Kia Stevens, formerly known as Awesome Kong, recently made an appearance on AfterBuzz TV’s Women’s Wrestling Weekly where she spoke about a wide range of topics. Here are the highlights:
KIA STEVENS SHARES HER EXPERIENCE WITH AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Only three people on the Earth knew that I was going to be there. We snuck me into the airport, we were seriously incognito with glasses… People at the check-in desk thought that I was acting ‘super’… We got in, we did the deal. I was nervous and I hadn’t put on the Kong gear in for eons…I hadn’t summoned her.. She’s a real person, Kong is real, hadn’t summoned her in a while. I was in the bathroom… it was a whole process.
KIA STEVENS SHARES HOW AEW HAPPENED FOR HER
My agent, Brian Wittenstein, who’s you know both in the Hollywood world and in the wrestling world called and said you know they have this idea. And I’m like, well Yes! I happened to be in Chicago when they did All-In, which is a funny story in itself…. I didn’t know anything about it because I hadn’t been immersed in it, the wrestling world so I was doing Starrcast… and they said everyone is going to the show and I was thinking that it was just some random indie show…I get there and they are at the Sears Center and the production value is out of this world. I’m like, “Wait… I need to be a part of this next time, someone needs to ask me next time”…and they did, I’m glad they did, backstage the harmony is there, people are working, people are getting paid, people are getting medical… People are happy and people want to come in and work hard.
AWESOME KONG TALKS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE WITH GLOW AND THE MOTHER OF ALL MATCHES EPISODE
I almost didn’t read the script because the rumor had been going around that they were doing that the fourth episode was going to be a one-off episode, a special episode and that hardly any of us were going to be in it. And I just assumed, well if it’s not hardly any of us, this is going to like not be me for sure… So when I saw my name on there, Well I’ll take a peak cause I planned a whole trip…. I read it and “Oh, this is something I’m going to need to prepare for,” and every page got me excited and got me teary eyed and even just from the music they chose had me tearing up and misting up. And I was like, “Wow, right on right on for Tammé.”
KIA STEVENS TALKS ABOUT HER PORTRAYAL OF “WELFARE QUEEN” ON GLOW AND WHAT IT MEANS
No, because the material is so great about taking on these issues. Because these are things that actually happened that, you know, my mom was an actress and the things she would have to play back in the day would break my heart sometimes even though we were so proud of her but it’s like do you know as an actor you either take on this role that is offered to you or starve and never fulfill your dream. And it’s like is someone going to pay you to not take that role, you know, and there’s, this unfair responsibility that is weighted on alot of people of color, you know, that ties into all that double consciousness, that is, that we struggle with…
KIA STEVENS SHARES HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT BEING A PIONEER OF WOMEN’S WRESTLING
I feel like I’m a pioneer to certain generations that like got into wrestling at a point where I was starting off. There were many female pioneers before myself, you know, that have cleared the road for us. We are busy clearing that road… I do feel like I have done my part to keep it going.
KIA STEVENS SHARES WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO FOR THE FUTURE OF WOMEN’S WRESTLING
I want to work with the girls of now. I want to pass on my knowledge and help make someone even more formidable than I was. And just someone who may have it easier, who can get through easier maybe than I did. And get all… just hit the stratosphere and just take the next step and to go a little further than I did. That would make me so happy and to help with that that would leave me extremely fulfilled.
