Promoting her return to Canada this Friday at TNA’s live event in Windsor, Ontario, Gail Kim spoke to SLAM! Wrestling on a number of topics, including her desire to compete more than she had in WWE.
“(TNA) has really focused on women’s wrestling in a different manner than WWE, and I just enjoy it more here,” Kim says of the differences between both leagues. “I’ve experienced both major promotions twice now, and I can honestly say that TNA is a better fit for me.”
Now after wrestling for thirteen years, Kim finds herself working with girls who don’t have nearly as much experience as her, such as Miss Tessmacher. She says she’s enjoys working with the greenhorns as much as the veterans.
“I love both aspects of it—working with girls that have been doing it for ten years-plus like Mickie James and Tara, and with those who are looking forward towards the future,” said Kim. “And I enjoy being able to help some of the more inexperienced girls that I can help—I remember my first match back was a tag match with Brooke Tessmacher; she didn’t really know that much in the ring back then, but she has come so far in the past year.”
Kim says that while becoming the first TNA Women’s Knockouts Champion is one of her favorite moments of her career, she feels more accomplished with her pro-women’s wrestling cause.
“If you think about the whole picture, the thing that makes me most proud is fighting for that women’s division and it actually happening,” said Kim. “It wasn’t overnight, it took a lot of begging and pleading to wrestle. For that to happen, and for it to become successful, that was a dream come true.”
Kim also remarks on being named the top women’s wrestler of 2012 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, her marriage to celebrity chef Robert Irvine (the two met on Irvine’s TV show Dinner: Impossible), and more. The full article is available here.
