WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today, we're really 00:00:02.779 --> 00:00:05.139 digging into something significant. More than 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:09.060 just a career, it feels like examining a seismic 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:11.439 shift in wrestling. Yeah, definitely. We are 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.759 diving deep into the, well, the massive multi 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:19.019 -decade journey of Kia Michelle Stevens, a performer 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:22.539 known globally, really, under names like Amazing 00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:26.789 Kong, Awesome Kong, and Kerma. And she didn't 00:00:26.789 --> 00:00:28.809 just participate in women's pro wrestling. I 00:00:28.809 --> 00:00:30.449 mean, you could argue she fundamentally shaped 00:00:30.449 --> 00:00:32.789 its modern path across, what, three continents? 00:00:32.929 --> 00:00:34.689 Exactly. Three continents. And then transition 00:00:34.689 --> 00:00:36.969 to Hollywood, too. It's quite the story. So our 00:00:36.969 --> 00:00:39.429 mission today really is to take all these sources 00:00:39.429 --> 00:00:41.890 we have detailing this incredible life, you know, 00:00:41.909 --> 00:00:44.950 from those incredibly tough Japanese dojos all 00:00:44.950 --> 00:00:46.710 the way to Hollywood sets. Yeah. And kind of 00:00:46.710 --> 00:00:48.850 pull out the blueprint, see how dominance, that 00:00:48.850 --> 00:00:52.590 sheer perseverance and adaptability can build 00:00:52.590 --> 00:00:55.899 a legacy that's just, well. Undeniable. Undeniable 00:00:55.899 --> 00:00:57.640 is the word. We're tracking someone who was a 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:01.219 two -time TNA knockouts champion, a knockouts 00:01:01.219 --> 00:01:04.420 tag team champion. Right. And this is key, the 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:07.879 woman who topped the very first Pro Wrestling 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:11.780 Illustrated PWI Women's 100 list back in 2008. 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:14.739 That PWI ranking straight off the bat in the 00:01:14.739 --> 00:01:16.920 U .S. tells you so much about her immediate impact. 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:18.959 It really does. And she wasn't done breaking 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:21.760 barriers. She became only the third woman ever 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.540 to enter the men's WWE Royal Rumble. That was 00:01:24.540 --> 00:01:27.019 2012. Just an incredible resume when you lay 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:29.159 it all out. It's wild. But okay, let's rewind. 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:32.379 The origin story. Because this wasn't like an 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:35.060 easy path. It wasn't immediate stardom. No, not 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:37.700 at all. And what's really fascinating is who 00:01:37.700 --> 00:01:40.620 initially inspired her. The spark came from watching 00:01:40.620 --> 00:01:42.840 someone completely different in style. Amy Dumas, 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:46.200 you know, Lita. Wow. High flying, edgy, the rebel 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.260 figure of that era. Exactly. Which makes Steven's 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:52.280 own path becoming this dominant powerhouse, almost 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:54.400 monster figure. Such a well, such an interesting 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:56.719 contrast, right? It really is. But she committed 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:58.739 early on. Our sources mentioned her appearing 00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:00.620 on the Discovery Health Body Challenge reality 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:03.700 show. That was back in 2002. Yeah. And the reason 00:02:03.700 --> 00:02:06.609 was explicit. To lose weight specifically for 00:02:06.609 --> 00:02:09.550 wrestling. She was actively reshaping her life, 00:02:09.590 --> 00:02:11.689 her body, just trying to get her foot in the 00:02:11.689 --> 00:02:14.409 door of the industry. That drive to get in, it 00:02:14.409 --> 00:02:16.169 leads right to a pivotal moment, doesn't it? 00:02:16.189 --> 00:02:17.930 The one that kind of lit the fuse for her whole 00:02:17.930 --> 00:02:20.270 career. Oh, yeah. The Tough Enough 2 audition. 00:02:20.830 --> 00:02:23.729 That reality show where the winner got a WWF 00:02:23.729 --> 00:02:26.509 contract back then. And she got rejected. And 00:02:26.509 --> 00:02:29.840 the reason. It's because legendary. Jim Ross 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:33.460 reportedly told her point blank that she was 00:02:33.460 --> 00:02:37.259 too fat for the industry standard. I know at 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:40.780 that time. Oof. That's harsh. Just a potentially 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:43.180 crushing critique for anyone starting out. How 00:02:43.180 --> 00:02:45.060 did she handle that? Well, instead of letting 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:47.080 it crush her, Stevens actually went on record 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:49.199 later saying she respected Ross for being so 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.400 blunt. She said, and this is powerful, that the 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:55.860 comment gave her. The fire to succeed. Wow. Okay. 00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:58.460 So she turned it into fuel. Exactly. Rocket fuel. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:00.840 Yeah. She basically realized, okay, I can't wait 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:02.460 to be picked. I need to go somewhere else and 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:04.500 become so good, so undeniable that they have 00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:07.259 to notice somewhere power and size were valued 00:03:07.259 --> 00:03:10.300 differently. And undeniable is exactly what she 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:13.439 became by getting on a plane and heading across 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.439 the world. Yeah. Japan. Let's unpack how she 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:18.379 built that foundation there. Okay. So Japan. 00:03:18.580 --> 00:03:21.240 For the first, what, five years of her pro career, 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:24.150 Kia Stevens. basically immersed herself completely 00:03:24.150 --> 00:03:27.189 in Joshi Purosu. That's right. 