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Over the last couple of days, rumours have been spreading that WWE diva Kharma has been released from the company. While it still has not been confirmed or denied by WWE as of today, the evidence seems to dictate that the former ‘Awesome Kong’ has indeed parted ways with the wrestling organization.
The rumors initially started when Kharma (real name: Kia Stevens) had her profile moved from the RAW page of WWE.com to the Alumni section, a page reserved for wrestlers who are no longer with the company, have retired, passed away or are otherwise inactive in WWE. Shortly thereafter, the profile was later removed from the Alumni section, added back to the RAW roster page, removed completely from the website, then re-added back to the RAW page yet again. To make matters more confusing, the profile remained on the RAW page, but WWE was no longer listing her as an active star on their official Twitter feed, which is updated every time a wrestler leaves or is added to either of the main rosters.
The story originally broke last Thursday, when TMZ.com reporter Ryan Satin stated on the popular celebrity gossip site that Kharma’s release had been confirmed by an unnamed source close to Satin. Wrestling Observer owner Dave Meltzer had a slightly conflicting report on his website, stating that Kharma was supposed to be let go Friday, but WWE may have changed their minds. Meltzer had the following to say on his site:
“I don’t want to say anything, because it’s WWE and they change their minds if stuff gets out. But she was to be released tomorrow, and they’re pissed somebody screwed up and it got out a day early.”
To add to the confusion, Kharma herself has responded to the rumors in a roundabout way via her Twitter account that continues to fuel speculation:
Getting a flood of dm’s. I guess the cat’s out of the bag. Yes. I have been officially promoted to the alumni section of the WWE roster.
So far, Kharma has not addressed the issue any further, but has promised her fans she will very soon.
Kharma signed with the company in December 2010, debuting in May of 2011 at Extreme Rules, laying out the departing Michelle McCool with an Implant Buster. A few short weeks later, Kharma took a leave of absence from the company, as she found out she was pregnant. She later claimed to have had the baby in December last year, but that turned out to be a lie. In reality, Kharma had a miscarriage, and was understandably too distraught to tell anyone the truth. She made a surprise return at this year’s Royal Rumble, but was taken back off TV as she wasn’t medically cleared to go back on the road full time. Since then, Kharma has been training for what was supposed to be her return to television, knocking off the ring rust and getting in better shape overall.
At this time, Kharma’s official status with WWE is still unknown.
