Exclusive Interview with for TNA Knockouts Champion Awesome Kong

36:05I was like, that's mama, silly. That's mama. and it's like one of the few pictures I have of her and I love it. I absolutely love it. That's awesome. And Cindy gave me a copy of the movie too. It was a little B-rated movie that probably three people saw. I got to see your mom in real time. Yeah, I got to see her. I got to see her. And you know, she moved you to an upper middle class area, right? Yes. she you know my father was the only one working steadily at the time because you know we had she was working at the school down there and just you know an aspiring actress when she came up here so money was kind of low we had lost the house in San Diego too so it's like okay we are in dire straights what are we going to do um and she met a friend who used to you know pull a few licks and um phyllis pulled a few licks and got the down to rent a house up up in delamo in carson and it was it was the kind of um upper middle class black neighborhood of carson now carson is a very diverse city extremely diverse city and uh and in fact if he's samoan i bet you got at least one cousin in carson i mean true like one of my best friends my brother to dow when you sent me the text that you were looking for the the the yearbook he i text him immediately i was like well if anyone knows it's him and then i started telling him and he said he he i think he graduated around like 98 so he said he remembered you when i gave him your name and yeah so and he's samoan yeah you know you got you got one person up in carson and um so but that that neighborhood carson the top earners were people of color were black people and um that area had lawyers and dentists and people in music um brandy and ray j grew up right around the corner um the the the little boy band the boys you know growing up around there forest whitaker down the street and evidently um my brother who used to have all the video games in the world used to uh have a young little the game over uh i guess the game used to be at my house all the time i didn't know that i didn't know that because i didn't know my brother like that but they would come and play video games over there were you about to mention the booyah tribe today oh yeah the booyah tribe booyah tribe carson yes um and uh it's it was a nice it was nice to see people of color that had something and were educated and because I just came from black folks in the hood but now I was amongst proud black people and well to do black people and growing up like that made me proud and it was a different perspective I think also

39:25O'Shea:exhibit might be from Carson yeah yeah man you might be right You know, just a random rap trivia for the listeners. Carson, where is that? It's a stone's throw from Compton. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities.

40:04Call 1-800-GRANGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and availability varies 18 plus. And you also mentioned how you were different in terms of like the things you like, music, movies, those type of tastes.

40:40Who were you into? Back in the day or now? Growing up back then. Oh, back in the day when one MTV had like a mix of everything back in the day. So, yes, I liked Belle Bivreau, but I also liked Bon Jovi. You know what I mean? And way back when, I loved Van Halen. You know what I mean? Not Hagar, but... Van Lee Ross. Yeah, yeah. And so, but, like, I had a mix of music. like Alanis Morissette is like my absolute go to for you know if I break up with a person I gotta put on Jagged Little Pill and try it out listen to it and feel it or whatever but also DJ Quick is like Quick as a name is like my ish you know so different array of country Garth Brooks double live I can't deny it.

41:50You know, so there's always, and anything by John Williams. If you put on John Williams, he's the composer. Yeah. If you put on John Williams, you got me. You know what I mean? I'm noticing your earrings. They're cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. I'm a little cowboy. Yes. Yes. Black Renaissance. Yes. I'm loving it. I'll show you, if I could, a funny story. the first money I made in Los Angeles when I moved here in 1999, I go to a karaoke spot in Burbank and, you know, people doing karaoke and I decided to sign up and sing. And I'm sure once everybody saw me, you know, I was definitely wearing a FUBU shirt back in the day when I got there.

42:31And I'm sure they were expecting a hip hop song, which could have been, but I sang friends in low places. Garth Brooks. when I tell you that this bar was amazed that someone looked like me was singing Garth Brooks this guy got up, I'll never forget this and he started dancing around me had little drinks or whatever but he was happy to hear the song you know so you know I got friends in low places chasing my blues away they can be okay and so I'd give him the mic at some point I'm not big on social graces I think I'll slip on down to the oasis and he would sing the old part, you know, and then when it was over, he reaches into his pocket and he's, I can see he's got a bill in his hand and he just handed it to me, goes, take this, you deserve it, you're awesome.

43:18I'm thinking he, as a joke, he's giving me a dollar, which I'm fine, I'm gonna take it. Man's gave me a hundred dollar bill. I mean. And I looked at it and I bought drinks for like about six people. Oh, you was the man that night. Yeah, and just out of nowhere, this dude was so happy that I was singing Garth and that was, I was like, man, I've made a hundred dollars entertaining and I've only been here two days. It gets better when you know the secret lyrics to Friends in Little Places. There's an alternate version. There is an alternate version. When you bust out the alternate version. I could have got two bills.

43:49Your brains break! Yes, I love that story. Yes. That was the first money I made in Hollywood. I feel it.

43:57O'Shea:I took my sister. I was in Kenobi, the Star Wars show, and they brought us out to Star Wars Day and I'm thinking in my mind that I'm going to go on the panel, you know, with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. So I'm like, my head is huge right now. I'm taking my little sister. I'm thinking I'm about to be the man. But I don't show up in the show until episodes four, five, and six. So like, we can't really have you on the panel. So they gave us like just tickets for the crowd. And so I'm feeling kind of bummed. And then all of a sudden, they get on the speaker, and they're like, we have a very special Star Wars fan who's going to be coming, and we're going to sing happy birthday to him.

44:43O'Shea:It was John Williams. Oh, no. Shut up. And John Williams came out and did six songs. No. Yup. And Harrison Ford came out, and we sang happy birthday to John Williams. And I was just thinking, Michael Jordan just came in, did some dunks real quick, and then did. I mean, I don't do jealousy, but I'm envious because, you know, my husband for my birthday last year took me to a John Williams concert. Yeah. And I kind of had to like hint to my best friend about it and be like, tell him all that. And so when we went, I was like, oh, what are we doing at the Disney concert? Yeah. but then it wasn't a John Williams concert.

45:31It was just the John Williams music. I thought I was going to see John Williams because on the ticket thing, they had John Williams. And then, and it was John Williams and Romanoff or something. And so, but then my husband was so excited. He was so excited. So I was like, but I was like, I thought we were going to see him. But still his music live to hear it. it blew my mind and to see to see like the people to see the orchestra playing one I was like wait a minute I think I chose the wrong profession cause one the one that plays the triangle this bitch got up and was like ding beast

46:16O'Shea:sat back down what that'll be$3 ,000 you get$150 ,000 a year for that ting I said she's a genius she's a genius absolutely that's a wild story that you had it was so wild because I was like well this is probably the coolest thing I could have did and then they were like yeah the show doesn't premiere for another three hours do you guys want to go to Disneyland I was like alright and we didn't have to wait in lines I got to take my little sister I was still the man gosh how do you do a John I would do like a John Williams and Danny Elfman Bukkake I mean like a melodic Bukkake a melodic Bukkake that's the hardest line we've ever a melodic Bukkake I'm gonna write that down I'm gonna make sure I'm forgetting about that hashtag it folks

47:18and there's 2K's in that right?

47:25might be 30 yes there is yeah don't google that sorry got my man in the back we shouldn't be you know but yeah that's great but your mom wanted to be an actress and then as you said things didn't kind of go the way she was wanting to go so she pivoted john cena came on the pod and he really stressed to us and ever since he's been on i've looked at life like this john cena has always told us about always being ready able and willing to pivot yes That's what your mom did, right? Oh, she was going to find a way to get in the entertainment business come hook or crook. She wasn't getting auditions, which I can now relate to.