2002 to 2007, 00:03:27.629 --> 00:03:30.009 roughly. And this wasn't just learning the ropes. 00:03:30.069 --> 00:03:32.250 This was where she really synthesized that brutal, 00:03:32.289 --> 00:03:34.590 powerful style that later, you know, terrified 00:03:34.590 --> 00:03:37.669 American audiences. Joshi is known for being 00:03:37.669 --> 00:03:39.909 incredibly physical. The training sounds just 00:03:39.909 --> 00:03:42.770 intense, doesn't even cover it. Sources say she 00:03:42.770 --> 00:03:45.229 trained at the Inoki Dojo and the legendary All 00:03:45.229 --> 00:03:48.669 Japan Women's Pro Wrestling Dojo, AJW. Right. 00:03:48.789 --> 00:03:51.189 And when you talk about AJW, you're talking about 00:03:51.189 --> 00:03:53.169 maybe the most respected pipeline for female 00:03:53.169 --> 00:03:56.270 wrestlers historically, known for producing incredibly 00:03:56.270 --> 00:03:59.250 tough, technically sound talent. So what was 00:03:59.250 --> 00:04:01.830 that training actually like? Well, it's a commitment 00:04:01.830 --> 00:04:04.789 to suffering, frankly, designed to grind you 00:04:04.789 --> 00:04:07.770 down physically and mentally, excruciating drills, 00:04:08.050 --> 00:04:11.590 insane conditioning, and a really stiff, realistic 00:04:11.590 --> 00:04:14.490 contact style. Lots of hard forearms, kicks, 00:04:14.770 --> 00:04:16.449 submissions that look like they hurt because, 00:04:16.610 --> 00:04:19.050 well, they do. Creates a different kind of performer, 00:04:19.209 --> 00:04:21.209 I imagine. Absolutely. Someone who understands 00:04:21.209 --> 00:04:23.569 ring psychology, the language of struggle, just 00:04:23.569 --> 00:04:27.930 implicitly. And get this. During this total immersion. 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:31.660 She actually became fluent in Japanese. Wow. 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:34.019 Fully committed. And she wasn't just training 00:04:34.019 --> 00:04:36.160 wrestling. She was also doing mixed martial arts 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:38.540 training, like real combat training. She eventually 00:04:38.540 --> 00:04:40.740 chose to focus purely on wrestling. But that 00:04:40.740 --> 00:04:43.079 background, that added a layer of credibility 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:45.420 to everything she did later. You believe she 00:04:45.420 --> 00:04:47.519 could hurt people. She wasn't just playing tough. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:49.779 She was trained to be tough. Exactly. And that 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:52.639 immersion led to her first big ring name, Amazing 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:54.600 Kong. There's a great story here, too. Oh, yeah. 00:04:55.069 --> 00:04:57.870 A Japanese promoter, Masatsugu Matsunaga, needed 00:04:57.870 --> 00:05:00.910 a big, dominant American wrestler, basically 00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:03.009 as a replacement for the famous Japanese wrestler, 00:05:03.189 --> 00:05:05.610 Aja Kong, in some matches he'd booked. So he 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:08.129 gave Stevens the name, just like that. Pretty 00:05:08.129 --> 00:05:10.750 much. Instantly linking her to one of the most 00:05:10.750 --> 00:05:14.810 feared names in joshi history, Aja Kong was and 00:05:14.810 --> 00:05:17.990 is a legend. That's immense pressure, stepping 00:05:17.990 --> 00:05:20.810 into the shadow of a legend like that. Did she 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:23.889 handle it? She didn't just handle it, she owned 00:05:23.889 --> 00:05:26.579 it. She embraced the power style, but very quickly 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:28.699 proved she was more than just a replacement. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:33.000 By late 2004, she beat Ayako Hamada, another 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.399 highly respected name for the WWA World Single 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:39.439 Championship. The WWWA title. That was the heart 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:42.019 of AJW, right? Yeah. Historically huge. Absolutely. 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:44.560 Often considered the most important women's title 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:46.660 in Japan at the time. Winning that established 00:05:46.660 --> 00:05:48.959 her immediately. She wasn't just the other Kong, 00:05:49.100 --> 00:05:51.079 she was a legitimate champion. And it's a nice 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.540 touch that Hamada later became one of Steven's 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:54.819 favorites. favorite opponents she mentioned. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:57.620 Shows that mutual respect forged in that tough 00:05:57.620 --> 00:06:00.120 environment. It really does. And speaking of 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:03.000 Kongs, her relationship with her namesake, Aja 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:05.519 Kong, it evolved. It became something really 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:08.819 influential. At a Gaia Japan anniversary show 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:12.860 in 2004, after Aja Sash, both Kongs Amazing and 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:15.420 Aja attacked the main eventers. They announced 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:17.600 right then and there they were forming a tag 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.540 team. W -Kong. W -Kong. Okay, visually, that's 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:23.639 terrifying. Two absolute monsters teaming up. 00:06:23.699 --> 00:06:25.920 Were they successful? Oh, hugely successful. 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:28.319 They didn't mess around, won the IW Tag Team 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:30.259 Championship pretty quickly, and defended it 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:32.779 all through the summer of 2004. Wow. But here's 00:06:32.779 --> 00:06:35.839 the really significant piece of history. W -Kong 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:39.300 were the final team ever to hold the WWWA World 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:42.680 Tag Team Championship before All Japan Women's 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:45.800 Pro Wrestling, AJW, closed its doors for good. 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:49.209 Wait, really? The final holders? The very last 00:06:49.209 --> 00:06:51.170 ones. Think about that. They essentially closed 00:06:51.170 --> 00:06:53.290 the book on an entire era of women's wrestling 00:06:53.290 --> 00:06:55.470 history by holding those final titles. That's 00:06:55.470 --> 00:06:57.589 a permanent mark. That's incredible. Okay, so 00:06:57.589 --> 00:06:59.569 she's established as this dominant force, part 00:06:59.569 --> 00:07:01.689 of a legendary tag team. Yeah. And then the next 00:07:01.689 --> 00:07:03.949 step in her persona's evolution seems almost... 