Many fans of noticed a striking similarity between IMPACT’s Kiera Hogan’s look/gimmick and that of WWE’s Ember Moon, and apparently there is good reason the two characters seem so alike.
IMPACT Wrestling Star Kiera Hogan recently spoke to Fightful, during the interview she revealed what it felt like seeing Ember Moon come out for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans using her “Girl on Fire” gimmick which Kiera was later accused of stealing from Ember by many wrestling fans.
Regarding Ember Moon using her gimmick in NXT, Kiera Hogan said:
“I know for a fact I’m the reason she did it. I try not to look at it in a negative way, but in the end it is negative, because it’s something that I did first. Something that I brought to my company first. She debuted it at NXT Takeover Mania weekend. I saw her come out and my heart literally dropped. I knew what was coming after that. I got tweets, DMs, saying ‘You’re the ripoff version, you’re the cheap version of Ember Moon.’ Because she’s taken something that I’ve worked so hard to make my own, now I’m the ripoff version. In retrospect, it’s like you stole something from me, and doesn’t acknowledge she did, but I worked so hard to get to where I am being the “girl on fire,” and now I’m the ripoff version of her. It hurts me, and all the work I put into this character. I’m not going to give up.”
Kiera also revealed the interaction that she had with Ember Moon, then known as Athena, when the two both participated in the same 2015 WWE tryout.
“I think the ‘Girl on Fire’ thing WWE probably gave to (Becky Lynch) but I bet Ember (pitched hers). She was at my tryout. I saw her sign her contract, she cried when she signed her contract. After the tryout she text me and said ‘I wanna help you get booked on shows,’ after that I’ve never spoken to her and that was almost four years ago. I know she got the inspiration from me. It doesn’t help that we’re two black females, so I’ll automatically get compared to her.”
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(Thanks to our friends at Ringsidenews for sending this along to us.)
