• Awesome Kong (Kharma) Comments On Not Liking Her Ring Name
During a recent interview with The Ringer, Awesome Kong (Kharma in WWE) talked about not liking her ring name, how the crowd reacted to her in Japan and more.
Below are the highlights:
On not liking her ring name:
“When I first went to Japan, I didn’t get to choose my name, Amazing Kong. In fact, I was training in Santa Monica at the New Japan dojo and Shinsuke Nakamura, who’s now a WWE superstar, called me Kong. I didn’t know if he was just unaware of the connotation that Kong would have for a black person, because he was from Japan, but I got really upset. Then they had to explain to me that they’d recently had a press conference, and that the company that was bringing me over had named me Kong.
So I had to go home and really contemplate and really consider what I’d be getting myself into, and whether or not I should just ditch the job, even though it would be a great opportunity for me. I was at home, in Hollywood at the time, and an N.W.A song came on.
I remember thinking, “Hey, N.W.A stands for what it stands for.” Since they can be N.W.A, I could be Kong, and I would make this name my own, and make anyone who sees it, hears it, and relates it to me understand that it’s about respect. And that I did. Anyone who sees Amazing or Awesome Kong respects that name first. I feel that that’s a goal that my people should always work towards, not a meaning of ridicule or put-down, but always respect. I owned it, and I own it today.”
On how the crowd reacted to her in Japan:
“In Japan, the fans take it extremely seriously. They report wrestling in the newspapers as if they were reporting on baseball. They really buy into the magic of wrestling. And since I was Kong, a definite monster heel, and was definitely the opponent in the ring, there were a few fans that were generally upset and scared for their hero.
They would try to knock me down a peg before I would even get into the ring. But I found that to be hilarious, because I felt like if they hated me that much, I felt like I was doing my job. It had nothing to do with my name. It was all about commanding respect, and they hated me for the character, not because I was black or my name was Kong or anything like that. I didn’t go through any of that.
There were people who, when they found out I was a wrestler, they didn’t know anything about wrestling. So when they heard my name, they were like, ‘Oh my god, girl, why would you let them name you that?’ Then I had to explain it to them that if you’re a fan of wrestling and you hear the name Amazing or Awesome Kong, you sit up straighter.”
• Reason Behind SmackDown Live Star Possibly Not Appearing At Extreme Rules 2018
The Miz isn’t expected to appear at Extreme Rules 2018 PPV because he’ll be a part of the MLB Celebrity Softball game, which will take place the same day at Extreme Rules 2018 at 4 pm.
As we noted before, there were rumors that Miz would interfere in the SmackDown Tag Team Title match at Extreme Rules 2018 and cost Daniel Bryan & Kane the Titles. This would then lead to a feud between Miz & Bryan.
While Miz appearing elsewhere on the day of Extreme Rules 2018 would generally mean that Miz won’t be appearing at the PPV at all, but we still can’t rule out the possibility of Miz finishing up his softball game prior to the PPV and then making an appearance to cost Bryan the Title.
