Former Impact Wrestling Star Opens Up On Being ‘Paid Peanuts’

Impact Wrestling

A former Impact Wrestling star has opened up about her fight to get paid what she felt she deserved whilst with the company.

Whilst she is now an Impact Hall of Famer, Awesome Kong reflected on issues of the past on Busted Open Radio (subscription required) saying:

“I did feel like I wasn’t being compensated for what I had accomplished.

“So now today, yes I was right. I have no regrets for asking them to pay me what I felt I deserved.”

She would explore the issue further, explaining why she thinks she was financially hobbled, stating:

“They knew they were paying me peanuts and they knew that I was broke as hell and they were banking on me being so broke that I couldn’t leave and telling me, ‘WWE is never going to pick you up because they only hire “X, Y and Z” type people,’ and that sunk in for awhile but me being me saying, ‘Well I would rather sell oranges off these of the 405 freeway than to not get paid what I feel I have earned.

“Deuces, it’s been nice and awesome, but I can’t work and not get paid what I feel I earned.”

She would also bring her business acumen to the discussion of her value, saying:

“I was a businesswoman and knew my business … already being a black woman I made three-fourths of what other people make so knowing that when Gail [Kim] and I would pop up on that screen, that’s when the highest ratings would go on.

“Numbers don’t lie. You got the spreadsheet right there, it said, ‘Them two b*tches right there is making y’all’s money. Pay them.'”

Kim and Mickie James would both comment that, while things are different today, parity is still not where it perhaps should be.

In conclusion, James added that “it is slowly, even still, changing.”

Kong was a two-time TNA Knockouts Champion and a TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship with Hamada.

She would have two runs with the company, between 2007 and 2010, then 2015 to 2016.

Awesome Kong would appear as Kharma on WWE television between 2010 and 2012 and would also work for AEW between 2019 and 2021.

Whilst in WWE, she would feud with the Bella Twins, leading Nikki Bella to recently reflect on a regretful promo that she cut during this time.

Transcript from Wrestling Inc.

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• Awesome Kong
• Impact Wrestling

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