Awesome Kong to be inducted into Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame

Awesome Kong is set to be the newest member of the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame.

The announcement was made on tonight’s Knockouts Knockdown special. Her induction will take place at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view on Saturday, October 23. Kong will join Gail Kim as the only women to be inducted into Impact’s Hall of Fame.

Kong, real name Kia Stevens, spent over over six years with the company over two separate runs. During her time with the company she was a two-time Knockouts Champion, as well as notching a Knockouts Tag Team Championship reign with Hamada. 

Kong debuted with then-TNA in 2007. She would go on to win the Knockouts Championship from Kim within four months of her debut. Her first reign would last 169 days, before dropping the title to long-time rival Taylor Wilde. Later that year, Kong regained the title from Wilde and began her second reign, which lasted 178 days. 

She was released from the company in early 2010, but would return in early 2015. Kong’s last official match with the promotion was on January 9, 2016.

In between Impact runs, Kong had a stint in WWE as Kharma, including an appearance in the 2012 men’s Royal Rumble match. 

Post-Impact, Kong had a run with AEW. She joined the company at the Double or Nothing PPV in May 2019 and appeared sporadically for the remainder of the year. Her final match with the company aired on the January 7, 2020 edition of AEW Dark. 

Kong also found success in Hollywood after her full-time wrestling career ended. She was a series regular on Netflix’s GLOW, appearing as Tamme Dawson in 30 episodes.

Former Impact and WWE talent Christy Hemme appeared at Knockouts Knockdown to make the announcement of Kong’s induction.