Mid 20th Century
127-422: Kia Michelle Stevens (born September 4, 1977) is an American actress and semi-retired professional wrestler . She is best known for her time with TNA Wrestling under the ring name Awesome Kong . She also worked with Ring of Honor (ROH), Shimmer Women Athletes , All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and with WWE under the ring name Kharma . Stevens began her professional wrestling career in 2002 after appearing on
254-655: A Shine event on November 16, 2012, as the mystery partner of Jazz in a tag team match against Mercedes Martinez and Rain . At the event, Kong and Jazz defeated Martinez and Rain after Kong pinned Rain. On January 18, 2013, Kong defeated D'Arcy Dixon, Nikki St. John and Thunderkitty in a four-way match to win the vacant Resistance Pro Wrestling Women's Championship . On March 8, Kong returned to Chikara , losing to Eddie Kingston in an intergender main event. Stevens has also wrestled for PWS Bombshells (as Amazing Kong) in early to mid-2013, defeating Amy Lee in consecutive matches. On April 6, 2013, Kong returned to Shimmer at
381-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
508-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
635-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
762-460: A two-time TNA Knockouts Champion and one-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion with Hamada . She later signed with WWE, where she became the third woman to enter the men's Royal Rumble match in 2012 , and she began making appearances for then-upstart AEW towards the end of the decade. Stevens was ranked first in the inaugural list of Pro Wrestling Illustrated ' s PWI Women's 100 in 2008. She retired from professional wrestling in 2021 and
889-569: A "Double or Nothing" tag team match, meaning that Kong and Brooke would face Taryn Terrell for the TNA Knockouts Championship in a three-way match. At Slammiversary XIII , Kong once again teamed with Brooke to defeat The Dollhouse in a 3-on-2 handicap match. Kong and Brooke received their three-way championship match on the July 1 episode of Impact Wrestling , in which Terrell retained the title. In mid–August, Kong, representing TNA, started
1016-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1143-526: A brief feud with Lei'D Tapa , who represented Jeff Jarrett 's Global Force Wrestling . The two faced off on August 12 in a match, that ended in a double count-out. On the September 16 episode of Impact Wrestling , Kong competed in a fatal–four-way match against Brooke, Gail Kim and Tapa for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship, which Kim would win. At Bound for Glory , Kong received a match against Kim for but
1270-631: A bye via forfeit, owing to a severe injury Cheerleader Melissa had given her opponent Sweet Saraya at RQW the night before, which allowed her to be fresh against Blue Nikita. After defeating Nikita in the semi-final, she faced dethroned RQW Champion Eden Black and won the trophy. After achieving notoriety on national television, Kong received more bookings including for the all-female company Women Superstars Uncensored in March 2008. She appeared at their First Anniversary Show answering an open challenge made by Rick Cataldo and Roxxie Cotton, defeating them both in
1397-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
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#17328760820601524-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1651-430: A chair on Volume 17 which set back her chances of being given another championship match. She was placed in a Four-Way Contendership match on Volume 21 ; during the match Mercedes Martinez used her Fisherman Buster finisher on Cheerleader Melissa but before she could be pinned, Kong dragged Martinez to the floor and the two battled it out while Ariel stole the win to receive a championship match. This incident led to
1778-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1905-419: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . AAAW Tag Team Championship As an individual (6 reigns): The AAAW Tag Team Championship
2032-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
2159-512: A driving force in the wrestling community in raising funds for Haiti, was reportedly sent home from the tapings following the altercation. It was later reported that the same day as Bubba's radio show, Stevens asked for her release from TNA, but it was not granted. After she refused to take part in TNA's January 2010 tour of the United Kingdom, the company suspended her. The following month, Stevens filed
2286-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2413-470: A grudge match between Martinez and Kong on Volume 23 , which Kong won. On the following show, instead of a Shimmer Championship match, Kong was put in a contendership match for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship , forming a brief alliance of convenience with Del Rey, who herself was having issues with their opponents MelissChif (Cheerleader Melissa and Shimmer Champion MsChif ). After winning
