Wild Ride (WCW Magazine #71)
by Kevin Eck

A troubled youth forced Kristina Laum, aka Leia Meow to grow up fast

   Clad in knee-high black platform boots, fistnet stockings, hi-hugging
leather short-shorts and a leather halter that defies gravity; Leia Meow
walks with purpose as she leads the Jung Dragons to the ring. The petite
Asian femme fatale projects an image that is sexy, yet dangerous.

   Portraying such a character comes easily for Kristina Laum. The
exotic-looking 24-year-old long has been comfortible with her sexuality
and femininity. "I feel sorry for those who aren't open-minded, who are
afraid to go to that next level," she says. "They need to be open in
order to experience things."

   Laum's free-thinking demeanor and maturity did not come easily. She
admits to growing up fast as a teenager out of necessity, surviving a
violent childhood and life on the streets.

   Born in Seoul, South Korea, Laum and her older brother were adopted
by a couple in the Philadelphia suburbs when she was 2. "My adoptive
parents were very violent people," she says. "Growing up was like
walking on egg shells. You were afraid to leave your room. Because if
you caught their attention, you'd get hit."

   When she was 13,Laum and her brother were taken from their adoptive
parents bt the state. She hasn't had any contact with her parents since
then. Separated from her sibling, she spent time in foster homes, group
homes and on the streets. "I used t orun away a lot," Laum says. It's
hard to be 13 and think: 'Oh my gosh, I won't live to be 16.' I just
didn't see a future. When you're a child, you don't realize that it's
not your fault."

   For Laum, the group homes were the most difficult. "Your freedom was
completely taken away from you. You couldn't leave the home by yourself.
You had to have a staff member with you constantly," she says. "The age
range was from 2 to 18. The worst part was that some of the kids had
committed violent acts. You wonder how you didn't leave there with more
problems."

   Gettiag an education proved to be a challenge for Laum. "At age 13,
I had kids 5-year-old in the same classroom with me, as well as
17-year-oIds," she says. "When I turned 16, I went to court and asked if
I could be emancipated and live on my own. I wanted to graduate from high
school. The courts granted that, and I took a placement test, I didn't
want to go back to the eighth grade at 16. I was placed in 12th grade,
and I graduated when I was 16."

   The education she received in school paled in comparison with what she
learned outside the classroom. "I always had friends twice as old as I
was," Laum says. "They looked at me as a child, but I didn't feel like
one. I never did.

   "I grew up streetwise. At one point I was taken in by bikers. Everyone
sees bikers in movies as rough and tough and horrible people. But they
took me in, and it was actually like family. They were nicer than the
regular people who had money that didn't want anything to do with me. They
taught me a lot. When you're out on the streets, you either make it or you
sink. You have to grow up fast because there's no room for immaturity on
the streets."

   At 16, Laum began working in a lingerie store owned by a woman who
"was like a mom" to her. It was there that Laum's open attitude toward
sexuality began to nourish. "We would close down the shop and take
appointments for cross-dressers," she says."We would do makeup for them
and fit them for clothes. Then we would take them on what was almost like
a tour bus to different alternative clubs - some S&M, some just for
crossdressers, basically every walk of life."

   Laum continued her walk on the wild side by becoming an exotic dancer
at 17. "It was in bikini bars - I didn't take anything off" she says. "I
won awards in the Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) for
my costumes and pole work."

   Her job as a dancer unexpectedly allowed her to segue into professional
wrestling. The DJ moonlighting at the club was Scott Levy, better known to
wrestling fans as Raven. Levy, who was working for Extreme Championship
Wrestling at the time, invited Laum to an ECW show. She accepted, and was
quickly offered a position as a valet in the Philadelphia-based company.

   As the scantily clad Kimona, Laum provided plenty of titillation for
ECW fans, including a role in a lesbian angle. She was called upon to
perform an impromptu striptease to appease angry fans at an event where a
power outage temporarily halted the matches.

   Laum left ECW for WCW more than a year ago. She originally was cast as
a sexy cheerleader for the Varsity Club before taking on her current role
with the Jung Dragons. "I can't stay in one spot for too long, and I
definitely need adventure. So this business is good for me because we
travel, and there's always adventure thiat goes along with it." she says.

   Outside the ring, Laum has a passion for Anne Rice books, video games
and Japanese animation - adult cartoons with erotic themes. The characters
within the cartoons helped to frame her image as Leia Meow. "The women
have big hair, big boobs - they're perfect," she says.

   Laum's upbringing certainly was far from perfect, but she is hoping
to one day serve as an example to children in similar situations. "When
I pass away, I want to be more than a speck on this world," she says. "I
have to be a success someday, because after I'm happy with everything I've
done, I'd like to be a children's counselor. I could say: 'I was where
you're at, and look at everything I've done in my life. Your past will be
the past. There's always a future.'"