Kia Stevens did not think the fans would remember who she was.
The second match of All Elite Wrestling's Double Or Nothing show was advertised to be Britt Baker versus Kylie Rae versus Nyla Rose. Before the match began, AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes came out in front of the live crowd in full ring gear and hinted that another individual was going to be inserted into the match and she introduced former two-time TNA Knockouts Champion Kia Stevens or better known by wrestling fans as Awesome Kong.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena gave Stevens a lengthy ovation to welcome her back to professional wrestling after having starred in the Netflix series GLOW over the past several years. Stevens recently reflected on her return to in-ring competition during the Netflix Show Stealers panel to promote season three of GLOW.
“Oh my gosh, it was overwhelming." Stevens said of her AEW debut. "I really didn’t think people would remember me. We were in Vegas for a new promotion called AEW which will be on TNT in October, and it’s kind of like this new rebel company of all the people who’ve been disgruntled by Vincent K. McMahon,” Stevens laughed. “But yeah, when I came out, it was at the MGM Grand, the arena there, the whole place shook and went insane and I almost had to break character and go, ‘Oh my God, you remember me? Oh my God it’s so awesome’ but I had people to destroy. It was overwhelming. I trended for hours on Twitter. The whole situation blew up so I thought it was gonna be a one time thing but it looks like it may not be.”
Fightful has two review podcasts of Double Or Nothing and those can be found on the Fightful Pro Wrestling YouTube channel.
If the quote in this article is used, please credit the Netflix Scene Stealers panel with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