2540-404: A handicap match within a minute. Later in the same event she teamed with Amy Lee and defeated Angel Orsini and Shimmer rival Mercedes Martinez. Despite picking up the victory, Kong felt that Lee stole the glory of a win from her and went to attack Lee; this led to an Amy Lee's Rules match in the main event of Dawn of a New Day which Kong won after Lee passed out, refusing to submit. The two had
2667-667: A joint champion with her win. A rematch between the two in September, exclusively for the NWA belt after Kong lost the AWA title in May, headlined the NWA No Limits 3rd Anniversary Show which saw Kong retain the title. Kong defended the belt in a number of promotions throughout the year but 11 months later, in April 2008, MsChif won back the title via countout under a special stipulation to retain Kong's stature. The following year, Kong once again challenged for
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#17328760820602794-596: A lawsuit against Bubba for an alleged threatening phone call. She was reportedly released from TNA on March 1. On the March 8 episode of Impact! it was announced that Kong and Hamada were stripped of the Knockouts Tag Team title after allegedly failing to defend them in 30 days, even though their previous defense had taken place just 21 days prior, against Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky. On March 22, TNA confirmed Stevens' release, while also claiming that she had requested her release for personal reasons, but she later said it
2921-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
3048-630: A losing effort against Allysin Kay and Ivelisse . On October 25, 2013, she defeated Madison Eagles in a singles match and later in the night she was announced the next challenger for the Shine Championship . On December 13, 2013, she was defeated by Rain for the Shine Championship by count-out. On January 24, 2014, she defeated Taylor Made and on Shine 18 Kong defeated Nikki Storm and Shine 19 she defeated Athena . On August 22, 2014, Kong
3175-702: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
3302-608: A match to take on the Shimmer Champion. It ended in a double count-out, with the two brawling outside the ring through the building and even during the next match in the show. This meant the championship match on Volume 28 , in November 2009, would be a three-way elimination match including the champion MsChif. Kong eliminated LuFisto early on with an Amazing Bomb, essentially leading to a rematch of Kong and MsChif's critically respected Volume 9 match. In this match, however, MsChif took
3429-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
3556-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
3683-526: A professional wrestler. Afterwards, Stevens trained at the School of Hard Knocks out of San Bernardino, California . Soon, she was able to have her first professional match in the Empire Wrestling Federation . Stevens also auditioned for Tough Enough 2 , a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, but failed her audition after Jim Ross told her that she
3810-454: A reality television show. For the first five years of her career, she primarily wrestled in Japan and held numerous championships there. In 2006, she began wrestling in her native United States again, wrestling on the independent circuit before appearing on national television with TNA, where she was a driving force in the foundation of their Knockouts division . During her time with TNA, she became
3937-489: A rematch at Army of One which Kong lost by disqualification after hitting a referee leading to a deciding rubber match contested under Last Man Standing rules. At the Second Anniversary Show , Kong narrowly beat Amy Lee after charging at Lee with a chair only for Lee to pass out to the ground and Kong to hit the ropes and knock the chair back into herself. Judging Lee to have been down one count before Kong, Kong won
Awesome Kong - Misplaced Pages Continue
4064-721: A return win after kicking out of the Amazing Bomb and delivering all of her signature finishing moves on Kong to become the first woman to pin Kong in Shimmer. She appeared for one more appearance in September 2010 for the Volume 35 event, answering an open challenge by Kellie Skater with an emphatic victory. Owing to Shimmer being a promotional partner of Ring of Honor (ROH), Kong was noticed by ROH and scouted to appear on both products. On 15 September 2007 she made her debut for ROH at their Man Up pay-per-view (PPV). Teaming with Daizee Haze in
4191-453: A rigorous training schedule, became fluent in Japanese, and engaged in training for mixed martial arts but chose to pursue professional wrestling. She was given the ring name Amazing Kong by Masatsugu Matsunaga, who needed a replacement for Japanese female wrestler Aja Kong in several matches. Stevens, as Kong, worked for multiple women's promotions in Japan, and she defeated Ayako Hamada for
4318-578: A surprise entrant in the women's triple threat match at AEW Double or Nothing , making it a Fatal 4-way match , which she failed to win. On July 13, 2019, she accompanied Brandi Rhodes to the ring at AEW Fight for the Fallen , being face to face with Aja Kong after Rhodes won her match. She began appearing in vignettes showing her alliance with Brandi. During the Full Gear pre-show, after Britt Baker defeated Bea Priestley , Kong and Rhodes made their way to
