Former Knockouts Champion Awesome Kong recently reflected on receiving low pay under then-TNA President Dixie Carter.
Season seven of Dark Side of the Ring kicked off on Tuesday night with an episode covering the history of TNA Wrestling and its co-founder Jeff Jarrett. During the episode, former TNA star Awesome Kong looked back at the financial challenges faced by the Knockouts division during the company’s early years. At the time, Dixie Carter led TNA as its President.
“It kind of felt like [Dixie Carter] didn’t appreciate her homegrown talent,” Kong said (H/T Fightful). “Kurt is making a little over a million dollars a year. Kurt Angle deserved more than a million a year, in my opinion. Can you tell me that I’m not worth 1/10th of Kurt Angle? I asked for a raise and let them know that, as you break it down, I make less than a manager at McDonald’s. The reply that I got was, ‘We do not dispute any of the points you made; however, we cannot pay you that sum at this time,” she said.
She continued, “There were more than two TNA Knockouts, who held the TNA title that had to moonlight in very blue-collar jobs. One worked at a bar. She would be on TV and the customers would say, ‘Isn’t that you?’ She would say, ‘Yes, may I take your order?’ Dixie knows that we’re struggling, and she’s still hiring people in front of us.”
Awesome Kong’s initial TNA run stretched from 2007 until 2010, during which she held the Knockouts World Championship twice and the Knockouts Tag Team Titles once. Kong made another brief run from 2015 through early 2016, with sporadic appearances following in the years after.
Dixie Carter remained in an executive position with TNA from 2003 until 2017.
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