48:07She wasn't getting auditions and whatnot. She was watching TV and kind of depressed every day. And she was watching Classic Concentration. And like I said, she was extremely intelligent, this woman. Extremely. and she figured out that there was a code during the bonus rounds that they would do a little pattern so with her um with her her person with her charisma and whatnot she had already went on will of fortune and won a whole bunch of stuff and she was like i'm gonna hit up classic concentration i'm gonna get them all the trifecta and so she went on and she actually lost the first time but god be something happened to where they had to bring her back as part of the the the puzzle was i don't know something and so legally they had to bring her back and the second time she went and killed it and uh during the bonus round you had to match him up so she's like two eight ding four eleven ding twelve one ding and the people started like freaking out the producers like oh my god how did she cheated how did she cheated we're gonna lose our license and so she they had to start an investigation and she was like no y 'all just do the same it's it's it's a little algorithm right yeah i broke that i broke that weeks ago and so they were like oh okay well maybe we should change that but she became friends with the people that did the investigation and they loved her so much so they asked her to be an intern for mark goods and productions and from there it took her all of a second to become a contested coordinator um and then later like a producer on many other things and but for a long time she was over there at family feud and on classic concentration for for for a while that's dope yeah i i like to tell people you know

50:04O'Shea:sometimes what you're good at comes so easy to you you don't think of a way to make money off of it's just something that's you know you kind of just breathe out that other people can't do yeah you live life live life and blessings come you know what i mean you being you and so life life for us it was always feast or famine you know what i mean it was like oh because in entertainment you know she would be on family feud for a few years and then leave to go do something else but I kind of liked that because it kind of kept us humble and not spoiled. I've met a few spoiled folks who have everything and are still unhappy with life.

50:51And I love that I have a different perspective on what can make you happy. That's what's up. Tell me about Super Bowl XX. That's right. Okay. Yeah, we just talked about it. Super Bowl 28. My mom raised some smart kids. My sister was the student body president at Cal State Dominguez Hills. And the coordinator for the Super Bowl 28, Cowboys versus the Broncos or Buffalo Bills or whatever. Buffalo Bills, yeah. Asked her help for the halftime show, which was Michael Jackson. so we got to go um first you had to like go to the practice and so they disillusioned anybody who wanted to rush the stage and let us know that if you rush a stage for michael jackson we have snipers and you will be shot so we knew that on the day we do that on the day like you know rush stage which was what which was that was one of my plans and let me clear real quick i said 28 my bad 27 super old 20 27 yes sorry about that okay i just call it the michael jack yeah right so yeah i apologize for that um and so it's it's also the day that i had the one regret which i don't do regret which is why i slap so many folks in life

52:26because we volunteered they gave us these the tickets and these passes but they had bussed us in so we didn't have to like turn in the tickets and me and my best friend thought we can go sell these, we can go scalp these tickets real quick to the Super Bowl, make some money real quick so like during like the first whatever, the first half or whatever we went and tried to sell the tickets and we came across two photographers who weren't in yet and another snitch situation no just uh didn't know what i had and what it was worth situation i was in junior high school and the men you know we asked for a hundred dollars they was like no we're like fifty dollars and they're like no twenty dollars oh my goodness and they're like okay and them too i remember seeing those two photographers because our past you can get go anywhere with it and they were on the field taking pictures which they probably made money on and every time i have something to regret i remember kia remember that time you saw that super bowl ticket oh any third row dollars half third row 50 yard line that's where we were that's where we were we had to be close to run out on the field for for michael jackson so we were on in the third row on the 50 yard line and that's what my ticket said that's how that man got in and I didn't know what I had.

53:49I didn't know what it was worth. So I always know what things are worth. So when I was at TNA, I was like, I know what I'm worth now. I ain't falling for the malarkey.

53:59O'Shea:And let me just get this right here. Don, can I get that camera to the men? You should be ashamed of yourself. All right, God saw you. All right, you should be ashamed of yourself. You got one up, but man, shame. Somebody knows somebody. I know they told somebody. But you got to see them. So you didn't get to see Mike then? No, we did. But we were already in. Because they bused us in. We had the tickets and we didn't have to exchange them. That was a smart play on your part. But we didn't know what we had. We gave them in them tickets. They gave us$20. We'll do another one. I hope both of them were walking down the stadium steps and spraying their ankles.

54:43And they got good pictures, too. Both ankles. They were there with the lenses on the field. How was it watching Michael? Okay, so we ran out, you know, we ran out and we ran out there and we set up and we're, you know, out there. And growing up, I never could understand why people would like faint and sweat and cry when they saw Michael Jackson. I mean, I liked Michael Jackson, but I didn't get that. But when, man, when they, he popped up over here, well, somebody that looked like Michael popped up over here. And we were, ah! Somebody in here popped up, ah! Popped in the stadium, right? And then, yeah.

55:19And then he popped up on the stage. And it was like this energy. Yeah. This energy you could feel. And, you know, I know you're not supposed to worship false idols. But, I mean, I was like, oh. You got it. I got it. I understood why people would faint. it was this it was electric it was tangible it was tangible and you know my sister was actually there he actually looked at her so loud

55:54unforgettable and it made me it was one of the things that made me actually want to be on the stage to to feel that from a different angle because remember i told you i was shy for most of my life and I didn't start breaking out until around about then so you had some connection to one of our favorite if not our favorite rapper Ice Cube in NWA my favorite rapper for sure Phyllis my mother they wanted some girls some good looking girls to be in the video and because of our proximity to where the video was shot and where we lived. We Won Easy was the video? It was, yeah, We Won Easy. My sister, my mom got my sister and her friends, and they were all cute and whatnot.

56:51I was too young to be in the video. But I went. I did go for a little bit when I dropped my sister off, and I remember I didn't, at the time, I didn't really know who your dad was. This is at the beginning, beginning. but my sister did and she had eyes for your daddy she had eyes for ice cube boy and she but she was scared to approach him because uh i guess he had like he like he was like mean mugged like he was upset about he was upset about something i've always wondered please ask him what was he upset about that day because usually my sister would go up to anybody but she would not she would not approach him she was like oh he looked like he was about to cut somebody out so but um to be in that room and see like all the stuff also was another crack in the shell of my shyness.

57:41And so anytime because Phyllis Phyllis demanded perfection. She was a lot like Joe Jackson.

57:54She didn't tolerate no tomfoolery. You had to be perfect and you had to get it. So she sent us, I was a child actress she sent us on a lot of auditions and stuff and I was too shy to really want that back then but she wanted it and I'm actually glad she did it I'm really glad she did it it opened me up I think we got a picture of one of your head shots but continue I'm sure we'll pop in a second and so all these events that was my head shot how old were you here do you think I think I was 11 there. All I remember is being mad that she wouldn't spring for a hairdresser. Phyllis. I'm like, we taking pictures.

58:46You got me in the kitchen with the hot comb. Yeah. I'm supposed to be. But anyway. So. What were we talking about? Oh, yeah. The video. So I was there. We saw everything. And it was, it was like magic. Cause later the video came out and we got to see and try to look and see where everybody was. We could see her for a fraction of, I mean, it's like, you know, she's in the crowd. They're like, whatever. We can see her for a fraction of a second. Yeah. Yeah. That's just a wild connection.

59:26O'Shea:Yeah. I mean, that's the, just the city, you know, it's, it's a, LA is a big place, but it's like small it's small yeah dude so that i mean that's just one of those beauties of life and it's just a full circle moment to have you here and to get your story and uh man we haven't even got to wait you ain't even in the ring yeah well we're almost yeah yeah but no no no no this is what we want when you gave us so much i'm and i i said like i i know the awesome kong story but the Kia story. So we'll get to that, obviously, but let's keep moving. You get up to Carson High and then things change for you, right?

1:00:06You kind of became her. I became her. I became that bitch. Okay. What was high school like? I mean, well, at first I went into Color Guard. The Color Guard had came to our junior high school and they did a little routine and I liked it. So I tried out for color guard is tall flags. So I wanted to be in color guard. I actually rebelled against cheer and all that. I thought that was fascist. And it was the stuck up people that wanted to be in cheerleading and F them being tall flags and blah, blah, blah. And I like tall flags. However, the team that I was, again, one of the only black people on the team, on the competition team, I was the only black girl on the competition team.

1:01:02Okay. There's one picture of you. And before every competition, we would spend the night at someone's house. you know whoever like lived close to where we were going we would stand out at their house and we you know have like a sleepover and in the morning we all get ready and put our hair and go well we had um a competition at curtis junior high curtis junior high is a little walking distance from my house okay but then all of a sudden we weren't gonna have a sleepover and it was like well wait a minute my house is better than all y 'all houses and bigger than all y 'all houses put together so why wouldn't anybody like want to come to my house and that began So that began the, you know what, I'm going to start speaking up for myself.