4445-423: A tag league finals, tournamrent which began on February 24, 2022. As of November 29, 2024, there have been a total of 19 reigns shared between 15 teams composed of 22 individual champions. Meiko Satomura and Sonoko Kato were the inaugural champions. As a team, Chikayo Nagashima and Sugar Sato has the most reigns at four, while individuall, Nagashima has the most reigns at six. Nagashima and Sato's second reign
4572-446: A tag team match but rather than attack everyone, she uncharacteristically broke down crying. The following week, Kharma spoke for the first time to reveal she was pregnant and thus forced to take a leave of absence from WWE. During her absence, she was included as a downloadable playable character in the WWE '12 video game. Kharma made a surprise return in the 2012 Royal Rumble match as
4699-503: A tag team match, they defeated Sara Del Rey and Lacey . Kong returned to ROH on May 8, 2010, to take part in the promotion's annual Supercard of Honor V . Once more she wrestled Del Rey, this time in a singles match which she lost after Del Rey used a weighted elbow pad thrown to her by Kings of Wrestling stablemate Chris Hero , sparking a rivalry between the two. Kong returned to settle the score with Del Rey two months later at Hate: Chapter II on July 23. The Kings of Wrestling were in
4826-425: A therapist so she could get back into wrestling shape. She also showed interest into turning the experience into a reality show. Photos from August 2012 revealed a much slimmer Stevens. Television Main role (Season 2–3) Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
4953-467: A two-time Knockout Champion. Two weeks later Wilde's tag team partner Rhaka Khan turned on her and aligned herself with Kong and Saeed. The alliance of Kong, Saeed and Khan became known as The Kongtourage, with a fourth wrestler named Sojourner Bolt joining later. Wilde then found a new partner in Roxxi , who helped her defeat Kong and Saeed in a tag team match at Turning Point . Going into 2009, Bolt became
5080-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
5207-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
Awesome Kong - Misplaced Pages Continue
5334-535: A victory over ChickFight stalwart Cheerleader Melissa . The following day Kong debuted for Real Quality Wrestling (RQW) and took part in a Four-Way RQW Women's Championship match, that saw Wesna win the belt from reigning champion Eden Black , with Jetta also coming up winless. The following day Kong competed in Chickfight IX , the ninth and final all-women knockout tournament under the ChickFight banner. She received
5461-573: A win against Nikki Roxx . She defeated Roxx again on Volume 14: Hot Summer Nights in a rematch. The rematch was Kong's fifth successive win which led her to challenge for the Shimmer Championship in October 2007 against inaugural champion Sara Del Rey , for the Volume 15 taping. Del Rey retained to give Kong her first Shimmer loss, albeit via count out. Kong then began another winning streak, losing only to Ariel by disqualification after using
5588-625: Is a women's professional wrestling championship formerly contested in the Japanese women's professional wrestling promotion Gaea Japan . The title which was originally known as the AAAW Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship before weight classes were dropped in 1998, was abandoned when GAEA closed in 2005. It was revived in May 2022 and began being sanctioned by Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling ever since. On November 2, 1996, Meiko Satomura and Sonoko Kato defeated Chikayo Nagashima and Sugar Sato to become
5715-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
5842-828: Is a playable character as Kharma in WWE '12 DLC and WWE '13 . Stevens plays Tammé "The Welfare Queen" Dawson in the Netflix original comedy series GLOW from producer Jenji Kohan (creator of Orange Is the New Black ), which was inspired by the 1980s female professional wrestling league Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling . She also appeared in the third episode of the first season of 2020 Netflix sketch comedy series Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun . Stevens also made an appearance in Katy Perry 's " Swish Swish " music video. Stevens grew up in Carson, California . Her mother, Phyllis Durant,
5969-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
6096-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
6223-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
6350-518: The AAAW Tag Team Championship on May 5 and won. The team defended the championship successfully all Summer, eventually losing to Manami Toyota and Carlos Amano on September 20. Going into 2005, Kong main evented the final Gaea show before the promotion closed down. In the final match of Fifth Anniversary , Kong teamed with Ayako Hamada and Mayumi Ozaki in a winning effort against Akino , Dynamite Kansai and Gami with Ayako picking up
