Early career Kia Stevens was inspired to become a professional wrestler by Amy Dumas, known during her WWE career as
Lita. In 2002, Stevens appeared on the
Discovery Health Body Challenge as a contestant trying to lose weight in hopes of becoming a professional wrestler. Afterwards, Stevens trained at the
School of Hard Knocks out of
San Bernardino, California. Soon, she was able to have her first professional match in the
Empire Wrestling Federation.
Japanese promotions (2002–2007) After putting on an impressive showing at a tryout, Stevens was invited to further her training in the dojo of
joshi puroresu (female Japanese wrestling) promotion
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW). In 2004 Kong debuted for the joshi promotion
Gaea Japan in a match against Aja Kong. At the promotion's ninth anniversary event Aja Kong won the match but gained enough respect for Amazing Kong that the two attacked both competitors in the main event, revealing themselves as a new tag team named W Kong. The duo soon made their presence felt when they challenged
Chigusa Nagayo and
Lioness Asuka for the
AAAW Tag Team Championship on May 5 and won. The team defended the championship successfully all Summer, eventually losing to
Manami Toyota and
Carlos Amano on September 20. Going into 2005, Kong main evented the final Gaea show before the promotion closed down. In the final match of
Fifth Anniversary, Kong teamed with Ayako Hamada and
Mayumi Ozaki in a winning effort against
Akino,
Dynamite Kansai and Gami with Ayako picking up the victory. After the closure of Gaea, W Kong went on to wrestle for a number of Japanese promotions including
Hustle, where they were given the comedic gimmicks of Margaret and Erika which involved, among other things, wrestling in a yellow tutu. They were also the final team to hold
WWWA World Tag Team Championship before AJW shut down.
Shimmer Women Athletes (2006–2010) Championship pursuits (2006–2010) Her success in Japan attracted the attention of United States promotion
Shimmer Women Athletes, who began regularly booking her for their DVD tapings in Kong's homeland from May 2006. Her debut came on
Volume 5 with a win against
Nikki Roxx. She defeated Roxx again on
Volume 14: Hot Summer Nights in a rematch. The rematch was Kong's fifth successive win which led her to challenge for the
Shimmer Championship in October 2007 against inaugural champion
Sara Del Rey, for the
Volume 15 taping. Del Rey retained to give Kong her first Shimmer loss, albeit via count out. Kong then began another winning streak, losing only to Ariel by disqualification after using a chair on
Volume 17 which set back her chances of being given another championship match. She was placed in a Four-Way Contendership match on
Volume 21; during the match
Mercedes Martinez used her
Fisherman Buster finisher on
Cheerleader Melissa but before she could be pinned, Kong dragged Martinez to the floor and the two battled it out while Ariel stole the win to receive a championship match. This incident led to a grudge match between Martinez and Kong on
Volume 23, which Kong won. On the following show, instead of a Shimmer Championship match, Kong was put in a contendership match for the
Shimmer Tag Team Championship, forming a brief alliance of convenience with Del Rey, who herself was having issues with their opponents MelissChif (Cheerleader Melissa and Shimmer Champion
MsChif). After winning the match, they faced the reigning champions
Ashley Lane and
Nevaeh in the following match, and once again Kong was disqualified after using chairs on her opponents. An assault continued until Martinez and
Serena Deeb, who was feuding with Del Rey, appeared to help out the Tag Team Champions. This occurrence led to another tag team match with Kong and Del Rey picking up a victory over Martinez and Deeb. Wanting to focus on her singles career again, Kong wrestled
LuFisto on
Volume 27 in a match to take on the Shimmer Champion. It ended in a double count-out, with the two brawling outside the ring through the building and even during the next match in the show. This meant the championship match on
Volume 28, in November 2009, would be a three-way elimination match including the champion MsChif. Kong eliminated LuFisto early on with an Amazing Bomb, essentially leading to a rematch of Kong and MsChif's critically respected
Volume 9 match. In this match, however, MsChif took a return win after kicking out of the Amazing Bomb and delivering all of her signature finishing moves on Kong to become the first woman to pin Kong in Shimmer.
