12 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: TNA (Parts 1 & 2)

It's really cool that VICE put TNA's women on a pedestal. At one point, the Knockouts division was responsible for the highest ratings on Impact every week, and they brought the eyeballs in even when WWE refused to take women's wrestling seriously on the other channel. Kia Stevens, as Awesome Kong, was a huge part of that process.

Shame TNA execs refused to recognise her value.

On 'Dark Side', Kong was named as the centrepiece of the burgeoning Knockouts division. During interviews, she also spoke very well about her wish to make TNA “number one” and what women’s wrestlers are capable of “when there’s no glass ceiling”. Gail Kim was Kong’s babyface counterpoint, but she was kinda skimmed over (presumably because she didn’t give talking head interviews) in favour of Kong.

Later in part 2, Kong reminisced about negotiations with TNA management. Seeing firsthand how much of a splash she and other women were making, the monstrous heel politely asked for a raise, and said there were managers in McDonalds clearing more than her after taxes. The answer? “We do not dispute any of the points you made. However, we cannot pay you that sum at this time”.

For reference, Kong wanted "1/10th" of what Kurt Angle was making. However, Stevens made sure to point out that Kurt was worth every penny he was paid; she just wanted a little more for herself considering how featured she was on TV at the time. Apparently, that was too big a demand for TNA's money men/women to meet, so they said no.