6477-521: The AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Women's Championship in Tokyo, Japan and held it from January to May. She lost it to Nanae Takahashi in a three-way match, which also included Wesna . Her success in Japan attracted the attention of United States promotion Shimmer Women Athletes , who began regularly booking her for their DVD tapings in Kong's homeland from May 2006. Her debut came on Volume 5 with
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#17328760820606604-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
6731-567: The TKO: Night of Knockouts edition of Impact Wrestling on April 24, which she lost after The Dollhouse ( Marti Bell and Jade ) attacked Kong. On the May 1 episode of Impact Wrestling , Kong turned face and allied herself with Gail Kim to feud with The Dollhouse. The following week, Kong and Kim were defeated by The Dollhouse in a 3–on–2 handicap match. On the June 17 episode of Impact Wrestling , Kong teamed up with Brooke to defeat The Dollhouse in
6858-444: The Volume 53 internet pay-per-view, defeating Mia Yim in the opening match. The Amazing Kong returned to Shine event on July 12, 2013, in a losing effort to Ivelisse in a four way to qualify for Shine Championship tournament among the participants were Angelina Love and Kimberly. Then at Shine 12 on August 23, 2013, she defeated Mercedes Martinez in a singles match. On September 27, 2013, Kong and Jessicka Havok were in
6985-593: The WWWA World Single Championship in late 2004. Later, Stevens cited Hamada as one of her favorite opponents. In 2004 Kong debuted for the joshi promotion Gaea Japan in a match against Aja Kong. At the promotion's ninth anniversary event Aja Kong won the match but gained enough respect for Amazing Kong that the two attacked both competitors in the main event, revealing themselves as a new tag team named W Kong. The duo soon made their presence felt when they challenged Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka for
7112-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
7239-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
7366-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
7493-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
7620-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
7747-399: The April 25 episode of Raw , Stevens' face was shown for the first time in the vignettes, and her new ring name was revealed as Kharma . Kharma made her debut on May 1 at Extreme Rules , attacking Michelle McCool after a match, and she continued to attack former WWE Divas Champions on both Raw and SmackDown in the following weeks. On the May 23 episode of Raw , Kharma interrupted
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#17328760820607874-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
8001-612: The December 18 match against Del Rey and her partner Serena Deeb. In the match Del Rey pinned Haze, while Deeb successfully neutralized Kong with a spear . After growing success in Shimmer, Kong began appearing on the American independent circuit bringing with her the AWA World Women's Championship from Japan. She put it on the line in a champion versus champion match against MsChif 's NWA World Women's Championship on May 5, 2007, becoming
8128-751: The NWA World Championship at NWA Charlotte's Valentine's Day themed inaugural show, Thorns & Roses , in the penultimate match of the evening. With Daffney in her corner, MsChif and saved herself from the Awesome Bomb by using her green mist , disqualifying herself to retain the belt in the process. In June 2007, Kong toured Great Britain under the ChickFight promotion, wrestling guest matches under that banner for other promotions. The tour started on June 15 in Wales for Celtic Wrestling, where she picked up
8255-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
8382-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
8509-481: The October 11, 2007 episode of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)'s flagship show Impact! under her original name "Amazing Kong" which would be later tweaked to "Awesome Kong" as part of TNA's attempt to bolster their Knockout division . After defeating Gail Kim , Kong participated at the Bound for Glory PPV. There she took part in a 10-Knockout Gauntlet match to crown the first TNA Women's Knockout Champion but she
8636-476: The Women's Knockout Championship. The audience members, played by planted wrestlers, failed to defeat her but one challenger, Taylor Wilde , kept returning and on 10 July she won both the $ 25,000 and Women's Knockout Championship on her third attempt. Kong then failed to regain the championship from Wilde during a rematch at Victory Road . On October 23, during a live episode of Impact! Kong defeated Wilde to become
8763-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
8890-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
9017-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
9144-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
9271-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