Ring of Honor (2007, 2010) Owing to Shimmer being a promotional partner of
Ring of Honor (ROH), Kong was noticed by ROH and scouted to appear on both products. On 15 September 2007 she made her debut for ROH at their
Man Up pay-per-view (PPV). Teaming with
Daizee Haze in a tag team match, they defeated Sara Del Rey and
Lacey. Kong returned to ROH on May 8, 2010, to take part in the promotion's annual
Supercard of Honor V. Once more she wrestled Del Rey, this time in a singles match which she lost after Del Rey used a weighted elbow pad thrown to her by
Kings of Wrestling stablemate
Chris Hero, sparking a rivalry between the two. Kong returned to settle the score with Del Rey two months later at
Hate: Chapter II on July 23. The Kings of Wrestling were in the midst of a rivalry with
The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark), and so Kong teamed with them in a six-person tag team match, where they defeated Del Rey, Hero and their stablemate
Claudio Castagnoli, though Kong did not secure the pin. Consequently, they had a singles rematch the following night, with Kong finally defeating Del Rey one-on-one. At the end of the year, ROH held their live PPV
Final Battle 2010, which saw Del Rey challenge Daizee Haze to bring more competition to ROH. Haze responded by bringing Kong back for the December 18 match against Del Rey and her partner Serena Deeb. In the match Del Rey pinned Haze, while Deeb successfully neutralized Kong with a
spear.
Independent circuit (2007–2010) in 2010 After growing success in Shimmer, Kong began appearing on the American independent circuit bringing with her the
AWA World Women's Championship from Japan. She put it on the line in a champion versus champion match against
MsChif's
NWA World Women's Championship on May 5, 2007, becoming a joint champion with her win. A rematch between the two in September, exclusively for the NWA belt after Kong lost the AWA title in May, headlined the NWA No Limits
3rd Anniversary Show which saw Kong retain the title. Kong defended the belt in a number of promotions throughout the year but 11 months later, in April 2008, MsChif won back the title via countout under a special stipulation to retain Kong's stature. The following year, Kong once again challenged for the NWA World Championship at NWA Charlotte's
Valentine's Day themed inaugural show,
Thorns & Roses, in the penultimate match of the evening. With
Daffney in her corner, MsChif and saved herself from the
Awesome Bomb by using her
green mist, disqualifying herself to retain the belt in the process. In June 2007, Kong toured Great Britain under the
ChickFight promotion, wrestling guest matches under that banner for other promotions. The tour started on June 15 in
Wales for Celtic Wrestling, where she picked up a victory over ChickFight stalwart
Cheerleader Melissa. The following day Kong debuted for Real Quality Wrestling (RQW) and took part in a Four-Way RQW Women's Championship match, that saw Wesna win the belt from reigning champion
Eden Black, with
Jetta also coming up winless. The following day Kong competed in
Chickfight IX, the ninth and final all-women knockout tournament under the ChickFight banner. She received a bye via forfeit, owing to a severe injury Cheerleader Melissa had given her opponent
Sweet Saraya at RQW the night before, which allowed her to be fresh against Blue Nikita. After defeating Nikita in the semi-final, she faced dethroned RQW Champion Eden Black and won the trophy. After achieving notoriety on national television, Kong received more bookings including for the all-female company
Women Superstars Uncensored in March 2008. She appeared at their
First Anniversary Show answering an open challenge made by Rick Cataldo and Roxxie Cotton, defeating them both in a handicap match within a minute. Later in the same event she teamed with Amy Lee and defeated
Angel Orsini and Shimmer rival Mercedes Martinez. Despite picking up the victory, Kong felt that Lee stole the glory of a win from her and went to attack Lee; this led to an
Amy Lee's Rules match in the main event of
Dawn of a New Day which Kong won after Lee passed out, refusing to submit. The two had a rematch at
Army of One which Kong lost by disqualification after hitting a referee leading to a deciding rubber match contested under Last Man Standing rules. At the
Second Anniversary Show, Kong narrowly beat Amy Lee after charging at Lee with a chair only for Lee to pass out to the ground and Kong to hit the ropes and knock the chair back into herself. Judging Lee to have been down one count before Kong, Kong won the match but bowed to Lee afterwards out of respect. After winning this match, Kong was given a match against Martinez for the