1:01:52O'Shea:Yeah. Because I would just let some things go because I was afraid of confrontation. But that really upset me and it really upset Phyllis. So, you know, she got real mad. She's like, you had me going down to San Pedro to drop you off for whatever. They don't want to come over here. And I'm like, oh, I got to. Oh, Lord. So I had hurt myself at practice one day. I had hurt my back. And I went to the doctor, and they said, you know, just ice it in X, Y, and Z. And there was a competition coming up, the championship competition. Now, Color Guard, the 1993 Color Guard team was the hardest I've ever trained.

1:02:35And I've been to Japan. The hardest I've ever trained in my life. These bitches were mean, and they demanded perfection. our polls had to be in sync yeah and so we've made it to the championship but again you heard me mention the the competition team there were some girls who weren't on the competition team and they wanted their friend to like experience one competition so they used the excuse that i had missed a practice to go to the doctor to take me off the championship competition no and i was like wait what i'm not performing wait what and they're like yeah you mispracticed so you can't you you can't perform and it got to be so bad that phyllis got involved but she lived for stuff like that yeah please tag me in but my mom got involved and i was like no i'm performing and they got their way.

1:03:34And they let, I think it was Rachel who got to go in my place, in my stead. So my mom was like, okay. Well, we're going to go watch them perform. And so, and it was at Carson High. It was the one time it was actually at Carson High, the competition. And we went and me and my mom sat in the audience and stared at them and they started dropping poles left, right, and center. We never dropped polls. I never. We never dropped polls. And they was dropping on easy stuff, too. And I was almost, like, embarrassed because it was the first time my mom had even seen the team. And I wanted to say, we're really better than that.

1:04:15But I was also like, and that's what y 'all get. Yeah. And when you mess up, you mess with a child of God, that's what you get. And so that also taught me, you know what? When you do dirt, you get dirt.

1:04:28O'Shea:Yeah. And they lost. bit time but i will say that the very next year um the girls who snubbed come into my house they were the captains and whatnot um and pushed me off the team came back during homecoming of my junior year um they came to a game and they apologized okay all right and they and they recognized what they had done and recognized how dirty it was and actually apologized to me. And I thought that that was very big of them. Yeah. Especially at that age. Right. Especially at that age. But man, what logic makes no sense at all. I'm going to punish the person who's missed one practice and put it to somebody who ain't been here.

1:05:18O'Shea:It makes sense. What are you thinking? They weren't. Sorry. Well, we know what they were thinking. Yeah, I know. I know what it's just like. I hate illogical explanations, bro. But, you know, going on, you know, we'll get into the wrestling, but you, I mean, like I said, you were her, you were homecoming queen, right? In high school. Yes. Alright, y 'all ready for this one? Are y 'all ready for this one? We are ready. Okay, because this is when that bitch came out. Now, like I said, Phyllis, larger than life, so I always felt like, you know, always wanted to be in the shell. But one day, I picked up my mom from work and we stopped by this place called Lucy's on La Cienega.

1:06:02O'Shea:Shout out La Cienega. And it had a car lot next door. And there was this BMW in the parking lot. Need that. And I was still a kid that didn't really ask for money. But I saw that BMW and it was like Bow bow Bow bow I mean like Shout out to Yellow I was like I need it I need that And so I asked my mom I was like Can I get the BMW? And she looked me down in my eye And was like Don't they have cheer tryouts in two weeks? And I was like No the cheer tryouts is like right now And she was like I could see a cheerleader driving a BMW what a line wait what and she said if you try out for cheer and you get cheer I'll buy you that BMW now I am just leaving junior I mean junior year because the next year would be my senior year and I thought about it and I had to make a decision because the tryouts were coming and i said okay i'm gonna do it now the thing was if you wanted to be a cheerleader you had to go to two weeks of the cheer like uh little yeah like a little camp or whatever but yeah and um it was like a little clinic and and they taught you the cheers for the tryout and for the trial you would go and they would shout out one of the many cheers that they taught you and you would do it and you had to have your own uh routine with music i had two and a half days so i asked one of the girls erica um erica bell that was my friend i said erica come teach me these chairs real quick and she was like you only have two days i was like girl i got it because i used to be in drill team i was in um uh inner city drill team it's like i can get it i dance and i made her teach me the routines.

1:08:08And then I went to try out. And I went and did what I knew to do, what Phyllis had trained me my whole life to do. And I showed out. And I also had a fail on my report card. So I didn't think I was going to get it. There was only three spots. There were 200 girls going out for this. Next week they announced it on the thing. Here's the people on the thing. Kia Stevens. And I'm like, oh my god. And you had to run down there and they would give you balloons. You're like, I'm on the cheer team. And I was so happy. Turn out, another Nikki situation. My own friends who had tried out went and told that I had a fail on my report card.

1:08:49O'Shea:Oh, Snitchy McRat. They told all the other girls, the 200 girls who didn't get in that I, you know, yeah, she got a fail on my report card. And this 200 girls and their parents at the school who had a meeting and was like, why is this girl on the team? And the coach at the time was like, well, one, she can tumble and she can, you know, X, Y, Z. I was very good. I was very, very good. She's on the team because she better. And it got to the point where they had to make a whole pep squad to appease these parents and these girls who were crying because I made the team and I didn't go to the thingy and I had just tried out out of nowhere and I didn't follow the rules and whatnot.

1:09:32And so to face that, you know, like I got 200 plus people in appearance that's hating on me. I was like, you know what? I don't even care. Y 'all hate that? Y 'all ain't going to like what's coming up next. I'm running for homecoming queen.

1:09:50O'Shea:Oh. And got it. Yeah. Amen. And just, you know, I mean, I was a nice girl. I was nice to everybody. And also in Color Guard, I was with the band. So like, like. Queen Kia. I was the homegirl. I was the roundaway girl. But yeah, I actually saw what Phyllis was talking about. I got it then. Yeah. I was like, I get it now. This is fun. Mm-hmm. I mean, people want, people talk to me. I can get any D I want. What? Did you get that card? Oh, yeah. And she bought me the BMW. I got the BMW before the first day of school And I rolled up And I mean hating And I could hear him I was like that bitch got a Beamer And I'm sad to say I didn't know what a Beamer was at the time I didn't know I didn't know that they called the BMW Beavers I was young But they were like that bitch got a Beamer And I was like what's a Beamer Yeah I sure do Yes I do Homecoming queen Homecoming queen yes So I think now that we've, you know, kind of understood where she came from.

1:11:01Yeah. You know, and what kind of made and molded her. The question you'd like to ask, the question we'd like to ask. Kia. What's up?

1:11:09O'Shea:I need and we need to and they need to know. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web. like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required. Compatibility and availability varies 18+. The perfect lunch combo. That first bite of your favorite sub followed by ice-cold Pepsi.

1:11:48Add a couple of friends and now that's next level. Suddenly, the laughs get louder. the stories keep flowing, and the food tastes better. Because Pepsi brings out more flavor, more fun, and more of the moment. Food deserves Pepsi. Grab a Pepsi Zero Sugar today.

1:12:06O'Shea:When did you get bit by the wrestling bug? Okay. So I mentioned my brother. Yep. So I'm always a fan of wrestling. But I was working as a social worker at a home for foster children, well, for parenting, teenage, pregnant and parenting teens, okay? St. Ann's. And so we would watch, my clients, they would watch wrestling sometimes. And then also they would fight. And so we would have to like separate them. and you know I had to do a strong arm and you know what not and it got to the point where we would all like watch wrestling I fell in love with the rock it was like rock and sock and I would watch it all the time and in fact the kids would like call me like you know wrestling's on and I'd come from my office and run and we would watch it and then a friend of mine was like you know you could be a wrestler i was like nah you should you know your personality you should you should go out for wrestling you like it so much i'm like nah but then also trish started trish stratus yeah started wrestling and if you remember at the beginning because she's a goddess now but at the beginning trish wasn't that good and so i saw i saw like through wrestling you know what i mean i could see like the mistakes and whatnot and i was like well if she could do it I could do it.

