TNA Knockouts veteran Awesome Kong had a transient stint with AEW, aligning herself with Brandi Rhodes to form a stable that unfortunately went nowhere. After months of no on-screen appearances, Kong decided to not renew her AEW contract, parting ways with the promotion in June 2021 before retiring later that very same 12 months.
On “Busted Open Radio,” Kong looked back at her time in AEW and expressed how appreciative she is of the response her short stint received within the promotion.
“I believe the timing just wasn’t right, you already know? AEW was in it’s honeymoon/teething stage, and I used to be busy with GLOW and other things, and whatnot, and so there have been a whole lot of moving parts to my profession on the time,” she explained, adding that she believes that things would’ve worked out higher had she as an alternative made her method to AEW a bit later, while also expressing that she thinks she might need even still been there today if this was the case.
Kong then looked back on the initial success AEW had, recalling how she once told Dixie Carter that having a promotion reach that level of buzz was doable.
“You do not have to play second fiddle, or you already know, second team or whatnot. The want, the need for a real competitor wrestling company was on the market, and so they found someone to really invest into it,” she recalled. “I feel like with TNA it was at all times just… You realize… We’re gonna spend a Dime and expect Five Dollars back?”
Kong then recalled how she left a six-figure job at 24 years old to pursue wrestling, and while everyone thought she was crazy, this was the sort of dedication that was needed to make a competitor to WWE work.
Should you use any quotes from this text, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and supply a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.