WSU Championship in December 2009 at a WSU and National Wrestling Superstars co-hosted event. Two months later at
Turning Point, she lost a Women's Knockout Championship match to Kim via
disqualification after shoving the referee and Awesome Bombing him. This incident led to a
No Disqualification match for the Women's Knockout Championship at
Final Resolution in January 2008, which Kong also lost. On the 8 May episode of
Impact! Kong began a regular $25,000 challenge to females in the audience who wanted to challenge her for the Women's Knockout Championship. The audience members, played by
planted wrestlers, failed to defeat her but one challenger,
Taylor Wilde, kept returning and on 10 July she won both the $25,000 and Women's Knockout Championship on her third attempt. Kong then failed to regain the championship from Wilde during a rematch at
Victory Road. On October 23, during a live episode of
Impact! Kong defeated Wilde to become a two-time Knockout Champion. The alliance of Kong, Saeed and Khan became known as The Kongtourage, with a fourth wrestler named
Sojourner Bolt joining later. Wilde then found a new partner in
Roxxi, who helped her defeat Kong and Saeed in a tag team match at
Turning Point. Going into 2009, Bolt became the contender for Kong's championship and left the Kongtourage with Khan. Kong retained her title against Bolt at
Destination X in April. On the March 26 episode of
Impact!, Kong and Saeed were defeated by villainous tag team
The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and
Velvet Sky), and after the match The Beautiful People tried to cut Kong's hair as part of their makeover
gimmick. They continued to target Kong's hair and eventually accomplished the task on the April 16 episode of
Impact! which transitioned Kong into a
fan favorite by attempting to retaliate. After losing the title, Kong defeated Love's allies Sky,
Madison Rayne and
Cute Kip in separate
Stretcher matches ahead of their rematch. Three weeks later they were eliminated from the tournament by their long term rival Taylor Wilde and her partner
Sarita when Wilde pinned Saeed. Subsequently, Kong began rivalries with
Tara and Knockout Champion ODB. At
Bound for Glory, Kong had her last match for the Knockout Championship against Tara and ODB, but Saeed inadvertently cost Kong the match while interfering. On the following episode of
Impact! Kong faced Saeed in a grudge match and powerbombed her through the entrance stage, signalling the end of both their partnership and the Saeed character. After interfering in two of Tara's matches, Kong and Tara wrestled at
Turning Point in a
Cage match, which Tara won. On the December 17 episode of
Impact! Kong formed a tag team with
Hamada as they won a three-way non-title match against The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky) and the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions Taylor Wilde and Sarita, when Kong pinned Rayne. On the first
Impact! episode of 2010, Kong and Hamada defeated Sarita and Wilde to win the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship. In a non-storyline incident
Bubba the Love Sponge claimed on his January 19 radio show that Stevens had attacked him while backstage for the tapings of
Impact! the previous day due to his negative comments concerning the
Haiti earthquake relief project. Kong, who had been a driving force in the wrestling community in raising funds for Haiti, was reportedly sent home from the tapings following the altercation. It was later reported that the same day as Bubba's radio show, Stevens asked for her release from TNA, but it was not granted. After she refused to take part in TNA's January 2010 tour of the United Kingdom, the company suspended her. The following month, Stevens filed a lawsuit against Bubba for an alleged threatening phone call. She was reportedly released from TNA on March 1. On the March 8 episode of
Impact! it was announced that Kong and Hamada were stripped of the Knockouts Tag Team title after allegedly failing to defend them in 30 days, even though their previous defense had taken place just 21 days prior, against Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky. On March 22, TNA confirmed Stevens' release, while also claiming that she had requested her release for personal reasons, but she later said it was due to monetary issues and recent changes to TNA management. In March 2013, Stevens turned down an offer to take part in a special all Knockouts pay-per-view held by TNA.