1:13:46And I'm like, okay, I want to do it. My brother-in-law wanted to go out for Tough Enough. That was a show on MTV. You know, you could try out to be a WWE superstar. So he asked me to print out the application. So I printed out two. And I did the application. And they asked me to come out to Vegas. I went out. And I got out. And I tried out. And did my thing. and I went and I had like, I literally had like a book that had like flames and I did like this dramatic promo and I was like, yes.

1:14:24Next. And I was like, wait, no. I just, no. And I said no and I was like, y 'all gonna ask me some questions. And J.R. was like, no, next. And it was, who was it? It was Bob Holly that was like, no, well, let's ask her some questions. because I was like, I took off work. I didn't drove up here. My mom up there. No, y 'all asked me something. And they asked me some questions. I answered them. And I will never forget JR saying, well, I'm sorry, but I don't believe a girl of your size could ever be successful in wrestling. And I said, well,

1:15:07thank you. And I left. And I got back to my room. It was at Caesars Palace. And I got back to my room and I said, watch this. And with my mom there, we made a plan. I found Discovery Health was casting people for this weight loss show. And I went on the weight loss show. And they hooked me up with School of Hard Knocks and In the Empire, Jesse Hernandez, who was my first wrestling trainer. Also, they introduced me to New Japan Dojo in Santa Monica. and they sent me to Japan essentially, it's a short story and this all happened within months of each other and I was still working my job wouldn't let me go the second time around so I had to make a decision and quit I sold my business and I put all my money on me and I said I'm gonna take five years, I said I'm gonna take five years and just go balls out on wrestling that's going to be my life if I got to sleep in a car that is going to be my life the Beamer or that was gone by now we were on to a Mercedes I had my own I'm 24 at that time I'm in my own apartment and I have my own business and I was a director of a youth program I was in a Mercedes by then

1:16:36O'Shea:recognized step aside life was but life was so good that i was like you know what i can i can do this again i can make this again i can build this again i want some adventures i want to go out and get some life i want to go to you know paris and have a leather i want to live live life i want to live life and so um i was like bump it i packed up all my stuff gave away my well i didn't know i didn't give away my car i loaned it to phyllis and i told him to pay the note and i gave him the money to pay the note and i came back from japan and they was like oh girl that car gone they take that car but that's family for you but um you know life had began and life was fun and so that five years i didn't have to wait five years it took it took less than that now you being in japan i know the language barrier has got to be you know incredible well talk about you know what is that new experience of being over there being uh i assume you were on your own a lot of the time i was on my own and thank goodness america had prepared me for staring and whatnot but after a while a short while actually japan became like home actually and even going to other countries i started to realize i i was treated more like an american in other countries than i was in america and it it just like hit me strong but japan home i learned japan for the most part like my friends tell me i had the vocabulary of like a kindergartner or first grader or whatever but i know some savvy first graders but i i could read um katagana and most hiragana and i got about 200 characters in kanji i can order a pizza on the phone That's important.

1:18:55Life was good in Japan and it was home. But then one day out of nowhere and money was good. Yeah. Like it made no sense. But out of nowhere, God said, get up, pack it up, go back to the States.

1:19:08O'Shea:Okay. And I didn't know why, but whenever I get that feeling, when he talk, I listen. And I packed it all up and I moved back to the States. Thank God I did because my mom would be gone in less than six months. So that's what happened when you came back. When I came back, she got, she was diagnosed with cancer and she'd be gone in six months. But it was a blessing too, because I got to take care of her. I got to see her off and I have no regrets on that. And I also, from the connections that I made in Japan, like Natty, Sarah DeRay, got to do, come back and do Shimmer. right away which introduced me to people at that got me to tna almost right away from coming back from japan so everything everything worked out like the lord know what he's talking about when he tell you to get up and move get up and move because everything worked itself out now just to speak you know uh about your time uh in japan friend of the show mick foley i let mick know that you were going to be here today and he sent a text message and he said tell her she lived up to her name awesome watching her Bonakano Chigusa Manami Toyota was a big reason why I love women's wrestling so much to this day so your impact in that time in Japan helped fuel one of the great legends in Mick Foley for his love of women's wrestling and now you're you said you're headed to TNA now?

1:20:55me?

1:20:55O'Shea:oh no after that oh right here I was headed to TNA I was like I'm going back to TNA what you know what yeah I got called I got a call from help me Laura help me Dixie or Jeff? no no no no Well, what it was was that Gail, they were starting the girls division. Bischoff? No, Bischoff wasn't there yet. I'm sorry. I'm blanking on Terry Taylor. I was about to say, whoo! Terry Taylor. I had met Terry Taylor because at the time, he saw me working on the indies. And they called me in. Gail has said my name. Loki has said my name. And so they called me in. And it just went from there, basically. You know, speaking of that text from Mick, you don't know that.

1:21:56How could you know this? I can't tell you. But a few people, you know, we reached out to, let them know you were coming on. And some people had some stuff to say about you. And so can I just. Before you do, can I say something about Mick? Yeah, of course. One, Mick is one of my all-time favorite people in life. And I've always wanted to be a philanthropist like he is. You know what I mean? But there was one time when he was in TNA. We were in Germany. And I got to mark out being on the town with Mick Foley, who was marking out for Tori Amos. at a Tori Amos concert and we went backstage and to see Big Foley mark out for somebody was like, I was like, this is everything.

1:22:51Miracles do happen. It was just, but he's one of the most gracious people and genuine people I have ever met in my life. And he has a really long memory. I mean, he can remember stuff from like, I'm like, I even forgot that. And so like, I love me some Mick Foley. Yeah, it's funny. You know, when he was, you know, same sub here, he's sitting there and we're interviewing him. And at one point I turned to O'Shea and it was just like, I was just like. Yeah, like, damn. You kind of get lost in the sauce sometimes. And I'm like, dude, this is Cactus Jack and this is Mankind and this is Dude Love and this is Mick Foley and he's right here.

1:23:29And for at least a minute at one point I caught myself just being like. I mean. What? Yeah, man. It's that he's got that je ne sais quoi. Yeah, it's just like a monument. Right. But yeah, so we reached out to a few people, let them know that you were here, and somebody sent us a video. What? And they wanted to share some words for you. So you don't know about this, but let's check this first one out here. Hey, Kia. It's Nikki. How are you? I knew you were doing this podcast with O'Shea, so I wanted to pop on and say hello. O'Shea's amazing. He better take good care of you. I know he will. he's the best um but i also just wanted to say um you know we're grateful for you i don't know if that gets said a lot you know we don't say these things in the locker rooms of all these things but now kind of removed from all these things you go you're special you're one of a kind and uh you'll never be duplicated you made some real history and we are all grateful for you especially in the uh women's world of wrestling because you were so unique and so different and you were daring and special and you still are very special and we love you so much and we're so incredibly grateful for you and uh keep kicking ass okay and hopefully i'll see you soon that was uh you know wrestling legend mickey james mickey james words yeah the last time um so you know we did a like a reunion show with tina i don't know if it was like a few years ago um and she gave me this glass rose um and i still have it it's on It's like the one thing on my nightstand other than, like, the lamp is this glass rose.