00:07:04.459 --> 00:07:06.899 bizarre hey yeah it shows incredible range you've 00:07:06.899 --> 00:07:09.819 got the super serious historical tag team w kong 00:07:09.819 --> 00:07:12.420 and then they pivot to doing comedy in the promotion 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:14.180 hustle hustle was known for being pretty out 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:17.560 there right surreal comedic stuff exactly so 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.939 w kong these two terrifying figures they adopt 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:24.019 these comedy gimmicks margaret and erica the 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:25.879 power was still there but now it was wrapped 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:29.240 in like complete farce and the source notes they 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:32.360 wrestled in a yellow tutu amazing kong in a tutu 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.040 A bright yellow tutu. It sounds ridiculous, but 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.800 it shows incredible commitment to the bit. To 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:41.199 go from that ultra stiff, serious championship 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:44.399 wrestling to pulling off silly comedy that required 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.319 timing and performance while still having that 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:49.990 underlying threat. That's real performing talent. 00:07:50.209 --> 00:07:52.350 Did it work? Was it successful? It absolutely 00:07:52.350 --> 00:07:55.209 was. Margaret and Erica actually won the Hustle 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:57.410 Super Tag Team Championship, which was mostly 00:07:57.410 --> 00:07:59.209 men competing for it, and held it for months 00:07:59.209 --> 00:08:02.470 in 2006. This period proved she learned comedic 00:08:02.470 --> 00:08:04.649 timing, adaptability, skills that definitely 00:08:04.649 --> 00:08:06.750 paid off later, especially with the acting crossover. 00:08:07.009 --> 00:08:08.889 Right. Good point. And just to circle back on 00:08:08.889 --> 00:08:12.329 that combat training. Her actual pro MMA record. 00:08:12.470 --> 00:08:14.810 Stands at one win, zero losses. The win was a 00:08:14.810 --> 00:08:17.990 TKO, punches, at an event called G -Shuto, Wrestle 00:08:17.990 --> 00:08:22.649 Expo 2006. So five years in Japan. Intense training, 00:08:22.910 --> 00:08:26.689 championship success, tag team history, comedy, 00:08:26.870 --> 00:08:30.189 even real MMA experience. She wasn't just ready 00:08:30.189 --> 00:08:32.240 to come back to the U .S. No. She was ready to 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.179 take over. She had the style, the pedigree, the 00:08:34.179 --> 00:08:36.700 versatility. The U .S. wrestling scene was about 00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:39.120 to get a major shakeup. Okay, so Kia Stevens 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.059 comes back stateside. Debuts in TNA October 2007. 00:08:43.899 --> 00:08:46.080 They tweaked the name slightly. From Amazing 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:48.620 Kong to Awesome Kong. Yeah, a bit more accessible 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:50.799 for the U .S. audience, maybe. And her timing 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:52.379 couldn't have been better. TNA was trying to 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:54.600 launch a serious women's division, the Knockouts. 00:08:54.620 --> 00:08:57.419 The idea was for it to be presented as genuinely 00:08:57.419 --> 00:08:59.379 competitive, you know, on par with the men's 00:08:59.379 --> 00:09:01.019 stuff, which wasn't really the standard elsewhere 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:03.200 then. And she wasn't just part of it. She basically 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.559 became the division's defining force, didn't 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.019 she? Instantly. The Knockouts division got immediate 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:10.259 credibility largely because of that first major 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:13.970 feud. Awesome Kong versus Gail Kim. Classic dynamic. 00:09:14.289 --> 00:09:17.730 Kim the athletic, skilled high flyer, Kong the 00:09:17.730 --> 00:09:20.429 unstoppable monster heel. Right. It made for 00:09:20.429 --> 00:09:22.429 a must -watch TV right away. It established the 00:09:22.429 --> 00:09:24.009 whole division. The first title chase was at 00:09:24.009 --> 00:09:26.889 Bound for Glory. That 10 -knockout gauntlet match 00:09:26.889 --> 00:09:29.269 to crown the first champion. Kong was booked 00:09:29.269 --> 00:09:31.789 like the final boss. Oh, yeah. It took, what, 00:09:31.850 --> 00:09:33.769 three other women working together just to get 00:09:33.769 --> 00:09:35.750 her out? Gail Kim ended up winning that first 00:09:35.750 --> 00:09:37.950 title. But the feud built this narrative, right? 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:41.259 That Kong could really only be beaten by like 00:09:41.259 --> 00:09:44.240 unfair tactics or overwhelming numbers. Exactly. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:47.019 She lost some early matches by DQ for, you know, 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:49.919 awesome bombing the referee or only got pinned 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:52.220 after being absolutely brutalized. The message 00:09:52.220 --> 00:09:55.059 was clear. One -on -one, she was unbeatable. 00:09:55.179 --> 00:09:58.120 So the title win felt inevitable. Totally. January 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:01.159 10, 2008, on Impact. That's when her manager, 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:03.860 the mysterious Raisha Saeed, debuted to help 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:07.440 her. Kong finally beat Kim and won the TNA Women's 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.019 Knockout Championship. And her reign. It was 00:10:10.019 --> 00:10:12.320 defined by one of the all -time great monster 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:15.929 heel tactics, the $25 ,000 challenge. Tell us 00:10:15.929 --> 00:10:17.549 about that. Oh, the challenge was brilliant. 