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2010–2012) On December 29, 2010, it was reported that Stevens had signed a contract with WWE. From April 11, 2011, onwards, vignettes aired during WWE television with Stevens, whose face was concealed by shadows and her signature braids, dismembering female dolls while cackling maniacally. During the April 25 episode of
Raw, Stevens' face was shown for the first time in the vignettes, and her new ring name was revealed as
Kharma. Kharma made her debut on May 1 at
Extreme Rules, attacking
Michelle McCool after a match, and she continued to attack former
WWE Divas Champions on both
Raw and
SmackDown in the following weeks. On the May 23 episode of
Raw, Kharma interrupted a tag team match but rather than attack everyone, she uncharacteristically broke down crying. The following week, Kharma spoke for the first time to reveal she was pregnant and thus forced to take a leave of absence from WWE. During her absence, she was included as a
downloadable playable character in the ''
WWE '12'' video game. Kharma made a surprise return in the
2012 Royal Rumble match as the twenty-first entrant. She intimidated
Michael Cole into eliminating himself before eliminating
Hunico only to be thrown out by
Dolph Ziggler. With her entrance, she became the third female, after
Chyna and
Beth Phoenix, to participate in a men's Royal Rumble match. This also marked her first and only official WWE match. On August 19, she was added to the list of the playable characters on the main roster in the ''
WWE '13'' video game. In September 2013, Stevens revealed that she had been released because she was not ready to return in the time allotted to her. She also confirmed her interest in returning to the company, stating she was ready.
Return to the independent circuit and Japan (2012–2016) In early November, it was reported that Stevens (again under the "Amazing Kong" gimmick) would be appearing at a
Shine event on November 16, 2012, as the mystery partner of
Jazz in a tag team match against
Mercedes Martinez and
Rain. At the event, Kong and Jazz defeated Martinez and Rain after Kong pinned Rain. On January 18, 2013, Kong defeated D'Arcy Dixon, Nikki St. John and Thunderkitty in a four-way match to win the
vacant Resistance Pro Wrestling Women's Championship. On March 8, Kong returned to
Chikara, losing to
Eddie Kingston in an intergender main event. Stevens has also wrestled for PWS Bombshells (as Amazing Kong) in early to mid-2013, defeating Amy Lee in consecutive matches. On April 6, 2013, Kong returned to Shimmer at the
Volume 53 internet pay-per-view, defeating
Mia Yim in the opening match. The Amazing Kong returned to
Shine event on July 12, 2013, in a losing effort to
Ivelisse in a four way to qualify for
Shine Championship tournament among the participants were Angelina Love and Kimberly. Then at
Shine 12 on August 23, 2013, she defeated
Mercedes Martinez in a singles match. On September 27, 2013, Kong and
Jessicka Havok were in a losing effort against
Allysin Kay and
Ivelisse. On October 25, 2013, she defeated
Madison Eagles in a singles match and later in the night she was announced the next challenger for the
Shine Championship. On December 13, 2013, she was defeated by
Rain for the Shine Championship by count-out. On January 24, 2014, she defeated
Taylor Made and on
Shine 18 Kong defeated Nikki Storm and
Shine 19 she defeated
Athena. On August 22, 2014, Kong was part of a #1 contender four corner survival match to challenge
Ivelisse for the Shine Championship the other participants in the match were Leah Von Dutch, Su Yung, and
Nevaeh. Nevaeh would emerge victorious in the #1 contender match but was unsuccessful on capturing the Shine Championship. On September 21, 2014, Stevens was part of Smash CANUSA Classic where she was captain of Team USA, Stevens would lose in her tournament match against
LuFisto who was team captain of team Canada which lead Team Canada victorious. On August 26, 2015, Kong returned to Japan to work the first ever event of Nanae Takahashi's new
Seadlinnng promotion, which saw her and
Meiko Satomura lose to Takahashi and Ayako Hamada in a main event tag team match. At the end of the show, Kong reformed the W Kong tag team with Aja Kong. Stevens was supposed to return to take part in Seadlinnng's November 25 event, but on November 22 Takahashi announced that she had pulled out of the match due to "poor health" and claimed she had decided to retire from professional wrestling. Stevens later stated that she had wrestled her final match in Japan and retired the Amazing Kong name, but was for the time being still working as Awesome Kong. Despite her previous announcement that she had wrestled her final match in Japan, Stevens, again working under the name Amazing Kong, returned to the country on July 18, 2016, to work Aja Kong's 30th anniversary event, promoted by
Oz Academy. In the main event of the show, Kong teamed with Aja Kong and Ayako Hamada to defeat
Chihiro Hashimoto,
Hiroyo Matsumoto and Rina Yamashita.