1:25:26And I just look at it, and it means something to me. So, Mickey, I still have the glass rose, and it's right next to me when I go to bed. It's one of the first things that I see in the morning, and it means a lot to me. Just, you know, thank you for giving me that. And thank y 'all for that. I mean, it's just my eyes. they are sweating i sweat you know it's hay fever season yeah you know domi cutting onions we tell him what what what are your memories of wrestling mickey what are your memories of working getting to work with mickey well one that she she's one of the most genuine like down to earth people and she can do almost like just anything you know and she she was like a breath of fresh air when she came to tna and it was just like this i i i can't even describe it but it was like something that we needed you know what i mean i i would often talk about how um dixie would get former wwe people and it would um it would annoy us but mickey she was one of them people was like hell yeah now that's what i'm talking about you know uh mickey and mic something i guess with the mix yeah you can't go yeah right you can't go wrong what was the tna time like you know we we know that obviously you had classic matches with gail kim um two-time knockouts champion just talk to us about your your time there and in particular you know beating gail for the for that knockouts championship what was that like um it was well at the time it was more like okay we got to be perfect and we got it we got to get this thing off the ground so that they'll keep it you know what i mean because you know it was brand new you know so we had to fight for time because when if they if they were running of shit on time we weren't the first people that they would take time from okay so it was all about like working together to make sure that they this like took off but also just to just to work just to be a professional and come to work and just be you know and do what you do there was that pressure yes but also it just felt nice to have to be able to come to work and do what you do and gail being a professional Gail don't play Gail does not play at all I'm one of the jokers in the ring anybody that you talk to yeah Kia like to play around in the ring and talk and giggle Gail do not mess around she don't play she wants to make sure it is perfect and we needed that so we were a very good yin and yang and remembering that it just felt special We were both dedicated to the same thing fiercely.

1:28:44Wow. One thing we didn't get into, the Awesome Kong character. Like, how did you come up with it? How did it come about? How did it come about? Because, you know, you had a unique look with your garb. The way you wrestled, it was strong style, right? It was stiff. It was powerhouse. I did hear a story of, like, Shinsuke Nakamura, who's like one of my friends. Who's one of my friends. He alerted you to the name that you were being called in Japan. Oh, yes. Okay. Oh, right. Yes. How I came up with Austin Kong or Amazing Kong, I did not. It was given to you, right? It was given to me. And so all Japan women had lost Aja.

1:29:29They got into Aja Kong. They lost Aja. And they wanted to, they had this big show coming up. And on the card was Aja versus Hoda. What are they going to do? I think we have a picture of you and Aja, too. We'll probably pop up here as well. And so, like I said, New Japan had me try out for Japan. And that was it. And so, they said I was going to Japan. I was vixen at the time. I didn't know nothing about no Kong. And Shinsuke had told me, I came in one day to train. And he was like, ha, Konga. and I was like what the f**k did he just call me you don't do that to people here I don't know what you doing there but you don't do that here and they had to bring out the magazine and show that yeah they had a whole press conference and announced that I was this amazing Kong and one I was like well wait a minute let's pump brakes you know what I mean I didn't agree to that and I had and at the time I didn't know anything about women's Japanese wrestling, nothing.

1:30:41I didn't even know that Aja existed, pardon me for saying, and pardon my ignorance. I didn't know. So I thought they just saw a big black girl and was like yeah, we're going to call her Kong. What? That is rude. And so as people like Samojo and whatnot had put me up on gang on what was going on in Japan, I was like okay and i went home and i hope you know this already i swear this is what happened but i was listening to music and the nwa song came on it actually wasn't really nwa it was an ice cube song okay it was no vaseline all right and but it is about

1:31:27and but i thought about nwa and i was like you know what if they could be attitude you know to me and do what they have done and um just do what they have done you know what i'm gonna be this kong person but i'm gonna make these people talk about it i'm gonna go and do it and become what i'm gonna become and when i get famous i'm gonna change my name and talk about why i had to be Kong. And that's what, that was my plan when I became Karma. And that was, that's what Karma was like all about. But talk about becoming Kong and having to be Kong and being assigned that and not having a voice. Uh, and at first I really wasn't going to do it, but I thought about Josephine Baker and what she had to go through and accept.

1:32:20Um, I, I thought about, um, like just all the black people um um nat king cole and what they had to go through um sammy davis jr and so i said who am i to not like take my punches in the entertainment industry

1:32:46and connect that bridge for the next next person but i said whatever i become i'm gonna have to become like the ish if I'm gonna take this name I'm gonna have to fucking kill it and then when people ask me about it I wanna talk about it you know what I mean I wanna talk about why I had to be calm and how I didn't have a voice and what not so now we're here we're talking about it here

1:33:19O'Shea:just just from just from speaking with you now the worst thing that someone can tell you is that you can't do something you know it it is just you embody just self-empowerment so well and you know even with Jim Ross saying that he there's just you know nobody with your body he doesn't see a future for anybody with your body type in wrestling and then for you to accept every challenge that's thrown at you that is the beauty of kia you know you accept every challenge and you knock it out the park and um i mean i feel like i feel like we could show her the the second the second gift we got for because it's somebody who also that we feel embodies that same thing that I'm sure was told that they had to change themselves and yada yada yada and still has prevailed to be a multi-time champion herself.

1:34:29O'Shea:So can we... Someone you even mentioned earlier in the year? Yeah, can we show her that other gift? Hey, Awesome Kong, it's Nia Jax here. And my friends O'Shea and TJ said they were going to have you on the show. So I wanted to give you a shout out because you have been a huge inspiration to me. Without Awesome Kong, there would be no Nia Jax. and I remember distinctly watching your vignettes coming to the show, uh, ripping the Barbie head dolls off those girls. And I just love watching you in the ring and you are such a force to be reckoned with. And so grateful that you were able to pave the way for somebody like me.

1:35:05And I have a couple friends here that would love to share a story about you. Fuck you. Calm! I haven't seen you in a long time.

1:35:17How are you doing? I miss you. I love you. One of my favorite moments, I don't think I've ever told you guys this, one of my favorite moments of wrestling is when she powerbombed me through a table. No, really? Lucky, because I want to do that. We do not. I would love to powerbomb. Honestly, you're amazing, and hopefully we get to see you again one day in the ring. We will. All right, take care. Bye-bye. So that was Nia Jax, R-Truth, and referee Dan Engler showing you. I still have my little Jimmy shirt. Me and my husband had made a little Jimmy shirt back in the day. I still have it. I love that.

1:35:53Thank you. I love that. Thank you. She was so good. They all look so good.

1:35:58O'Shea:What does it do for you to know how many times you've said no and how many times you've said no to being told no? and like you inspire others with it i i mean i i it's not always easy but i try because you know what even with being kong and then like you know when people of color when black people would ask me you know well what's your wrestling name and i'd say it you know amazing kong girl why you let them i said no no wait a minute if king kong bundy can be king kong bundy yeah right i can be amazing Kong or awesome Kong. If a white man can be Kong, I want anything any white man can do. If a white man got it, I want it.

1:36:44Go get it, I got it. True.

1:36:53It's frustrating because I mean, if you're in wrestling, especially if you're a woman, a black woman in wrestling, you will know that there's a lot of ignorance. There's just like okay i have never told this story ever i don't think about that interview okay because i always said if i wrote a book i would save it for the book but since you okay so um bound for glory here in la it was the first time my husband my boyfriend at the time but my husband now had came out to see um to like be uh amongst all the wrestling and whatnot so um it's at night's night before and we're all at all the wrestlers chilling in in the hotel lobby and dixie was there and dixie i mean you know she was there and so um i had introduced you know it was like a bunch a bunch of them so i introduced dan you know and they and they got up and everybody had shook dan's hand and then dixie came over and she was like hey now everybody's about this close right this is Dixie Carter former owner former owner of TNA of the oil carters or what or what not and she about this close and Dixie comes up and she like goes about this yonder I said Dixie this is my boyfriend Dan and she's like hey and she goes about to where that camera is and she shakes this old black porter's hand now he's in an old like a porter outfit with the hat and everything and i go wait everybody's like wait what he's way over there and i'm like this is my boyfriend she's like i gotta find the only black person here oh there he is that must be embarrassing because we're all like that just happened and like that just happened and so like the next tv taping i happened to tell i'm gonna say who because i ain't gonna put them on blast because i think they in politics now they actually told one of my friends about i was like yeah then she shook some black porters hand and she was like he was like shame on her of course you could get a white man.

1:39:23You could get a white man. I was like, what is going on?

