Awesome Kong became one of the most recognizable names in women’s wrestling, but the woman behind the character says she never actually chose the name in the first place. Kia Stevens revealed that “Amazing Kong” was handed to her during her early run in Japan, and her first reaction was anything but excitement.
Speaking on the No Contest Wrestling Podcast, Kong was asked how she came up with the Awesome Kong and Amazing Kong character. Her answer was simple — she didn’t. The name had already been decided for her.
“How I came up with Awesome Kong or Amazing Kong? I did not. It was given to me.”
Kong explained that the promotion was dealing with Aja Kong no longer being available and needed someone for an upcoming spot. At the time, Stevens had only recently been sent to Japan and knew virtually nothing about the history of Japanese women’s wrestling.
She recalled Shinsuke Nakamura referring to her as “Kong” before she even understood what was happening. Eventually, a magazine was brought out showing her that a press conference had already taken place announcing her as Amazing Kong. That caught her completely off guard.
“They had a whole press conference and announced that I was this Amazing Kong, and I was like, ‘Well, wait a minute. Let’s pump brakes. I didn’t agree to that.’”
The biggest problem was that Kong had no idea who Aja Kong was at the time. Without that context, she interpreted the name through an entirely different lens.
“At the time, I didn’t know anything about women’s Japanese wrestling. Nothing. So I didn’t even know that Aja existed. Pardon me for saying, and pardon my ignorance, but I didn’t know. So I thought they just saw a big Black girl and was like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to call her Kong.’ And I was like, ‘What? That is rude.’”
Once people around her, including Samoa Joe, helped explain what was actually going on and gave her more background on wrestling in Japan, Stevens began looking at the situation differently. Then Ice Cube entered the equation.
Kong said she was home listening to music when “No Vaseline” came on. Thinking about N.W.A. and the attitude behind what they had accomplished helped flip a switch in her head. Instead of rejecting the Kong name, she decided she was going to take it, make it successful and eventually control the conversation surrounding it.
“I thought about N.W.A. and I was like, ‘You know what? If they could be attitude and do what they have done, you know what? I’m going to be this Kong person, but I’m going to make these people talk about it. I’m going to go and do it and become what I’m going to become.’”
There was also a long-term plan behind it. Kong said she wanted to become successful enough that she could eventually change her name and publicly explain how the Kong identity had originally been assigned to her without her having any say in the matter. That, according to Stevens, became part of what Kharma represented when she eventually signed with WWE.
“When I get famous, I’m going to change my name and talk about why I had to be Kong. And that was my plan when I became Kharma. That’s what Kharma was all about — talking about becoming Kong and having to be Kong and being assigned that and not having a voice.”
Stevens said she initially considered refusing the name altogether, but started thinking about Black entertainers who had dealt with their own obstacles in previous generations, including Josephine Baker and Nat King Cole. That changed how she approached the situation. Instead of walking away from the character, she decided that if she was going to carry the Kong name, she was going to make damn sure nobody could ignore it. And once she committed, Kong was all in.
“Who am I to not take my punches in the entertainment industry and connect that bridge for the next person? But I said, ‘Whatever I become, I’m going to have to become like the shit.’”
“If I’m going to take this name, I’m going to have to kill it. And then when people ask me about it, I want to talk about it. I want to talk about why I had to become and how I didn’t have a voice.”
That decision ended up producing one of the most recognizable characters of her generation. Amazing Kong became a major force in Japan and TNA before Stevens eventually reached WWE as Kharma — the name change she had envisioned years earlier while trying to figure out how to turn something she never chose into something she could own.
What do you think about Awesome Kong revealing the real story behind the Amazing Kong name and what Kharma was supposed to represent? Do you think her explanation changes how you look at the character? Leave your feedback and let us know what you think.
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