling. We need chicks who can actually do that. I’ve worn the pages out on my Ashley Massaro playboy but as a wrestler she was terrible. I’d rather watch Jackie, Lita (she was a great wrestler before they made her strickly a valet) and Tara (I forget what her name was in WWE. She was supposed to be nuts).

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"A ringing single for David Eckstein who, in my view, is the perfect size for an American male." -Bob Costas

by Troy J. on Jan 4, 2011 6:17 AM EST up reply actions