1:39:27O'Shea:Of course. You could be anything you want to do. You could get a white man. And I was like, what does that even mean I could get a white man? That I'm good enough to get a... I was like, I don't know. Something in the water. Something in the water. Call catering. Something in the water. now in 2010 after you had all this success in TNA you made your way to WWE and you know we were I guess warned or not we because we didn't have to worry about it but the women in WWE were warned that karma was coming their way oh yeah so I had left TNA and I mean I had left TNA I had minus money I was in the red I was like I don't care So this on Dark Side of the Ring, you were saying how you were making less than the McDonald's manager and no one was getting...

1:40:22I mean, like, and they thought they had me because I didn't have any money. I was like, you don't need me. Give me my release. And so I was like, you know what? I'm going to wait a while, get back on the Indies, and I'm going to give WWE a call about as soon as my no compete is up. Give it a couple of months. I'm going to get in the shape a little bit. I'm going to call. however they called me and what had happened was evidently all the girls that were sending in their tapes were sending in their best matches and their best matches on the indies because you know TNA was pimping me out left right and center all their best matches were me so even though I didn't I hadn't sent my stuff in yet they had seen my stuff and of course they had saw the stuff on TNA so I got a call from John Laurinaitis one day didn't believe it was John Laurinaitis and was like stop playing on my phone yeah it's John Laurinaitis yeah I thought it was like Tommy or somebody I was like yo I just stop playing on my phone I don't like people playing on my phone I keep it real keeping it real goes wrong laughing but it was him and so we had they called me down I had the interview and what not and you know it's a process but when you get hired it's like you know it takes a little while to get like officially hired at the time because it wasn't rebrand you and that right that but you also have to go to um pittsburgh for all your medical testing and whatnot and and and but no they they just wanted they i didn't have to go down to florida i didn't have to go down to ovw or anything i went straight to tv so they were like make her outfit and and let's get her on And it was less than a few weeks after my medical had got cleared and stuff.

1:42:18So, like, it was fast. But even through all that time, every night to Dan, I was like, I just want to walk down that ramp one time. I just want to walk just at least one time so that JR can shove it. I just got to walk down one time. I said, Lord, just one time. And that's about how many times I walk down. About how many times I walk down the ramp. but you know what it was i i i loved it i feel i i feel so blessed to have had that experience and to have gotten there when i would hear from my closest friends i swear it's like everybody would say like everybody would always assume they knew vince and knew what vince like and people would always say oh i'm sorry yeah vince would never hire you too bad but vince would never hire you vince likes this and vince likes that and that's all i would hear from my peers through my whole career and so for them to call me out the blue you know i i was kind of surprised and when i went down there i made sure i went down there pimping i was barbie doll pimping when i went down to the uh the twin towers i went now i went down there like hey and so they liked that because you know that was a different side of me and um it was a fun ride it was a fun little honeymoon people always you know because i run into it just a little bit but i even when you

1:43:50O'Shea:have people who work under you who have been with you so long that they kind of think they know what you like you gotta understand he might have liked that that month that year you gotta give me the opportunity to say no. Especially if he hasn't seen something like that. Yeah, like, no, you have to. If you're not the guy, you still got to give him a chance to see, you know, because you never know what direction the wind is blowing. And, yeah, you saying that you wanted to go down that ramp one time and then, you know, God gave him. It's the reason why I don't. So I used to pray for the Lakers, right?

1:44:32O'Shea:And I used to be like, God, just let us get 48 minutes of good basketball. Let's just get 48 minutes of good basketball. And that game go to overtime and the Lakers lose? Well, I asked for 48 minutes. So I feel you with that. But just to get down that ramp, just so JR could eat some crow right there. That is, I'm Petty Guerrero. That's the Petty I like. And he's one of my favorite people, JR. He's one of my favorite people I like. You gotta tip your cap. I mean, you know. If you cap to me. So after, you know, a few weeks of the vignettes, you attacked a few people. Michelle McCool sticks out as one of them.

1:45:12I think maybe even Eve Torres you may have gotten a hold of. Perhaps, maybe, or not. I believe you. You famously, there was a situation where all the wrestlers, all the divas, they were still at that time, were in the ring, and you came marching down, making that walk down the aisle, and then you had a bit of a breakdown, and no one was sure what was. Oh, yeah, then. Okay. No one was sure what was going on. Yeah, man. True. Just got to WWE. And we had just went on a tour of Mexico, you know, house shows. And I couldn't move or wake up. It got to the point where I was like, I'm just going to live in Mexico now.

1:45:56I'm so tired. I stay here. I mean, and then I was like, something's wrong. I'm like there's something going on with me that I'm this tired when I should be so excited that I'm on the road and whatnot so I went to the doctor and they was like congratulations the stork has come to visit the stick has turned blue the rabbit died and I'm like oh that's and so I had to call the office right away and I was like yeah this is what's going on and so they had wrote that angle which i didn't i didn't i didn't think it was the most creative way uh to do but i was like i i i can't i felt bad that that's what they had to do because at the time um hunter uh had put it was like he was at the beginning of his like reign you know what i mean and he had put everything into me he was like so excited for me yeah and then it was like okay now i i pop up pregnant um missed cocaine jump from the damn thing into the ring right it was like just left right and centered and so they asked me to do that i was like i'll do it they i i did ask them to change some words because i was like you know i'm not gonna say that or have that said about my child if they were to see that later.

1:47:28And they accommodated me, and we went out and did that, and I went on maternity leave for a while. Oh, man. Yeah, that was the thing. Everyone was kind of confused that week when you broke down and then it came out that, you know. Yeah, I wanted just to moonwalk quietly home, you know. Just like, can't we just like have me disappear for a while while we got to do all this crying and whatnot. Man, okay, I'll go out there and cry. Y 'all want me to cry on cue? Okay, I'll go out there and cry on cue, which was hard with the damn lights just beaming on you. And me trying to be strong, which was contradictory.

1:48:07You know, plaid and polka dots. Like, let's go out there. Plaid and polka dots. Yeah, that was something that everyone was like, what's going on here? Yeah, they sent me out. I went on maternity leave. And unfortunately, late into the pregnancy, you know, I went into labor and he was stillborn, you know, so I lost the baby. And so I wanted to come back to work immediately after that. And I actually did. I went. We did the Royal Rumble.

1:48:42O'Shea:Yeah. 2012. And then. Only the third woman ever to be. Yeah. Wait, what? Yeah. Only third ever. Oh, third. I was like, no, there's some people before me. No, no. Just two. Chyna and I guess Beth Phoenix was the other one. And so like. Now Nia Jax. Yeah. Oh, that's right. Nia. We. And by the way, though, as a wrestling fan and a Beth Phoenix and a Karma fan, I can remember like that's the match right here. Right. That is the match. That's what you want. You know, I wanted to front seat on that. Shoot. I was waiting for that one. We missed out on that one. But what happened was WWE asked me what did I need to come back.

1:49:27I was like, just let me come back. I need to not be at home and just win in my own whatever. Put me on the road. Well, we want you to lose a little weight.

1:49:37O'Shea:Okay. That's fine. All right. There's a fat camp out in Colorado that the biggest loser used. Send me out there. I'll drop some pounds. Well, how about we sing in the OVW? I don't think that'd be smart right now. And they asked me, what do you need? I said, okay, this is what I need. You want me to be ready? Get me Sarah Del Rey. Who's Sarah Del Rey? I know y 'all know who's Sarah Del Rey. Find Sarah Del Rey. Let me go down to OVW. Two weeks, I'll be ready. That's not what they wanted to do. They wanted me to get ready the way they wanted me to get ready. Yeah, the machine. And I just, I had no bandwidth.

1:50:20I had no tolerance for the bullshit. I couldn't do, it's a mind game there. And I couldn't participate. So when someone did what they used to do, I don't know how it is now, but back then there were people that were on power trips, you know? and when someone pulled they power trip you know I had to put on my clown suit

1:50:49and drive down there and let them know what I thought about that you know so I got let go about two weeks after that and I knew it was coming I was like oh they're going to let me go after that they're about to let me go after that but like there was There was all the games I couldn't play. I could not play all the games. But they said, we want you to do this and come back and we'll sign you again. But that just never happened.

