AEW: Why Awesome Kong rarely wrestles in All Elite Wrestling

So far, Awesome Kong has only wrestled two matches this year under the AEW banner, but there is a very specific reason as to why that is the case.

Awesome Kong made her debut with All Elite Wrestling at the brand’s very first Pay-Per-View, AEW Double or Nothing. The former Impact Knockouts Champion did not wrestle again until the following August for All Out in the Casino Battle Royale.

Since then, well, Awesome Kong has not wrestled at all. The only action we’ve seen from her is in segments where she pals around with Brandi Rhodes while cutting the locks off of random members of the women’s division (and a very enthusiastic fan). But there is a reason for that.

According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer (per a report from WrestleTalk), the reason why we have not seen much of Kong in active competition in the ring is simply because she can’t do as much, physically, as she used to during her prime.

“See, the deal with Kong is that you know, Kong’s beat up and there’s not a lot she can really do in the ring,” Meltzer explained on Wrestling Observer Radio. “So you do stuff like this because Kong’s kinda famous and you can do things where she’s kinda hidden and stuff. She doesn’t do long matches like everybody else.”

For these reasons, it sounds unlikely we will ever see Kong wrestle in a one-on-one capacity or in any capacity not involving multiple women surrounding her.

Which makes sense. At age 42 in a career spanning nearly 20 years (since 2002), no wrestler is expected to go the same work rate they used to during their heyday. Some wrestlers are not fortunate enough to even get cleared to compete after all these years, yet alone work a limited work rate, so Kong’s lucky in that regard.

The role she’s in now as Brandi’s hair chopping bodyguard works just fine for Kong. It’s got people interested in this angle and she retains that imposing presence without having to wrestle extensively.