Return to TNA (2015–2016) On January 7, 2015, during
Impact Wrestling's debut on
Destination America, Awesome Kong returned after a
battle royal, had an altercation in the ring with
Havok and attacked referee Brian Stiffler. Over the following weeks, tension would build between Kong and Havok, with their feud culminating in a
steel cage match on the
Lockdown edition of
Impact Wrestling on February 6, which Kong won. On the March 6 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Kong failed to capture the
TNA Knockouts Championship in her match against
Taryn Terrell after she got herself disqualified. She received a
no disqualification rematch against Terrell on the
TKO: Night of Knockouts edition of
Impact Wrestling on April 24, which she lost after The Dollhouse (
Marti Bell and
Jade) attacked Kong. On the May 1 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Kong turned
face and allied herself with
Gail Kim to feud with The Dollhouse. The following week, Kong and Kim were defeated by The Dollhouse in a 3–on–2 handicap match. On the June 17 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Kong teamed up with
Brooke to defeat The Dollhouse in a "Double or Nothing" tag team match, meaning that Kong and Brooke would face Taryn Terrell for the TNA Knockouts Championship in a three-way match. At
Slammiversary XIII, Kong once again teamed with Brooke to defeat The Dollhouse in a 3-on-2 handicap match. Kong and Brooke received their three-way championship match on the July 1 episode of
Impact Wrestling, in which Terrell retained the title. In mid–August, Kong, representing TNA, started a brief feud with
Lei'D Tapa, who represented
Jeff Jarrett's
Global Force Wrestling. The two faced off on August 12 in a match, that ended in a double count-out. On the September 16 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Kong competed in a fatal–four-way match against Brooke, Gail Kim and Tapa for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship, which Kim would win. At
Bound for Glory, Kong received a match against Kim for but was unsuccessful in regaining the championship. During October and November (taped in July), she participated in the
TNA World Title Series, where she ended first of her block, tied with Gail Kim, advancing to the finals where she lost to
Jessie Godderz. On January 5, 2016, during
Impact Wrestling's debut on
Pop, Kong allied with The Dollhouse (
Jade,
Marti Bell and
Rebel) and became their new leader after she attacked
The Beautiful People (
Madison Rayne and
Velvet Sky) and
Gail Kim, once again turning
heel in the process. On February 5, TNA announced that Stevens had been released from her contract following a backstage real-life physical altercation with
Rebecca (Reby) Hardy just a week before TNA's tour in the
United Kingdom. Kong returned for one night only at
Bound for Glory along with
Taryn Terrell,
Christy Hemme and
Dixie Carter to induct
Gail Kim into the
TNA Hall of Fame.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2021) On May 25, 2019, Awesome Kong debuted in
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a surprise entrant in the women's triple threat match at
AEW Double or Nothing, making it a
Fatal 4-way match, which she failed to win. On July 13, 2019, she accompanied
Brandi Rhodes to the ring at
AEW Fight for the Fallen, being face to face with
Aja Kong after Rhodes won her match. She began appearing in vignettes showing her alliance with Brandi. During the
Full Gear pre-show, after
Britt Baker defeated
Bea Priestley, Kong and Rhodes made their way to the ring, assaulting Priestley and cutting a lock of her hair with a
karambit. Kong then tied it to her gear where other locks of hair were already seen. In the following months, Stevens and Brandi Rhodes formed a stable known as The Nightmare Collective. The group was later joined by
Mel and
Dr. Luther. Being poorly received by the fans, the angle was dropped in February 2020 after Stevens went on hiatus to film
GLOW. After not appearing on AEW since February 2020, AEW decided not to renew her contract on June 1, 2021.
Retirement and sporadic appearances (2021–2023) On August 28, 2021, she announced her retirement from in-ring competition at
NWA EmPowerrr, thus concluding her nearly 20-year career. On October 9 at
Knockouts Knockdown, it was announced that Kong will be inducted into the
Impact Hall of Fame at
Bound for Glory. At Bound for Glory on October 23,
Gail Kim inducted Kong into the Impact Hall of Fame. Seven years after her last match in
Impact Wrestling, Kong made her in ring return to Impact Wrestling during the celebrations of
Impact 1000. Taking part in a 10 Knockout Tag Team match where she sealed the victory for her team after pinning
Gisele Shaw. == Other media ==