00:10:17.750 --> 00:10:20.029 It wasn't just a gimmick. It was a weekly statement 00:10:20.029 --> 00:10:23.730 of her invincibility. Kong would offer $25 ,000 00:10:23.730 --> 00:10:26.330 cash to any woman from the audience who could 00:10:26.330 --> 00:10:28.490 beat her. Of course, these weren't really random 00:10:28.490 --> 00:10:31.629 audience members. Huh, no. Usually planted wrestlers, 00:10:31.649 --> 00:10:34.309 enhancement talent. They'd come out, maybe cut 00:10:34.309 --> 00:10:36.570 a promo, talk tough, and then Kong would just 00:10:36.570 --> 00:10:39.289 demolish them. Usually in under a minute. It 00:10:39.289 --> 00:10:42.049 built this incredible aura of fear around her. 00:10:42.570 --> 00:10:45.350 The money made it seem high stakes, but her dominance 00:10:45.350 --> 00:10:47.509 made her seem like this legendary, unbeatable 00:10:47.509 --> 00:10:49.610 monster. That's the key to great monster booking, 00:10:49.730 --> 00:10:51.750 though. You need the perfect hero to eventually 00:10:51.750 --> 00:10:54.409 overcome the monster. And for Kong, that hero 00:10:54.409 --> 00:10:57.110 was Taylor Wilde. Right. The ultimate underdog. 00:10:57.149 --> 00:10:59.490 She kept trying, kept failing, kept taking the 00:10:59.490 --> 00:11:01.610 punishment. Exactly. Wilde came back multiple 00:11:01.610 --> 00:11:05.070 times. Then on her third try, July 10th, she 00:11:05.070 --> 00:11:08.370 did the impossible. Pinned Kong. Won the 25K 00:11:08.370 --> 00:11:11.610 and the knockouts title. Huge moment. It instantly 00:11:11.610 --> 00:11:14.029 elevated Wilde and showed that Kong's dominance, 00:11:14.269 --> 00:11:16.789 while terrifying, could be used for incredible 00:11:16.789 --> 00:11:19.070 dramatic payoffs. Perfect wrestling storytelling. 00:11:19.389 --> 00:11:21.769 But Kong wasn't down for long. She regained the 00:11:21.769 --> 00:11:24.509 title pretty quickly, October 2008. Became a 00:11:24.509 --> 00:11:26.669 two -time champ. And this led to her backup getting 00:11:26.669 --> 00:11:29.269 formalized, right? The Entourage. Yeah, that's 00:11:29.269 --> 00:11:32.129 when the alliance with Saeed and Raka Khan, and 00:11:32.129 --> 00:11:34.509 later they added Sojourner Bolt, got the official 00:11:34.509 --> 00:11:37.490 name. The Kongtourage. The Kongtourage. Love 00:11:37.490 --> 00:11:40.399 it. It solidified her status. Top heel, protected, 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.440 always had backup. Anyone challenging her had 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:46.259 to deal with the numbers game immediately. Okay, 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:48.840 so the entourage is rolling, but things started 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:51.820 to shift. The really big change in this TNNA 00:11:51.820 --> 00:11:55.940 run was her turning into a fan favorite, a baby 00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:58.639 face. Which seemed unlikely for a monster like 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.019 her. It did, but the execution was masterful. 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:03.659 It happened during her feud with the beautiful 00:12:03.659 --> 00:12:06.700 people Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. Their gimmick 00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:08.620 was all about makeovers, right? Which usually 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:10.720 meant humiliating their opponents. Uh -huh. They 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.019 targeted Kong, kept trying to cut her signature 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:15.960 braids, and eventually they succeeded on a live 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:18.080 impact. They held her down and cut her hair. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:21.679 Ouch. That's a deeply personal attack for a character 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.480 like Kong. That humiliation. That was the linchpin. 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:26.970 It was so brutal, so... disrespectful that the 00:12:26.970 --> 00:12:29.269 audience reaction was immediate they started 00:12:29.269 --> 00:12:32.190 cheering for kong she became the wronged party 00:12:32.190 --> 00:12:35.149 seeking justified revenge so she turned face 00:12:35.149 --> 00:12:37.710 almost organically through that feud pretty much 00:12:37.710 --> 00:12:40.629 the feud continued even after she lost the title 00:12:40.629 --> 00:12:43.009 again in a controversial three -way cage match 00:12:43.009 --> 00:12:45.970 remember velvet sky from outside the cage tied 00:12:45.970 --> 00:12:48.929 kong's hair to the cage itself yeah Preventing 00:12:48.929 --> 00:12:51.009 her from getting involved. Yeah. It cemented 00:12:51.009 --> 00:12:53.389 the beautiful people as these conniving villains 00:12:53.389 --> 00:12:57.450 and Kong as this noble, if still terrifying, 00:12:57.809 --> 00:13:00.950 Avenger. Great stuff. Before this first TNA run 00:13:00.950 --> 00:13:03.370 ended, though, she did grab tag team gold again. 00:13:03.490 --> 00:13:06.129 She teamed up with Hamada, her old rival from 00:13:06.129 --> 00:13:09.190 Japan. Full circle moment there. Yeah. They won 00:13:09.190 --> 00:13:11.850 the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship in January 00:13:11.850 --> 00:13:15.850 2010. But the end of this TNA period, it got 00:13:15.850 --> 00:13:18.779 messy. Real life backstage stuff. Right. The 00:13:18.779 --> 00:13:21.419 Bubba the Love Spun incident. Yeah. January 2010. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.779 Yeah. Stevens had a serious physical altercation 00:13:24.779 --> 00:13:27.200 backstage with the radio host Bubba. It apparently 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:29.360 stemmed from comments he'd made on a show about 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.559 the Haiti earthquake relief efforts. And Stevens 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:33.740 was heavily involved in fundraising for Haiti 00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:36.460 relief, wasn't she? Deeply invested. She felt 00:13:36.460 --> 00:13:38.840 strongly about his negative comments. Reports 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:41.279 say she confronted him, things got physical, 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:44.279 and TNA sent her home. She was suspended. And 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:47.799 then released in March 2010. TNA cited personal 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:50.679 reasons, but Stevens later said something different. 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:52.960 Right. She later clarified it was more about 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.399 money issues and changes in TNA management at 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:57.879 the time. She'd refused to go on a UK tour before 00:13:57.879 --> 00:14:00.620 the release. Regardless of the exact trigger, 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:02.879 it highlighted her willingness to stand up for 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.320 her principles, even if it cost her job. While 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:07.419 all that TNA drama was happening, we shouldn't 00:14:07.419 --> 00:14:09.440 forget her impact on the indies during this time. 