9398-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
9525-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
9652-512: The contender for Kong's championship and left the Kongtourage with Khan. Kong retained her title against Bolt at Destination X in April. On the March 26 episode of Impact! , Kong and Saeed were defeated by villainous tag team The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky ), and after the match The Beautiful People tried to cut Kong's hair as part of their makeover gimmick . They continued to target Kong's hair and eventually accomplished
9779-458: The country on July 18, 2016, to work Aja Kong's 30th anniversary event, promoted by Oz Academy . In the main event of the show, Kong teamed with Aja Kong and Ayako Hamada to defeat Chihiro Hashimoto , Hiroyo Matsumoto and Rina Yamashita. On January 7, 2015, during Impact Wrestling ' s debut on Destination America , Awesome Kong returned after a battle royal , had an altercation in the ring with Havok and attacked referee Brian Stiffler. Over
9906-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
10033-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
10160-620: The entrance stage, signalling the end of both their partnership and the Saeed character. After interfering in two of Tara's matches, Kong and Tara wrestled at Turning Point in a Cage match , which Tara won. On the December 17 episode of Impact! Kong formed a tag team with Hamada as they won a three-way non-title match against The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky) and the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions Taylor Wilde and Sarita, when Kong pinned Rayne. On
10287-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
10414-586: The first Impact! episode of 2010, Kong and Hamada defeated Sarita and Wilde to win the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship. In a non-storyline incident Bubba the Love Sponge claimed on his January 19 radio show that Stevens had attacked him while backstage for the tapings of Impact! the previous day due to his negative comments concerning the Haiti earthquake relief project. Kong, who had been
10541-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
10668-552: The following weeks, tension would build between Kong and Havok, with their feud culminating in a steel cage match on the Lockdown edition of Impact Wrestling on February 6, which Kong won. On the March 6 episode of Impact Wrestling , Kong failed to capture the TNA Knockouts Championship in her match against Taryn Terrell after she got herself disqualified. She received a no disqualification rematch against Terrell on
10795-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
10922-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
11049-496: The inaugural champions. On March 29, 1998, during Nagashima and Sato's reign, the title was re-named from AAAW Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to AAAW Tag Team Championship. The title remained active until the closing of Gaea Japan on April 10, 2005. On May 1, 2022, the title reactivated under Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling , where Itsuki Aoki and Rin Kadokura won it by defeating Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe in
11176-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
11303-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
11430-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
11557-516: The match but bowed to Lee afterwards out of respect. After winning this match, Kong was given a match against Martinez for the WSU Championship in December 2009 at a WSU and National Wrestling Superstars co-hosted event. Kong received another chance at the title at Evolve 5: Danielson v Sawa for the Evolve promotion but still could not bring an end to Martinez's two-year reign. Stevens debuted on
11684-461: The match due to "poor health" and claimed she had decided to retire from professional wrestling. Stevens later stated that she had wrestled her final match in Japan and retired the Amazing Kong name, but was for the time being still working as Awesome Kong. Despite her previous announcement that she had wrestled her final match in Japan, Stevens, again working under the name Amazing Kong, returned to
11811-563: The match, they faced the reigning champions Ashley Lane and Nevaeh in the following match, and once again Kong was disqualified after using chairs on her opponents. An assault continued until Martinez and Serena Deeb , who was feuding with Del Rey, appeared to help out the Tag Team Champions. This occurrence led to another tag team match with Kong and Del Rey picking up a victory over Martinez and Deeb. Wanting to focus on her singles career again, Kong wrestled LuFisto on Volume 27 in
11938-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
12065-534: The midst of a rivalry with The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark), and so Kong teamed with them in a six-person tag team match, where they defeated Del Rey, Hero and their stablemate Claudio Castagnoli , though Kong did not secure the pin. Consequently, they had a singles rematch the following night, with Kong finally defeating Del Rey one-on-one. At the end of the year, ROH held their live PPV Final Battle 2010 , which saw Del Rey challenge Daizee Haze to bring more competition to ROH. Haze responded by bringing Kong back for
