Awesome Kong added to All Out’s Casino Battle Royale

Given that she’s a women’s wrestling legend with WWE experience who has a role on an Emmy-nominated television show, you’d expect All Elite Wrestling to include Kia “Awesome Kong” Stevens, in their Women’s championship picture.

But Kong also retired on the advice of doctors back in 2015. And while retirements in wrestling certainly aren’t set in stone or anything, the passage of time and her success on Netflix’s GLOW could mean she’d only be a special attraction for AEW and not someone they use regularly.

Maybe that’s still the case. She showed up at Fight For The Fallen in July, but her only actual match with Tony Khan’s company was at May’s Double Or Nothing. Taking part in a 21 person battle royal, as a New York Post interview with Kong published on Mon., Aug. 26 confirmed she would, doesn’t mean she’ll be on TV every week when AEW’s TNT show starts on Oct. 2.

But you have to think Kong becomes one of the favorites to win The Buy In’s Casino Battle Royale at All Out this Saturday (Aug. 31), and earns a shot at the All Elite Women’s title on the TNT premiere. Or that if she doesn’t win, there’s a storyline explanation which sets her up for another big match down the road. Like, say, against Aja Kong in a BATTLE OF THE KONGS!?!?!

In the NY Post interview, Awesome Kong says she’s “really healthy, physically and mentally”. She also says she has her sights set on Nyla Rose, which would also be awesome.

Will that be a future Women’s title match?

We shall see.

Here’s the latest card for Chicagoland’s Sears Centre this weekend:

- Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Page for the AEW World title

- PAC vs. Kenny Omega

- Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) for a first round bye in the AEW Tag Team championship tournament

- Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks in a ladder match for the AAA Tag titles

- Cody Rhodes vs. Shawn Spears

- Darby Allin vs. Joey Janela vs. Jimmy Havoc

- Riho vs. Hikaru Shida

- SCU (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) vs. Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy & Marko Stunt

- Private Party vs. Angelico & Jack Evans (The Buy-In)

- Casino Battle Royale to determine a challenger for the new AEW Women’s World championship, featuring Allie, Awesome Kong, Big Swole, Brandi Rhodes, Britt Baker, Ivelisse, Jazz, Nyla Rose, Sadie Gibbs, Teal Piper, and Yuka Sakazaki (The Buy-In)