Ranking Every AEW Surprise Debut From Worst To Best

10. Awesome Kong

Jon Moxley
AEW

The AEW career of Awesome Kong has up and down, to say the least. But when Kong made her surprise debut for the promotion at 2019's inaugural Double or Nothing, it was a major shocker that was seen as a brilliant signing for the AEW women's division.

That shock debut saw the two-time TNA Knockouts Champion become a fourth wheel in what was billed as a triple threat between Dr. Britt Baker, Nyla Rose and Kylie Rae. With AEW having promised to put a significant emphasis on its female talent, Kong was viewed as a step in the right direction for the women's division of the burgeoning promotion.

An alliance with Brandi Rhodes would follow for Kong, and the bully heel would go around collecting hair from opponents as part of what would become Brandi's Nightmare Collective.

The whole hair thing felt a tad odd, and having Brandi serve as a heel in these segments but later be featured as a babyface alongside Cody on the same shows did this act no favours. Throw in the addition of Mel and Dr. Luther, and it's no surprise that the Nightmare Collective was quietly removed from AEW TV.

Awesome Kong hasn't wrestled a match since January 2020, so it remains to be seen what lies ahead for the dominant performer.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.