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:12.200 She was a major presence in promotions like Shimmer. 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:15.580 Absolutely vital. Shimmer women athletes. She 00:14:15.580 --> 00:14:17.720 challenged their first ever champion, Sarah Del 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:21.059 Rey. Lost, but only by count out. That finish, 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:23.799 the count out loss, was deliberate, wasn't it? 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:26.539 To protect Kong. Exactly. It kept her monster 00:14:26.539 --> 00:14:29.419 aura intact. She didn't get pinned or submitted. 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:32.259 And her matches with Mischief and Shimmer were 00:14:32.259 --> 00:14:34.200 huge. Mischief was the first woman to actually 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:36.490 pin Kong and Shimmer, right? Yeah, on Volume 00:14:36.490 --> 00:14:39.409 9, it was a massive deal. Miss Schiff had to 00:14:39.409 --> 00:14:42.090 kick out of Kong's finiture, the Amazing Bomb, 00:14:42.429 --> 00:14:44.509 then hit, like, everything in her own arsenal 00:14:44.509 --> 00:14:47.850 to get the pin. That match is seen as a classic, 00:14:48.029 --> 00:14:50.450 establishing Kong as the ultimate gatekeeper 00:14:50.450 --> 00:14:53.129 on the indies. If you beat Kong clean, you were 00:14:53.129 --> 00:14:55.750 legit. And her NWA run showed similar protective 00:14:55.750 --> 00:14:58.129 booking. Perfect example. She beat Miss Schiff 00:14:58.129 --> 00:15:01.190 for the NWA World Women's Championship in May 00:15:01.190 --> 00:15:03.990 2007. She actually held it at the same time as 00:15:03.990 --> 00:15:05.519 the AWA World Women's Championship. title, a 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:07.860 double champion. But when Mischief eventually 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:10.539 won the NWA title back from her almost a year 00:15:10.539 --> 00:15:13.299 later, there was a special stipulation. Mischief 00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:15.860 could only win via count -out. Via count -out? 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:19.019 Why? It was clever booking to protect Kong's 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:22.299 biggest asset, her invincibility. Mischief gets 00:15:22.299 --> 00:15:24.539 the title back, good for NWA story continuity. 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:27.179 But Kong still hasn't been pinned or submitted 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:29.980 on the indies. Her monster status remains totally 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:32.330 bulletproof. Smart. Preserving the attraction. 00:15:32.590 --> 00:15:35.750 Exactly. Her value was tied to that unbeatable 00:15:35.750 --> 00:15:38.370 aura and that undeniable presence, that stature. 00:15:38.509 --> 00:15:40.690 Well, it opened the door to the biggest wrestling 00:15:40.690 --> 00:15:44.350 company in the world. So late 2010, Stephen signs 00:15:44.350 --> 00:15:46.909 with WWE. This meant a whole new persona, right? 00:15:47.110 --> 00:15:50.090 Awesome Kong was known. But WWE wanted their 00:15:50.090 --> 00:15:53.250 own creation. Right. Enter Karma. And the approach 00:15:53.250 --> 00:15:55.190 was different. Awesome Kong was about physical 00:15:55.190 --> 00:15:58.309 dominance, karma. She was booked almost like 00:15:58.309 --> 00:16:01.049 a horror movie villain. Pure psychological dread. 00:16:01.309 --> 00:16:03.490 The debut vignettes were genuinely chilling. 00:16:03.610 --> 00:16:06.330 I remember those. April 2011. You didn't see 00:16:06.330 --> 00:16:08.470 her face clearly, just shadows, those distinctive 00:16:08.470 --> 00:16:11.129 braids. And that maniacal laugh while she just 00:16:11.129 --> 00:16:13.649 systematically destroyed female dolls. Barbie 00:16:13.649 --> 00:16:16.169 dolls, basically. Specifically dolls representing 00:16:16.169 --> 00:16:18.909 former WWE Divas champions. Yeah. It immediately 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:22.620 established her target and her... unsettling 00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:24.399 methods it was a deliberate shift less about 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:27.299 power bombs more about pure menace the name karma 00:16:27.299 --> 00:16:29.259 was revealed and then she physically debuted 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:31.779 at the extreme rules pay -per -view may 1st 2011 00:16:31.779 --> 00:16:34.600 immediately went after michelle mccool and the 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:36.220 pattern was set for the next few weeks right 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:39.919 show up destroy former champions no mercy total 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.179 destruction she felt like this unstoppable force 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:46.399 but then then came that moment the one that completely 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:48.559 flipped the script that aha moment as you called 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:51.929 it earlier may 23rd raw yeah karma comes out 00:16:51.929 --> 00:16:54.370 interrupts a diva's tag match gets in the ring 00:16:54.370 --> 00:16:57.809 and instead she just collapses sinks to her knees 00:16:57.809 --> 00:17:01.509 looks up and starts crying real tears complete 00:17:01.509 --> 00:17:04.309 vulnerability it was shocking it totally baffled 00:17:04.309 --> 00:17:06.869 everyone why would this monster suddenly break 00:17:06.869 --> 00:17:09.569 down that was the genius of it it showed the 00:17:09.569 --> 00:17:12.259 monster had Well, maybe not a soul, but something 00:17:12.259 --> 00:17:14.500 vulnerable inside, something bigger than her 00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:17.140 destructive urges. It instantly made her character 00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:19.420 complex, not just a one -note villain, phenomenal 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:21.940 piece of television drama. And the explanation 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:24.480 came the following week. Karma spoke for the 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:27.940 first time on WWE TV, revealed she was pregnant. 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:30.740 Yeah. Which obviously meant an immediate hiatus 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:33.220 from wrestling. What followed, though, was incredibly 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:35.859 difficult for her personally, behind the character. