says the recent assault allegations against him were surprising and he never intended to cause harm, but all he can do now is work on being a better person.

Kongo recently spoke with Pollo Del Mar on the latest episode of the Arm Drag Takedown podcast and addressed the allegations made against him during the recent #SpeakingOut movement. Independent wrestler Kyle Boone posted a statement in June claiming Kongo had assaulted him backstage after Kongo got mad Boone didn’t sell a chokeslam properly during an event intermission. According to Boone, Kong said he wanted to see Boone’s penis or he’d take his merchandise money from him. Boone says he still showed Kongo, who still took the money but ended up giving it back after Boone begged him to reconsider.

Kongo issued a statement regarding Boone’s allegations on June 21, apologizing for hurting him in that way. Kongo went into more detail with Arm Drag Takedown and confirmed that an incident did happen but it didn’t go down exactly as it was told on social media.

According to Kong, he believed it to be nothing more than a backstage “rib” and didn’t know it caused any harm until it surfaced in June. Boone’s public statement would indicate that his genitals were not exposed to the locker room, and Kong claims he stopped Boone from doing so. Kong reemphasized his initial comments about being unaware of the severity of his actions on the podcast, noting that he and Boone have appeared on events together in the 18 months since that happened.

“We worked together several times since then, and I never got any kind of inclination he had an issue,” Kong stated. “I don’t want him to think I want to hurt him in turn; there was no intent of harm when it happened. I didn’t want to see him hurt — and I didn’t want to see anybody else hurt. That’s why I took the approach that I did in that apology. It happened, but what can I do but try to do better and to be better?”

During the interview, Kong also acknowledged that despite the intended joking nature of the backstage incident, it is not sufficient in addressing the matter. He added that he would like to address the subject with Boone directly, to properly discuss the situation and said that this approach also motivated the tone and intent of his public apology.

“If that kid was hurt, I don’t want to say anything or do anything that would cause him to do any harm to himself,” Kong stated. “It’s not that I don’t take this seriously. I do value his feelings. I don’t want him to be hurt by this. I don’t want harm to come to him. I actually like the kid.”

Arm Drag Takedown has reached out to Boone to ask if he would like to speak more on the incident and respond to Kong’s comments.

Kongo Kong addresses these subjects and many more, including his time on the Midwest and Canadian independent circuits, Jeff Jarrett’s short-lived Global Force Wrestling in 2014 and a high-profile run with IMPACT Wrestling.

Kongo worked for IMPACT Wrestling from 2017 to 2019 and left in part because they didn’t have any more plans for him. According to Kong, he always looked for ways to improve his work but never got a straight answer from Jimmy Jacobs or Scott D’Amore, both of whom he had a tenured relationship.

“I’ve known Jimmy Jacobs for years… Scott D’Amore, I’ve known for a long time. Basically the reason I broke into Canada was Scott D’Amore, so we’ve been friends for years, and I never felt like I could get what I consider a straight answer from those guys — and I’d ask. Is it the way I wrestle? Do I need to change that? Is it the way I look? What is it? What do I need to do to get myself back on TV? I even presented them to 8-10 directions of how to present the character.”

You can listen to the interview in its entirety below on the latest episode of Arm Drag Takedown with Pollo Del Mar:

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uL7ErKulnaqku6Z6wqikaKaVrMBwfZBybXJoaWK4sLrGqGSkp56ceqKww6ucrKuVqHqzscKepa1lkaG5prPAraCopqM%3D