Female star would have been "equivalent of Roman Reigns" if WWE hadn't dropped the ball on her, says veteran
Roman Reigns has become one of the most dominant performers in the last decade of WWE, but one wrestling veteran feels like the company dropped the ball in creating a female superstar equivalent to the Tribal Chief.
The woman in question is former AEW star Awesome Kong, formerly known as Kharma in WWE, who was one of All Elite Wrestling's most high-profile signings when the company began in 2019.
This is down to the success she had in both Japan and TNA in the 2000s, where she not only established herself as one of the most dominant female wrestlers in the business but also paved the way for the current generation of stars thanks to her legendary feud with Gail Kim.
I've always been a fan of Awesome Kong,going back to her great matches vs Gail Kim that ignite TNA's Knockouts division.Kong always had a great presence and was able to dominate with her power and intimidation https://t.co/tOGXuF1jMX
One man who was very hands-on with Awesome Kong during her time in TNA was Dutch Mantell, who stated during a recent edition of "Story Time with Dutch Mantell" that Kong could have been the female version of Roman Reigns had WWE not dropped the ball on her.
“Okay, she was over in TNA, and you mean she leaves TNA the same girl and she goes to WWE. You know what that tells me? They didn’t know how to book her. If they had took her out there in the same mode that I had her in in TNA, they’d have drew big money. And take your time with her, she would be the girls equivalent of a Roman Reigns during that time period because if she just went out and beat these girls up—and I told her ‘i don’t want you going off your feet until I tell you to.’” [5:08-5:42]
Kong was released by WWE in 2012, having only wrestled one match for the company, which historically came as part of that year's Royal Rumble match, meaning she is potentially the only female WWE superstar in history to have only wrestled men at Stamford.
Did MJF reference a Roman Reigns segment on AEW Dynamite?
During the most recent edition of Dynamite, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry was confronted by AEW World Champion MJF, who proceeded to cut a promo claiming that Perry had lost his way since the two men faced each other in 2020.
After Perry cut a promo of his own, MJF congratulated the former AEW Tag Team Champion for learning how to talk after four years in the company, which some saw as a nod to a segment involving Roman Reigns from 2017.
#JungleBoy Jack Perry @boy_myth_legend has heard enough from @The_MJF!
Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS! https://t.co/ORfVbVHJUM
The segment in question came during the build-up to Roman's match with John Cena at No Mercy 2017, where after stumbling over a few of his lines, Cena congratulated Reigns for cutting a "half-decent promo" after five and a half years.
MJF has regularly referenced current and former WWE Superstars on AEW TV, from calling Cody Rhodes his best friend to calling Ricky Starks a "dollar store Dwayne," referring to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Do you think this promo was a nod to the Roman Reigns segment? Let us know in the comments section below!
Please credit "Story Time with Dutch Mantell" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.