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:37.720 This was the period of her miscarriage, right? 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:40.980 Sadly, yes. Stevens later confirmed she suffered 00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:44.720 a miscarriage on December 31st, 2011. And it 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:46.920 was made even more confusing by inaccurate reports 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:49.099 that came out around the time of her brief return 00:17:49.099 --> 00:17:51.700 at the Royal Rumble. Reports saying she'd given 00:17:51.700 --> 00:17:54.579 birth to a boy named Jamie. Which wasn't true. 00:17:54.660 --> 00:17:56.740 She had to publicly correct those reports and 00:17:56.740 --> 00:17:58.740 reveal the truth about the miscarriage in March 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:02.920 2012. Yeah, just an unimaginable situation. Navigating 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:05.299 that kind of personal tragedy while being in 00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:07.640 the public eye with misinformation floating around, 00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:09.799 it's a stark reminder of the human being behind 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:12.940 the terrifying persona. But despite that heartbreak, 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:15.599 she did give us one hell of a surprise return 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:19.099 moment. The 2012 Royal Rumble. Oh, absolutely 00:18:19.099 --> 00:18:21.559 unforgettable. Entering at number 21, Nobody 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:24.240 Saw It Coming. And the sequence was just perfect. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.440 Walks out, stares down Michael Cole at the commentary 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.640 table. Cole eliminates himself just by jumping 00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:31.980 over the top rope in terror. Cure comedy gold. 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:34.359 Then she actually eliminates a wrestler, Hunico, 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:37.420 showing she's still a threat. Before Dolph Ziggler 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:39.740 eventually threw her out. That short appearance 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:43.549 was huge historically. It made her only the third 00:18:43.549 --> 00:18:46.650 woman after Chyna and Beth Phoenix to ever compete 00:18:46.650 --> 00:18:49.430 in the men's Royal Rumble match. A massive milestone. 00:18:49.829 --> 00:18:53.230 Even though, ironically, that Rumble spot ended 00:18:53.230 --> 00:18:57.950 up being her first and only official WWE match. 00:18:58.049 --> 00:19:01.829 Yeah. She was released by WWE in July 2012. She 00:19:01.829 --> 00:19:03.609 later explained it was because she wasn't ready 00:19:03.609 --> 00:19:05.809 to return within the time frame the company had 00:19:05.809 --> 00:19:07.470 set after her pregnancy leave and subsequent 00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:09.990 loss. But she wanted to return. She stated she 00:19:09.990 --> 00:19:11.809 was ready and interested, yeah. But the timing 00:19:11.809 --> 00:19:13.670 just didn't work out from WWE's perspective. 00:19:13.690 --> 00:19:16.829 So that chapter closed, which led to a period 00:19:16.829 --> 00:19:18.650 where she really took control of her own path 00:19:18.650 --> 00:19:23.529 again. Okay, so post -WWE release, Stevens didn't 00:19:23.529 --> 00:19:26.279 just disappear. She seemed to take a really proactive 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:28.279 approach, especially towards her health. Yeah, 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:31.180 very much so. August 2012, she publicly announced 00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:33.700 she was on a mission to lose weight, hired fitness 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:36.960 experts, a therapist, got serious about getting 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:38.880 back into peak wrestling condition. And she was 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:40.740 open about it, right? Yeah. Even considered making 00:19:40.740 --> 00:19:44.079 it a reality show. Exactly. That level of openness, 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:46.519 turning her personal health journey into potential 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:49.640 content, showed a real commitment and maybe a 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:51.519 new way of thinking about her career. And she 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:53.779 returned to the ring pretty quickly on the independent 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:57.140 circuit. Back as Amazing Kong. Yep. November 00:19:57.140 --> 00:19:59.480 2012, she was already working shows for Shine 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:01.559 Wrestling, beating names like Mercedes Martinez 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:04.539 and Reign. It proved her value on the indie scene 00:20:04.539 --> 00:20:07.059 hadn't diminished at all. People still wanted 00:20:07.059 --> 00:20:09.740 to see Kong. And that indie run had continued 00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:13.160 success, right? Championships, big matches. Definitely. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:15.839 She won the Vacant Resistance Pro Wrestling Women's 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:19.200 Championship in early 2013. kept having these 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:22.000 hard -hitting rivalries in Shakara, shine against 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:25.180 people like Mia Yim, Martinez again, her presence 00:20:25.180 --> 00:20:27.180 still automatically made a match feel like a 00:20:27.180 --> 00:20:29.279 main event. But the biggest move professionally 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:32.200 was going back to TNA, wasn't it? Returning to 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:34.119 the place where Awesome Kong really exploded 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:37.779 in the U .S. It was January 7, 2015, the debut 00:20:37.779 --> 00:20:39.759 episode of Impact Wrestling on its new channel, 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:42.339 Destination America. She made a huge comeback, 00:20:42.619 --> 00:20:44.960 immediately confronting Havoc, who was the current 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.880 monster heel of the division. Smart booking. 