1:51:25O'Shea:Never happened. Now, one of the biggest what ifs in WWE history for sure. and I just feel like they missed on a mega star that could have worked for years the storylines alone, the fantasy booking and just another precious star from TNA and it kind of reminds me of that third gift we have a third gift someone else say some stuff to you hey Kia, AJ Styles here just to remind you that you are loved and appreciated. So many great things you've done in the wrestling business. In fact, one of the things I remember the most is how intimidating it was to go after you in a match. The matches that you had with Gail and Taylor Wilde and so on, like, man, it was one of those things I was like, I better be freaking killing it tonight because this girl and whoever she's wrestling, they're so good.

1:52:30so I just want to let you know you're appreciated and you're loved especially by me it's always good to see you when I do so I just want to remind you that you are loved and appreciated thanks girl miss ya I just dried my face y 'all I had just got all of it oh oh phenomenal AJ Styles someone who you shared the ring with shared rooms with you know these are my brothers yeah you know talk to us about it what's that used to be on the road and have you know share room the tna you had to share you you had to share room save money share room and uh all my brothers would take look after me on the road and take care of me and actually aj aj is the reason why i wear the fragrance that i do um the one that had fell out of my bag.

1:53:27So what had happened was I was going on a date one weekend, and I had to do, we did a taping beforehand. And I was like, oh, okay, so I got this new dude, and, you know, what should I do? I want to, like, get a new fragrance. What should it smell like? And AJ was like, it should smell like something you want to eat. And I was like, hey! Okay!

1:53:57I was like, yes! And so I went to the perfumier or whatever, you know, and tried out some perfumes, and I came across Pink Sugar, and I was like, yeah, that smells like something you want to eat! And it's been my favorite ever since.

1:54:18O'Shea:Alright, I know we've been making you cry, but it's time for a particular question that we have to ask everybody here their first time on the No Contest Wrestling Podcast. Okay. Kia, Awesome Kong, you are out with the ladies at a bar. There's 50 ladies in that bar that don't think Awesome Kong is all that awesome. I need you to... They're like, she looks like a vixen. I need you to pick a team of you and four other wrestlers from any era. Male, female. Take it easy. Yeah, we should do the female. Female, female. What? I get it. Yo, relax. We don't want that. These ladies. Yeah, but four other female superstars to make sure Awesome Kong stay awesome.

1:55:16Chyna, Lita, Natty Nightheart, Nia Jax. that's the quickest

1:55:22O'Shea:the team's ever been picked who else I want Charlotte oh okay you got your five oh okay so it's you Chyna uh huh 9th Wonder of the World yeah Lita yeah Natty and Naya yeah oh I okay oh you're counting me yeah you go yeah you go somebody getting beat up yeah come on now that's that's 50 people getting beat up that night yo yeah okay China, Lita, Natty Lita just jumping off the tape China using power moves Natty's got somebody in some type of purple crossface or something on the ground and then you and Nia are just smashing folks come on now good luck y 'all you know I would put Beth in for Natty, but knowing Natty personally, Natty got some secret, like, I don't even know.

1:56:25It's a little rough. Well, yeah, we get to see that in Natty now. You know, Natalia was one thing, but now Natty's here. And Natty's a little bit of a roughneck. She's a little bit rougher than, a little bit more evil than Natalia. So... Natty can get down. I didn't see it up close and bright. You've seen Natty really fight somebody? Oh, I have seen her handle herself. The fangs come out. Okay, yes. Can you share something? We were in Japan. Oh, speaking of karaoke, I had just did Welcome to the Jungle. That's one of my go-tos. There was a fan who was just a little too friendly.

1:57:11O'Shea:Yeah, that happens. And normally there, the fans are extremely just very, very respectful. And this one was just wanted to be in the mix. And she just politely. Let me pick you up. Yes. And it was just like, what? She was like, I'm going to put you over here. And came back to us and we kept singing. And the guy just didn't even know what just happened. And the way she picked him up was like just the shoulders. Like a child. Not under here, but like from right here. Like here and up off the feet. Yeah. Over here. And just walk back. And that was it. And that was it. And that was it. And then it was just like, okay, so I'm going to mess with Nanny.

1:58:03Okay. Or whatever. But yeah, she got. Got some strength. She got some strength. Plus, I don't know if you know, but she did a Franken one with me, and I'm the one that was with. She hurt her knee. She had to get surgery and whatnot. But when she did that Franken, Nettie had her legs wrapped around my throat. Yeah, Frankensteiner? Is that what you did? Yeah, it was a Franken. Yeah, it wasn't a Herkirana. It was a Frankensteiner. And her essence was there. Her legs were locked. and I was like, oh my god. Hashtag essence. Her essence was like right there. Her legs were locked and I was like, can she flip already?

1:58:46This is personal. I didn't know if it was like, I don't want to be too personal with your essence. It didn't smell bad. But the legs was more like, can you just hurry up already? Because this is a plus and personal. Natty can get through it. All right. China leading Natty and Naya.

1:59:07O'Shea:And Kier. TJ, I hate to do this. Oh, we're wrapping up? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is too good. This is about to be a first in no contest wrestling history. What? I got to go do movie stuff. So I'm about to let you handle the rest. You got to be out? Yeah, bro. Yeah, we have to. Dave Franco. I didn't know. No, no, no. Our conversation was just too good. But friends of the No Contest Wrestling Podcast, this interview is continuing. and Shay just got to go do movie stuff. You know how I do. I got to keep the lights on. I'm a single black father in America. What do you remember about this? What was your welcome to wrestling moment?

1:59:43What was that moment? Maybe the first time you got in the ring and maybe you hit a rope or you took a bump and you were like, oh, I don't know about this. Or was there a moment? I don't know about this, no. Never was there? Never. In fact, when I went to school at Hard Knocks, because at Tough Enough, it was a no-bump ring, which I didn't know what that meant. Because they said a whole bunch of wrestling. What does that even mean? So when you did Tough Enough, you had zero wrestling experience? Zero. I was a fan of a person who just watched wrestling. and and they gave us you know rules before and they were like there's a no bump ring no x y and z no x y and z no x y and then they gave us a bunch of stuff to do kip up and this and that and say your promo and so i had asked what what's what's the bump and so kenny kenny king okay person in front of me he was the person that went right before me so uh it was a three-day deal so kenny and i uh got to know each other really well those three days because he went on we were in the same line together and he taught me as much about wrestling and indie wrestling as he could he's so sweet and so then i understood what a bump was but um when i went to school hard knocks for the first time they said fall and i fell i they said do this and i did it but it was you felt like a normal person would fall though you didn't follow wrestling style no i fell up wrestling They showed me and that's what I did.

2:01:13But remember, I come from a background of dance, gymnastics, and drill team and color guard and cheer. So these are all, this is all choreography to me. So you show me, I'll do it and be fearless about it. To me, things in the ring, they might be firm, but to me, the hardest thing in wrestling is like a chop or a slap. that's the things that made me go Kim can you stop can you stop can you stop doing that speaking of that right your Instagram Twitter handle spinning back fists the way Awesome Kong wrestled like where did you find that style like very just we spoke a little bit about this before this seemed a little bit like the strong style the very just vicious brutal take using your size to your advantage how did this all come The girls in Japan insisted on it.

2:02:16Yeah. Because even there at the beginning, because I had to learn on the fly. Okay. I had only been wrestling. I had took my first bump two months before I got to Japan. So all I knew how to do was to bump, to throw a clothesline, and to run the ropes. That's all I really knew how to do in wrestling. And they actually preferred that because it meant that they didn't have to break me down any bad habits. They could actually build me up the way they wanted to. That makes sense. So they actually embraced that. Yeah, they preferred that. So every show, we would sit down with that translation book.