12192-437: The next episode of Impact! , airing 10 January, Kong debuted an anonymous manager wearing a niqāb , later named Raisha Saeed ; with her help Kong finally won the Women's Knockout Championship. At Lockdown , Kong and Saeed teamed up for the first time, losing a Tag Team Cage match to Kim and ODB. On the 8 May episode of Impact! Kong began a regular $ 25,000 challenge to females in the audience who wanted to challenge her for
12319-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
12446-580: The process. On February 5, TNA announced that Stevens had been released from her contract following a backstage real-life physical altercation with Rebecca (Reby) Hardy just a week before TNA's tour in the United Kingdom . Kong returned for one night only at Bound for Glory along with Taryn Terrell , Christy Hemme and Dixie Carter to induct Gail Kim into the TNA Hall of Fame . On May 25, 2019, Awesome Kong debuted in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as
12573-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
12700-769: The ring, assaulting Priestley and cutting a lock of her hair with a karambit . Kong then tied it to her gear where other locks of hair were already seen. In the following months, Stevens and Brandi Rhodes formed a stable known as The Nightmare Collective. The group was later joined by Mel and Dr. Luther . Being poorly received by the fans, the angle was dropped in February 2020 after Stevens went on hiatus to film GLOW . After not appearing on AEW since February 2020, AEW decided not to renew her contract on June 1, 2021. On August 28, 2021, she announced her retirement from in-ring competition at NWA EmPowerrr , thus concluding her nearly 20-year career. On October 9 at Knockouts Knockdown , it
12827-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
12954-457: The task on the April 16 episode of Impact! which transitioned Kong into a fan favorite by attempting to retaliate. The tension built to a Three-Way Cage match at Lockdown for the Women's Knockout Championship with Kong defending against Angelina Love and continual rival Wilde. In the match, Kong lost the championship after Velvet Sky, on the outside, tied Kong's hair to the cage preventing her from breaking up Love's pin on Wilde. After losing
13081-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
13208-600: The title, Kong defeated Love's allies Sky, Madison Rayne and Cute Kip in separate Stretcher matches ahead of their rematch. Love, however, retained the title against Kong at Sacrifice . In August 2009 Kong and Saeed entered the tournament to crown the inaugural TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions . In the first round of the tournament, the team was able to defeat The Main Event Mafia ( Traci Brooks and Sharmell ) after Saeed blind tagged Kong and pinned Brooks, much to Kong's dismay. Three weeks later they were eliminated from
13335-504: The tournament by their long term rival Taylor Wilde and her partner Sarita when Wilde pinned Saeed. Subsequently, Kong began rivalries with Tara and Knockout Champion ODB. At Bound for Glory , Kong had her last match for the Knockout Championship against Tara and ODB, but Saeed inadvertently cost Kong the match while interfering. On the following episode of Impact! Kong faced Saeed in a grudge match and powerbombed her through
13462-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
13589-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
13716-420: The twenty-first entrant. She intimidated Michael Cole into eliminating himself before eliminating Hunico only to be thrown out by Dolph Ziggler . With her entrance, she became the third female, after Chyna and Beth Phoenix , to participate in a men's Royal Rumble match. This also marked her first and only official WWE match. In July 2012, Stevens confirmed that she had been released by WWE. On August 19, she
13843-475: The victory. After the closure of Gaea, W Kong went on to wrestle for a number of Japanese promotions including Hustle , where they were given the comedic gimmicks of Margaret and Erika which involved, among other things, wrestling in a yellow tutu. They won the predominantly male Hustle Super Tag Team Championship from June until October 2006. They were also the final team to hold WWWA World Tag Team Championship before AJW shut down. In early 2007, Kong also won
13970-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
14097-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
14224-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
14351-436: Was "too fat." After being signed to WWE in 2010, Stevens defended Ross, stating that "If [Ross] hadn't shot from the hip all those years ago, I wouldn't have had the fire to succeed as much as I did." After putting on an impressive showing at a tryout, Stevens was invited to further her training in the dojo of joshi puroresu (female Japanese wrestling) promotion All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW). While there she underwent