00:20:48.380 --> 00:20:50.460 The original monster returns to challenge the 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:53.819 new one. Classic wrestling story. And the feud 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:57.220 delivered. It was physical, intense. It ended 00:20:57.220 --> 00:20:59.700 with Kong winning a steel cage match against 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:02.359 Havoc, firmly reestablishing her position at 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:04.660 the top of the knockout's food chain. Then she 00:21:04.660 --> 00:21:06.839 got involved with Taryn Terrell and her group, 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:10.029 the Dollhouse. Yeah. That storyline actually 00:21:10.029 --> 00:21:12.609 put Kong in a temporary babyface role again. 00:21:12.789 --> 00:21:15.369 She ended up aligning with Gail Kim, her greatest 00:21:15.369 --> 00:21:18.269 rival, to fight off Terrell's crew. Rivals becoming 00:21:18.269 --> 00:21:21.210 allies against a common enemy. Another classic 00:21:21.210 --> 00:21:24.190 trope. Shows the depth of their history. But 00:21:24.190 --> 00:21:26.589 that alliance was short -lived. Her final TNA 00:21:26.589 --> 00:21:29.309 run saw her turn heel again. She actually took 00:21:29.309 --> 00:21:31.309 over leadership of the Dollhouse stable herself, 00:21:31.630 --> 00:21:34.269 leading Jade, who later became Mia Yim in WWE 00:21:34.269 --> 00:21:37.630 NXT, Marty Bell, and Rebel. So she was leading 00:21:37.630 --> 00:21:39.970 the group she was just fighting. Okay. Heel Kong 00:21:39.970 --> 00:21:42.769 leading a stable made sense, but this run also 00:21:42.769 --> 00:21:45.250 ended abruptly because of another backstage incident. 00:21:45.450 --> 00:21:48.049 Right. February 2016, just over a year after 00:21:48.049 --> 00:21:50.750 her return, another real -life physical altercation, 00:21:50.910 --> 00:21:53.640 this time with Reby Hardy. Matt Hardy's wife. 00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:56.940 Yeah. And similar to the Bubba situation, it 00:21:56.940 --> 00:21:59.319 led to another non -storyline, sudden departure 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:03.839 from TNA. Despite those rocky exits, TNA clearly 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.940 valued her contributions overall. They inducted 00:22:06.940 --> 00:22:09.539 her into their Hall of Fame. They did. In 2021, 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:13.440 TNA, by then known as Impact Wrestling, inducted 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:17.160 her. And fittingly, Gail Kim was the one who 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:19.539 inducted her. That feels right. That Hall of 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:21.799 Fame induction really validates everything she 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:23.980 did for the knockouts division, regardless of 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:26.119 the backstage stuff. It cements her legacy there. 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:28.480 Absolutely. It separates the performer's incredible 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.859 impact from the unfortunate circumstances of 00:22:30.859 --> 00:22:34.160 her departures. Okay, so one final major wrestling 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.279 chapter. All Elite Wrestling, AEW. She was there 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:39.359 right at the beginning. Yep. Debuted as Awesome 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:41.779 Kong at their very first pay -per -view. Double 00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:44.539 or nothing, May 2019, big surprise entrance. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.099 And she formed that faction, the Nightmare Collective. 00:22:47.259 --> 00:22:50.400 Right, with Brandi Rhodes, Mel, and later Dr. 00:22:50.539 --> 00:22:52.539 Luther joined too. It was a very dark, kind of 00:22:52.539 --> 00:22:54.440 unsettling gimmick. They were cutting locks of 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:56.299 opponents' hair, right? Yeah. With a knife. Yeah, 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:59.779 a karambit knife. Kong would then wear the hair 00:22:59.779 --> 00:23:02.740 -like trophies on her gear. It definitely had 00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:04.799 shades of the psychological horror of karma, 00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:07.279 but mixed with the physical dominance of Kong. 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:10.440 Very intense. But the ankle. It didn't quite 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:12.160 click with the audience, did it? It seemed to 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.960 struggle to find its footing, yeah. And it got 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.940 dropped pretty suddenly in February 2020. Stevie's 00:23:17.940 --> 00:23:20.319 had to take a hiatus from AEW to go film the 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:22.859 final season of the show, GLOW. And she never 00:23:22.859 --> 00:23:25.579 came back to AEW after that? Nope. Never returned 00:23:25.579 --> 00:23:28.220 to the ring for them, and AEW confirmed they 00:23:28.220 --> 00:23:31.000 didn't renew her contract in June 2021. Which 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.079 brings us pretty much to the end of her in -ring 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:35.380 career, the official retirement announcement. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:38.019 That came at the NWA Empower pay -per -view, 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:41.500 August 28, 2021. She formally announced her retirement 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:43.900 from in -ring competition. Close the book on 00:23:43.900 --> 00:23:46.359 your 20 years of wrestling. 20 years. Japan, 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:51.680 TNA, WWE. Indies, AEW, what a run. But the story 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:53.839 doesn't end there, because then came the pivot, 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:56.079 the crossover success that maybe introduced her 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.079 to the widest audience yet. Absolutely, the acting 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:01.180 career, and specifically her role in the Netflix 00:24:01.180 --> 00:24:04.460 series GLOW. Playing Tame, the welfare queen 00:24:04.460 --> 00:24:09.660 Dawson, from 2017 to 2019. The show itself, obviously 00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:13.039 inspired by the original 80s gorgeous ladies 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:15.619 of wrestling. And that role, Tame, it was like... 00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:18.920 It perfectly used everything Stevens had learned 00:24:18.920 --> 00:24:21.640 over her wrestling career. Well, Temé, in the 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:24.400 