2:03:03Yeah. And we would take about half an hour to go over what I did, you know, what I could do better. I won't say did wrong, but I'll say what I could do better. And those girls invested in me and was like stronger, more. It was like everything was just more. Who were some of the women that you worked with? Um, um, um, Maikawa Kumiko was, um, like the main person who, um, took me under their wing. Um, Nane Takahashi was another one who was extremely blunt about how much I sucked in the beginning. And she, she's actually the person who later, because she was so like blunt and, frustrated was the person I wanted to impress the most and was the reason why I started getting better because at the very beginning everyone didn't want to like say whatever they'd be like oh okay okay but I knew it wasn't okay I was like no it's not okay I sucked out there and they're like oh it's okay and Nana was like we're gonna sit down here with this book after every match and we're going to get you better.

2:04:20And they did. That's dope. That's dope. Yeah, it is almost like that, right? Like you kind of want to impress the person sometimes who is the most hard on you. Oh, yeah. That's just weird how humans are. She was most hard. She expected a lot. And thank goodness that she did. So glad she did. Is there a message that you have? Because like you said, you kind of got out of the bubble as you described it to me. You built this wonderful bubble for your life and wrestling wasn't let in as we spoke about. But obviously you have thousands, millions of fans out there who probably haven't seen a lot of you lately.

2:04:55So is there a message after doing this that you'd want to say to all the people that were awesome Kong and Karma fans that really rode with you? You're going to see some activity from me soon. In what shape or form? I don't know. Because for the most part, it's been like me in a conversation with God that's like, you know how in the movie there's a hacker and he's got the machine and it's undoing the numbers and it's finding the numbers and stuff. And for me, it's been like I've been in the bubble with this conversation with God and he's been unlocking the combination to show me what it is I'm going to do next.

2:05:45and things within the wrestling world or just other things you have so many interests it seems I have not excluded the wrestling world like I would go back to wrestling if I got back in shape like if somebody wanted to work out with me and get me back in shape I totally would okay you haven't shut that door then heck no y 'all didn't I told y 'all y 'all put it back in my heart and I can't even say dang you because I yeah, wrestling is in my blood, you know, which is why I didn't want it in the house because once you get the bug, it doesn't leave, you know what I mean? It will stay in you forever, and I needed to heal, but I feel like I'm pretty healed up, and so now it would just be about getting in shape.

2:06:30I won't rule it out, but it's not going to be my main focus. It won't be my main focus, but I will not rule it out. If somebody called me and be like, Kia, I'm going to get you in shape, and you're going to do X, Y, Z. I'd be like, alright, I'm down. I would do that, but I'm not going to make it my main focus. I don't know exactly what's up for me next, but I know I've got the energy and the drive to do it. And you're open. I'm very open. All right. Well, you know, in a few hours when this goes out, you know, we spoke earlier about like maybe not everyone sees us, but the right people I know watch us.

2:07:04So hopefully those right people will see this. And, you know, if that is your wish and your desire to go back out there and do something i i can't see anybody saying no yeah i would do that because i'm i mean i'm close to i'm i'm gonna say it i'm gonna talk about it i'm close to 50 okay five zero and i feel like women of our age don't get enough respect we it's like it they actually call us like um there's like a a word it's like uh women of a certain age so it's like a walker or something like that they call you walk or whatever i've never heard that yeah it's like a term or whatever and they discount us and i could go in there and hang with the best of them if i went and trained for two three months yes i could i love it i believe it yes yep yep whether it's in the ring actively competing or maybe going in seminars teaching these women you know sharing this knowledge that you've learned because your story is very unique.

2:08:05Your path is very unique. And right now, people aren't taking that path, right? Because now everyone, at least for WWE, they start down in the Performance Center. So a lot of people don't have the chance to go spread the rings elsewhere and learn different styles the way you did and different ways to handle different situations. So I feel like there's so much knowledge that you could pass down. And I do. i do zoom uh seminars oh you do okay yeah i help out whenever i can anybody um you know any promotion out there that wants me to teach their kids they reach out and i just did a zoom seminar this thursday i actually got some emails i gotta get back to because i gave them homework and they have done it so i actually gotta return those emails but um um yes you know shout out to rain bonnie lee out in hollywood hers um she's one of she's one of the people that uh reached out to help me teach her students so yes shout out to juju the queen i expect an awesome kong resurgence after this you know i expect to hopefully people reach out and and and do the right thing by you um but we've come to the end there and like i always we always like to tell people you're now ncw family you know when you're ncw you're ncw for life so you know we're gonna let you you're here in the house already normally we zoom with people we got to be like we'll let you know where we keep the spare key but you're already in you know where you're at but there's something you don't know you see in the ncw house in the garage we got a delorean you know back to the future style what so here's what you have to do for us i'm gonna give you the keys of this DeLorean Kia.

2:09:50Wait, is this for real? In theory. Okay. I'm going to give you the keys to this DeLorean and what I need you to do is I need you to pick five wrestling superstars of any era that you would love to have a WrestleMania dream matchup with. Give me the keys to DeLorean and you go out and you find them. Who would be your five dream Wrestlemania matchups God when you said the DeLorean it makes me feel like I gotta go back to people who aren't around now because Beth and I need to have a match Trish and I need to have a match I never got my match with Joni Chyna I never got my match with her

2:10:40let's see oh man would I love to face Charlotte oh I love her to death. Oh, I love her. I respect her so much. Her episode with y 'all. Oh, I loved it. That was fun. Charlotte, how many? So, so far you've picked Beth Phoenix, Trish Stratus, the ninth wonder of the world, Chyna, and Charlotte Flair. Okay, because I'm sure I got to think of who I have not actually. But could I have fought them before? This has to be at WrestleMania. Hey, this is your list. This ain't mine. Okay. You know what? Mae Young. Oh. I mean, like. This is, I think, Mae Young's name has been mentioned two out of the last three weeks.

2:11:28And I'll say what I said two weeks ago. What I always heard that Mae Young was the toughest man in any room she ever was in. So that's it. You. Yeah, that's, yeah. Beth Phoenix, Trish Stratus, Chyna, Charlotte Flair, and the great Mae Young. That would be amazing. Well, I think I'm going to buy five tickets to watch all five of these. Thank you. Hopefully I get a free one. You know what I mean? Third row, 50. Third row, 50. Well, Kia, I can't tell you how awesome, awesome it's been to talk to you. I'm so glad that you showed up at the Idiots premiere two Mondays ago. I'm glad you came up and spoke with O'Shea and I.

2:12:08I'm glad that I reached out and text you. And again, the text that you sent me, the things that you said about me in particular in this pod, very humbling. And it means a lot because, you know, you never know. You do this stuff and you're like, is anyone really paying attention? Does anyone care? And you showed that you have. So I really appreciate you for taking the time to do this with us. Thank you so much. Thank you. Seriously, thank you for having me. And thank you for including me or inducting me into the NCW family. Yes, of course. And I'm fully expecting now. I fully expect you to be WWE Hall of Fame.

2:12:48Got one for you right here. And I think most people will agree that, you know, it's well-deserved. So, awesome, Kong. Kia Stevens, thank you so much. And your story is still going on. Like, we're just pausing this. You know, this is the end of this chapter, but there's more to come. Thank you. Yes, ma 'am. All right. So, for all of you who want to watch us, okay, and listen to us. I say watch because you want to see this. You want to see her and us in the pictures. What you got to do is you got to follow us on social media. So you go to Instagram or at no contest wrestling podcast on Tik TOK at no contest wrestling pod.

2:13:24Now on social media wise, we're at Twitter. We're at there's no contest. YouTube, go to YouTube. You go to the rich eyes and show YouTube page and you type in no contest wrestling and you will be able to watch all of our episodes from number one with CM Punk to this one with the The Great Awesome Kong. And for your air gates, whenever you listen, make sure you go to the ESPN app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, wherever you listen to your podcasts. But please always remember to like, subscribe, leave a comment. Tell us what you think. And tell us who you want to see here on No Contest. So on behalf of O'Shea, who left to go do some idiot movie star business, that's the name of the movie.

2:14:05Not that he's an idiot. He's off doing that. The Great Awesome Kong. I'm 2JTJ Jefferson. And we will see you next week. Bye, Ms. Parker. See, we always say goodbye to Jada Parker. So bye, Ms. Parker.

2:14:40delicious ingredients. Chosen Foods.