14478-423: Was added to the list of the playable characters on the main roster in the WWE '13 video game. In September 2013, Stevens revealed that she had been released because she was not ready to return in the time allotted to her. She also confirmed her interest in returning to the company, stating she was ready. In early November, it was reported that Stevens (again under the "Amazing Kong" gimmick) would be appearing at
14605-533: Was an actress and contestant coordinator for Family Feud . She has a younger brother. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, she was a social worker and owned a business which put vending machines in high schools. Stevens' family and friends helped her fund her career in wrestling when she went to train in Japan. She has also sold Nu Skin Enterprises , a Multi-level marketing company for skin and nutritional products. On May 30, 2011, Stevens revealed that she
14732-619: Was announced that Kong will be inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame at Bound for Glory . At Bound for Glory on October 23, Gail Kim inducted Kong into the Impact Hall of Fame. Seven years after her last match in Impact Wrestling , Kong made her in ring return to Impact Wrestling during the celebrations of Impact 1000. Taking part in a 10 Knockout Tag Team match where she sealed the victory for her team after pinning Gisele Shaw . Stevens
14859-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
14986-465: Was due to monetary issues and recent changes to TNA management. In March 2013, Stevens turned down an offer to take part in a special all Knockouts pay-per-view held by TNA. On December 29, 2010, it was reported that Stevens had signed a contract with WWE. From April 11, 2011, onwards, vignettes aired during WWE television with Stevens, whose face was concealed by shadows and her signature braids, dismembering female dolls while cackling maniacally. During
15113-411: Was eliminated by the combined effort of Angelina Love , ODB and eventual winner Gail Kim. Two months later at Turning Point , she lost a Women's Knockout Championship match to Kim via disqualification after shoving the referee and Awesome Bombing him. This incident led to a No Disqualification match for the Women's Knockout Championship at Final Resolution in January 2008, which Kong also lost. On
15240-463: Was part of a #1 contender four corner survival match to challenge Ivelisse for the Shine Championship the other participants in the match were Leah Von Dutch, Su Yung, and Nevaeh . Nevaeh would emerge victorious in the #1 contender match but was unsuccessful on capturing the Shine Championship. On September 21, 2014, Stevens was part of Smash CANUSA Classic where she was captain of Team USA, Stevens would lose in her tournament match against LuFisto who
15367-426: Was pregnant with her first child. On December 31, 2011, she suffered a miscarriage. After competing in the 2012 Royal Rumble , false reports claimed that she had given birth to a baby boy named Jamie. Stevens revealed the truth about her miscarriage in March. On August 6, 2012, weeks after she confirmed her WWE release, Stevens stated that she was on a mission to lose weight. She recruited a team of fitness experts and
15494-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
15621-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
15748-510: Was subsequently inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame . As an actress, she is best known for playing Tammé "The Welfare Queen" Dawson in the wrestling-themed Netflix original comedy series GLOW . Kia Stevens was inspired to become a professional wrestler by Amy Dumas, known during her WWE career as Lita . In 2002, Stevens appeared on the Discovery Health Body Challenge as a contestant trying to lose weight in hopes of becoming
15875-562: Was team captain of team Canada which lead Team Canada victorious. On August 26, 2015, Kong returned to Japan to work the first ever event of Nanae Takahashi's new Seadlinnng promotion, which saw her and Meiko Satomura lose to Takahashi and Ayako Hamada in a main event tag team match. At the end of the show, Kong reformed the W Kong tag team with Aja Kong. Stevens was supposed to return to take part in Seadlinnng's November 25 event, but on November 22 Takahashi announced that she had pulled out of
16002-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
16129-653: Was unsuccessful in regaining the championship. During October and November (taped in July), she participated in the TNA World Title Series , where she ended first of her block, tied with Gail Kim, advancing to the finals where she lost to Jessie Godderz . On January 5, 2016, during Impact Wrestling ' s debut on Pop , Kong allied with The Dollhouse ( Jade , Marti Bell and Rebel ) and became their new leader after she attacked The Beautiful People ( Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky ) and Gail Kim , once again turning heel in
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