Kiera Hogan on her "Coming Out Party," Bound For Glory 2019 & more (Exclusive)

IMPACT Wrestling has been in the news a lot lately, as it was announced a few weeks back that its flagship weekly two-hour program IMPACT! is now airing on AXS TV. Meanwhile, IMPACT Wrestling’s biggest pay-per-view event of the year, Bound For Glory, will be taking place in Chicago area in a few days on 20th October in the Chicago area.

One of the IMPACT stars who has people talking is Kiera Hogan. Hogan made her IMPACT Wrestling debut in February 2018, defeating Impact Knockouts Champion Laurel Van Ness -- now NXT star Chelsea Green -- in a non-title match. She has since battled the likes of Taya Valkyrie, Tessa Blanchard, Su Yung, Jordynne Grace and Scarlett Bordeaux.

Kiera Hogan arrived in Chicago well in advance of Bound For Glory in honor of her Coming-Out Party. In late July, Hogan had shared on social media that she was dating fellow female wrestler Diamante -- which was celebrated at the famed Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria in Buffalo Grove.

The event was hosted by The Pinta Pride Project. On the same trip, Hogan also had a scheduled meeting Illinois State Representative Greg Harris.

As embedded (and partially-transcribed) below, I spoke with Kiera Hogan herself by phone on October 17, 2019 about her Coming-Out Party, the 2019 edition of Bound For Glory, Chicago pizza, whether she, as an Atlanta native, has been to the DDP YOGA Performance Center, her long-term goals as a wrestler, and what she wishes more people knew about "the Girl On Fire."

On how her Coming Out Party came together

Kiera Hogan: So I made my Pride post at the end of Pride Month, and Ross [Forman] our [Impact Wrestling] publicist, came up to me after I made my post about my girlfriend Diamante -- he actually didn't know I made that post. He just knew about my Pride post and was like, "Hey, I just wanted to know if you would be interested in doing some events in the LGBTQ community." I was like, "Sure." He just kind of asked as a general question... And then a few minutes later, after that conversation, he comes back to me and is like, "You are dating Diamante?" I was like, "Yes." He was like, "I didn't even know that until now." I was like, "Well good job, Ross." So there you go, there's some more information for you. (laughs)

It just kind of happened the way it did. I feel like everything that's happened since I've started dating Diamante has happened for a reason. Everything has fallen into place naturally, so I'm just super-excited that IMPACT would even give me the platform or opportunity to be able to do all of these events. Especially for our biggest pay-per-view of the year. I'm just super-grateful and super-blessed for this opportunity to have my own Coming-Out press tour, like I never would've thought.

On this year's Bound For Glory

Kiera Hogan: First and foremost, Bound For Glory is sold-out, which is awesome. That is awesome news, especially with IMPACT's move to AXS and it's just adding more fuel to our fire. We are showing everyone that we are hot and we are ready for our move and we are ready for what's next.

I'm just so excited for the event in general. Last Bound For Glory I wasn't too much involved. But this year, like I said, I have my own press tour. My match has still not been announced. I'm pretty sure you guys are going to hear about it soon. They're gonna have to wait until the last minute to save the best for last.

I'm very excited for Bound For Glory. I just can't contain my excitement, honestly. I'm just really happy to be here and just have this opportunity and just be a part of our biggest pay-per-view of the year. That's huge.