Awesome Kong Announces Retirement At NWA EmPowerrr

The legendary Kong makes a shock EmPowerrr appearance to announce her in-ring retirement.

by Andrew Pollard
Awesome Kong NWA EmPowerrr
NWA

With NWA EmPowerrr now in the record books, one of the biggest news stories to come out of this all-female PPV is the in-ring retirement of Awesome Kong.

Kong made a surprise appearance at EmPowerrr, coming to the ring to join forces with long-time rival Gail Kim.

After Kim was interrupted by Taryn Terrell, Jennacide and Paola Blaze, Kong made her way to the ring and attacked Jennacide and Blaze. Following a staredown between the two famed foes, the real-life Kia Stevens praised Gail as her greatest rival, before then announcing her retirement and sharing an emotional embrace with Kim.

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A 19-year veteran of the wrestling business, Awesome Kong is revered as one of the true greats of her time, serving as a pivotal part of making TNA's Knockouts division must-see in the late-2000s and beyond - including two stints as Knockouts Champion and one run as Knockouts Tag Team Champion.

The powerhouse Kong also had a brief spell under the WWE banner as Kharma, and more recently made a handful of fleeting appearances for AEW. Away from the squared circle, Stevens played Tammé "The Welfare Queen" Dawson in Netflix's GLOW.

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Since Awesome Kong confirmed her retirement, the wrestling world has reacted with plentiful praise for this legendary figure:

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Chatterer of stuff, writer of this, host of that, Wrexham AFC fan.