Awesome Kong

[Grimmas]

CurtainJerker said: "

Want to diversity your ballot this time, whether it be race, gender, or style? Kia Stevens is someone who was left off nominations previously. She played the monster heel exceptionally well, and had amazing power moves and awesome top rope spots. Believable, threatening aura. She went all out with total action and could have satisfying complete matches in 10 minutes. Had 800 recorded matches. Japanese cred, in demand in U.S., but never had a successful WWE/AEW run which hurt her recognition. If you are looking at non-joshi women to think about Kong actually is an excellent worker compared to the 2000s WWE's pre-Revolution roster, not to mention the 1990s divas. She ignited the TNA Knockouts division with Gail Kim. Kong was hardcore and took sick bumps, had a great spinning backfist and powerbomb, didn't no sell, and was more agile than the nostalgic 1980s male hosses who racked up votes last time. Worked intergender matches, had babyface runs, and exciting three ways. If you were running a league in the 2000s, who would be better to top the women's division as a heel, champion, and then turn babyface?"

Amazing Kong vs. Aja Kong (4/30/2004) A warzone featuring the original and the new version

Amazing Kong vs MsChif 4/7/2007 Sickest backbreaker you will ever see, really showcases how dominating Kong is but is also willing to sell. I dare say this fun match would rank in the top 1% of modern day WWE, NXT, and AEW women's matches.

Amazing Kong vs Azumi Hyuga 8/26/2007 20-minute epic video game battle/legalized attempted murder. I broke down crying after Azumi got busted open.

Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim 1/10/2008 Sub-10-minute TV match that will leave your jaw dropped [You can watch any Kim vs Kong match BTW, since they perfected Monster vs Underdog]

Awesome Kong vs. ODB (9/14/2008) Sick table highspots in a quick 10 minute match with a tough brawler

[Ma Stump Puller]

I do remember watching some very early Kong and being impressed by how good she was already for someone who had maybe a year or so actual ring work at that point. The main issue is that most of her Japan work came during a time where Joshi wrestling in general was on a major downturn and actual footage was incredibly hard to check out. I'll need to do a deep dive soon to see what's up with that these days.

That being said, she's a great sprint worker and a solid monster role when paired with someone who can play a equally impressive underdog alongside her. Top 100 material? Me personally at the moment, I don't see it.

 

 

[MidasGloves]

I've got Aja Kong down as the highest woman on my ballot and in the Top 5 at that, so it's only fair that her protege can make a case. You wouldn't expect the student to surpass the master here, but I do think there are a couple things Awesome Kong does better than Aja that, pivotally, she leveraged really well in her career. I've found that some of the best storytelling is done through body language & facial expressions, and Awesome Kong was one of the best at it; whenever a scrappy underdog would get a shot in on her you'd get that crazy wide-eyed look before the ass-whooping, and oftentimes she's grab her opponent with the windup of a slasher movie villain as opposed to any standard goozle. Then her ability to ragdoll her opponents around was top-notch; the spot in the MsChif match where she'd get you in the rack and make you kick your own head is a favorite every time I see it, and her backfists always have the stank on them just like Aja's. I think she just about perfected the monster heel formula and pulled it off to great effect in both Japan and the US, and that's before you touch on her Margaret gimmick in HUSTLE where here and Erica (Aja) wore frilly dresses and came out giggling and skipping before beating the hell out of their opponents as usual which lead to a number of great tags. While her peak was in the mid-late 00s I do think her early 10s are underrated too due to her WWE run being limited to a few segments and a Rumble appearance. She has a brief but great run in 2010 Ring of Honor, her second TNA run is mostly her running it back with Gail (not their best work but still very good) alongside some good stuff against Terrell and Havok, and she has some solid indie work there too. By the time AEW came around she was clearly winding down and was saddled with being in the worst stable that company ever booked, but she had some fun squashes on Dark at least. Her last match in a big Knockouts tag on Impact 1001 is really great too, the whole thing is basically centered around her eventually getting some action and that body language makes that feel like a big deal even so far from her prime.

She won't be ranked as high Aja but there's definitely room on my ballot for two Kongs. She'll probably be within 75-90.