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The following report was submitted by John Wiswell of Amazing Kong on the In Your Head radio show...
The Amazing Kong (TNA's Awesome Kong) was the guest on the In Your Head show on November 28, 2007, hosted by Jack, One Inch Biceps and Barbie Richards at http://www.inyourheadonline.com. She showed a very different side than you'll ever see on TNA.
Kong was on the show to plug her women's title match with Gail Kim at TNA: Turning Point on December 2nd, with PPV replays throughout December.
Kong said she goes under "Awesome Kong" in TNA because of property rights. "They own that name, I own mine." She said she prefers "Amazing Kong" on the indies and "Awesome Kong" when she's in TNA.
Kong said winning the TNA women's title would mean validating the last five years of "Hell" in Japan and the American indies. Her training in Japan was very rough, "and now it's time to cash in," she said. She began training under Jesse Hernandez in the School of Hard Knocks, before impressing All Japan Pro Wrestling at a tryout and going overseas permanently to train. All Japan Women's dojo put her through "the most rigorous routine I've ever experienced," far above any high school sports she had tried, as the trainers wanted to see how much she could take.
Kong was a fan of wrestling as a kid. Undertaker was her favorite as a kid, and as she grew up she liked Steve Austin and the Rock.
Kong liked living in Japan. The first time she was there she "pulled a George Bush," getting some at Disney Land. She said Japanese food is an acquired taste, and that Japanese people love to make Americans try everything to see their reactions.
A caller asked about Amazing Kong being the last All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling tag team champions with Aja Kong. Kong said it meant a lot to be the champions, but it was bittersweet, because she felt partially responsible for the company's failure, even though it was beyond the talent's control.
Kong said she'd heard of Aja Kong before trying out, but didn't know about her importance. It wasn't Aja Kong's idea to give her the "Kong" name, but rather All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling's idea so that even if Aja Kong wasn't there, there would be a "Kong" at the show. She said Aja Kong is very happy with it now.
Kong enjoyed her time All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling immensely. While patriotic, she learned how many different ways people do things that aren't wrong, but simply different. When she overcame all the pains of the business and her peers said she had "the fighting spirit," it meant the world to her.
A caller asked what female wrestler had the biggest impression on her. Kong said Joanie Laurer ("Chyna" in WWE).
A caller congratulated her on being the biggest hit in TNA, and Jack asked how it felt to arrive at her first PPV and already have people chanting her name. Kong joked that when she steps into the ring she goes deaf and doesn't hear the crowd, but she enjoyed "the vibe."
A caller asked what American women's wrestlers could benefit TNA's women's division. Kong gave a shout-out to SHIMMER, an all-female American indy, calling its roster the hardest-working women in America. She listed Ms. Chif, Sara Del Ray and Cheerleader Melissa as people she would like to see in TNA. While she didn't want to disrespect WWE, she doesn't consider WWE Divas to be wrestlers. She doesn't watch WWE much, if at all, and did not recognize Beth Phoenix's name.
She calls her version of the Torture Rack the "Accordion Rack."
One Inch Biceps asked if anyone had ever complained about her style. She said if they hadn't liked it, they were too scared to mention it.
Jack asked about injuries. Kong has had a lot of back problems. In her first month in Japan, she sprained her ankle. Like most wrestlers, she's suffered concussions. At one point, she had to have part of her tongue removed.
A caller asked if Kong was still allowed to go to SHIMMER, considering TNA has an embargo on ROH and ROH runs SHIMMER. Kong said she does her own bookings and will still do SHIMMER, but she would respect TNA's requests if she was contacted. If anyone wants to book Amazing Kong, they can contact Ed Chuman at edchuman@midwestwrestling.com . She also has an official website at www.amazingkong.com, and a myspace at http://myspace.com/carsonhomecomingqueen .
A caller asked if she ran into xenophobia in Japan. Kong said the Japanese were very receptive. Sometimes she was stared at, asked if she was Queen Latifah or asked to help practice their English, but nothing bad.
Kong is fluent in Japanese.
Steve Corino was a close friend in Japan. Kong told a story about when Corino pretended to be her agent and got her a tryout as a dancer for an Avian water commercial. She got a callback, but also got in trouble with Zero-1 over it.
On the vital topic of head sizes, Kong said CW Anderson's head was bigger than Steve Corino's.
Barbie asked how fun it is to destroy Ms. Chif, in particular in their match on SHIMMER Women's Athletes Volume 9 (available at http://www.visuex.com/shimmer/ ). She said it was more fun than you could imagine. "Just imagine having your very own Stretch Armstrong." Her grandmother was actually in attendance for the SHIMMER match, and she got a standing ovation from the crowd for it. She said she'll never forget that match.
A caller asked about Meiko Satomura from Japan's GAEA promotion. Kong thought she was a hard worker and a great leader. Kong said she was the sort of person you aspired to be like.
Another caller asked if she would ever be interested in creating her own company. It would be interesting to her for an anniversary show, but not regularly. "There's a lot that goes into a wrestling promotion," she said. Right now she is focused on work in the ring and proving the ability of women's wrestlers.
Kong wasn't particularly happy with eating fake fruit on the Thanksgiving TNA Impact, but wouldn't speak against it. She said the fake fruit was surprisingly easy to bite through. "Better than some cafeteria food," she said.
Kong said stepping into the six-sided ring for the first time was disorienting, but she found her bearings. It essentially gave her six directions to throw people.
She did some MMA in Japan, but it was a lot of training and hardwork. She won't return to that sport soon. She had trouble with some "rules," like not pulling hair or fish-hooking. She retired undefeated.
WWE did actually contact her, but she liked TNA's overall product better, and TNA offered her bookings first.
Jack asked about what it was like to win the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling world heavyweight title. She said it was a huge sense of accomplishment, as other wrestlers went years without so much as a titleshot.
The chat room wanted to know if she would get promo time in TNA. She said her character was all about "food and whooping ass" right now.
She loves the HUSTLE promotion in Japan. When she was approached to wrestle in a yellow tutu, she knew she had to do it. She has a sense of humor and likes HUSTLE's antics. They also gave her the chance to face her tag team idols, Team 3D.
Jack asked about the wardrobe malfunction on her TNA PPV debut. She said it wasn't that embarrassing, and that she's been in much more embarrassing situations than having "her girls" pop out.
Kong is up for wrestling men. She's done it in Japan and sees no problem with it.
They plugged TNA: Turning Point again, and Amazing Kong thanked all her fans for the support.
You can listen to the full-length interview at http://www.inyourheadonline.com and new episodes Wednesdays at 8 PM EST.
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