context of the GLOW show within a show, was booked 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:27.440 as a classic wrestling villain, a gimmick designed 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:30.480 to get heat. But the actual show gave the character 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:34.420 incredible depth, vulnerability. complex relationships 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:37.339 anxieties about her son seeing her portrayal 00:24:37.339 --> 00:24:39.519 right she had to be the scary heel in the ring 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:42.279 but this multi -layered person backstage precisely 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:44.440 and stevens had already done that she mastered 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:46.599 the switch from monster to comedian and hustle 00:24:46.599 --> 00:24:49.220 she mastered the heel to emotional baby face 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:52.720 turn in tna and wwe all that performance experience 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:55.380 allowed her to nail teme dawson menacing and 00:24:55.380 --> 00:24:57.420 funny in the ring but deeply affecting and grounded 00:24:57.420 --> 00:24:59.599 outside of it sometimes in the same scene that 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.859 range is a direct result of her wrestling journey 00:25:01.859 --> 00:25:04.130 you can see the through line Totally. And she 00:25:04.130 --> 00:25:06.289 popped up elsewhere, too. That Netflix sketch 00:25:06.289 --> 00:25:08.609 comedy show, Auntie Donna's Big Ol' House of 00:25:08.609 --> 00:25:11.450 Fun, she was in that. And the Katy Perry Swish 00:25:11.450 --> 00:25:15.609 Swish music video with the GLOW cast. She really 00:25:15.609 --> 00:25:18.069 did transition seamlessly from physical storytelling 00:25:18.069 --> 00:25:20.710 to, well, more traditional acting. The whole 00:25:20.710 --> 00:25:23.369 journey of Kia Stevens. Yeah. It really is like 00:25:23.369 --> 00:25:26.269 a roadmap, isn't it? How that raw physical power, 00:25:26.450 --> 00:25:28.670 channeled through performance and drama, can 00:25:28.670 --> 00:25:30.809 open doors absolutely anywhere in entertainment. 00:25:31.170 --> 00:25:34.029 Hashtag tag outro. Yeah. When you just step back 00:25:34.029 --> 00:25:37.269 and look at the whole career, the scope is, it's 00:25:37.269 --> 00:25:39.170 kind of staggering. You've got the mastery of 00:25:39.170 --> 00:25:43.329 Joshi in Japan, winning the WWE title, the AAAW 00:25:43.329 --> 00:25:46.349 tag titles, carrying that Kong legacy. Then being 00:25:46.349 --> 00:25:48.549 the absolute cornerstone, the driving force of 00:25:48.549 --> 00:25:50.589 the TNA knockouts division, two -time champion, 00:25:50.690 --> 00:25:53.029 Hall of Famer, elevating everyone she worked 00:25:53.029 --> 00:25:55.170 with, especially Gail Kim, Taylor Wilde, setting 00:25:55.170 --> 00:25:57.390 a standard for believable women's wrestling in 00:25:57.390 --> 00:25:59.210 the U .S. at that time. Then breaking that huge 00:25:59.210 --> 00:26:02.230 barrier in WWE, third woman ever in the men's 00:26:02.230 --> 00:26:04.579 rumble. A moment people still talk about. And 00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:07.059 capping it all off with undeniable crossover 00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:11.440 success, that powerful nuanced role in GLOW brought 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:14.509 her acclaim in a whole new world. We mentioned 00:26:14.509 --> 00:26:16.650 earlier how she funded her dream. It bears repeating. 00:26:16.829 --> 00:26:19.029 Yeah. She was a social worker, owned a vending 00:26:19.029 --> 00:26:21.309 machine business. Right. Practical jobs. And 00:26:21.309 --> 00:26:23.609 when she decided, OK, I'm going to Japan to become 00:26:23.609 --> 00:26:25.410 a wrestler, it was her family and friends who 00:26:25.410 --> 00:26:27.910 helped bankroll that initial training. That belief 00:26:27.910 --> 00:26:30.069 from her community, that support system. Yeah. 00:26:30.150 --> 00:26:32.390 It tells you something about the person and the 00:26:32.390 --> 00:26:35.390 determination they saw in her even then. Absolutely. 00:26:35.410 --> 00:26:37.849 The personal sacrifice, the perseverance. That's 00:26:37.849 --> 00:26:40.490 the real story underpinning the onscreen monster, 00:26:40.609 --> 00:26:43.450 you know? Yeah. We watched Kia Stevens succeed 00:26:43.450 --> 00:26:45.450 under these three incredibly powerful personas, 00:26:45.690 --> 00:26:49.349 amazing Kong, awesome Kong, Karma, all built 00:26:49.349 --> 00:26:52.130 on dominance, intimidation. Which leads to, I 00:26:52.130 --> 00:26:53.829 think, a really interesting question for you, 00:26:53.869 --> 00:26:56.490 the listener, to maybe ponder. Okay. Think about 00:26:56.490 --> 00:26:59.349 the journey we traced. From the pure physical 00:26:59.349 --> 00:27:02.730 language of an amazing bomb in Japan, to the 00:27:02.730 --> 00:27:05.589 silent psychological menace of Karma's stare, 00:27:05.769 --> 00:27:08.349 and then finally to the complex verbal emotional 00:27:08.349 --> 00:27:11.930 performance of Tame Dawson on GLOW. Different 00:27:11.930 --> 00:27:14.029 forms of expression. Right. So consider what 00:27:14.029 --> 00:27:15.950 it actually takes for a performer whose main 00:27:15.950 --> 00:27:19.190 tools were physical power and intimidation, often 00:27:19.190 --> 00:27:23.069 silence, to suddenly access and convey that raw, 00:27:23.250 --> 00:27:26.569 painful vulnerability we saw when karma broke 00:27:26.569 --> 00:27:29.910 down crying. And then how do you leverage that 00:27:29.910 --> 00:27:32.410 emotional honesty into a whole new successful 00:27:32.410 --> 00:27:36.109 acting career on Netflix? That leap from monster 00:27:36.109 --> 00:27:39.309 to complex character actor. What does that versatility 00:27:39.309 --> 00:27:43.160 tell us? About her depth, her legacy beyond just 00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:45.180 being one of the greatest wrestling monsters. 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:47.660 Yeah. What does it say about her artistry? Her 00:27:47.660 --> 00:27:49.660 ability to connect, whether through a power bomb 00:27:49.660 --> 00:27:52.319 or a subtle glance on screen. She managed to 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:54.759 translate pure physical dominance into compelling 00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:57.180 dramatic power across mediums. Definitely something 00:27:57.180 --> 00:27:59.400 to think about. Her legacy is truly multifaceted. 00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:01.420 Something to chew on until our next deep dive. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:03.700 Thanks for joining us, everyone. We'll see you 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:04.059 next time.