Former IMPACT Knockouts superstar Gail Kim was the latest guest on Busted Open Radio to discuss whether she’d ever return to WWE, and how she’s enjoyed working as a producer. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Recalls matchups being sloppy and having to tell the talent such:
Listen, there was one match recently where all the girls came back and they were literally almost crying and upset, and that match, I had no choice but to tell them, ‘Hey guys, sloppy.’ It was just not good, and I really didn’t have a positive that one time and there are gonna be moments like that but then I give them the pep talk afterwards. ‘Listen, you’re gonna have to forget about it. Now move forward and we’re gonna have to do better from this and we can’t have performances like that and when we have fans back, you know, you’re not gonna have room for error’ and so, even though some people hate holding people’s feet to the fire and keep them accountable, that’s the only way they are going to be better and ultimately when we have these conversations, most of them, the people who do wanna get better say, ‘No, that’s what I wanna hear, that’s what I need to get better’ so, they respect it. They just have to be open-minded and know that we’re coming from a good place.
Whether she thinks she’d ever go back to WWE:
Well, there are times — it’s funny because someone — okay, someone recently put me in a position of like, ‘Would you go work for them again?’ As a trainer or whatever, and I’m like to be honest, I’d probably get into a physical fight. That’s what I always say, only because I’ve experienced that company twice now and I hope it’s changed and I’ve heard from some people here and there that it has changed, but ultimately, my personality does not fit within that corporation. It’s too controlled for me. There are people okay with that who are okay with playing their game or whatever it is. I enjoy being myself, enjoying my passion in life where I don’t have to play games and where I feel I don’t gotta, you know, get into it with my boss because I feel like — I remember thinking when I went back to WWE, when I left TNA that first time, I remember being so upset that I had to leave TNA. I cried, I balled my eyes out and then I pulled myself together and I said, ‘Okay, you know what? I’m a stronger woman now. I’m stronger and wiser and I’m gonna go into this situation very optimistic and hope for the best’ and I went in there and it was the same all over again. I just think after two times, I would have even less patience and I still feel like a stronger, more wiser woman. Now, I just don’t think I would take any bullsh*t, right? So, for me, I don’t think they would like me is what I’m saying because I’m not gonna be a robot and I will fight for the women. I’m not just gonna take the business of the match if it’s something that’s wrong or uncomfortable and where I can work with it and they wouldn’t be open to hearing my thoughts and that’s the understanding I have it’s like there but I don’t know if that’s true.
How she was an agent at times for men’s matches in IMPACT but mainly has her heart set in the knockouts division:
I feel like I’m very hands-on with the women. I have agented some of the guys’ matches here and there and of course I love producing and passing on knowledge in any way, male or female but my heart is with the women. I can’t lie about that. I’m very invested in that women’s division. It’s like my baby in a lot of ways and so when they knock it out of the park, my adrenaline’s just as high as theirs and I’m just so grateful that I get that feeling just watching them wrestle and accomplishing what we try to do together. It’s just a great feeling that I can get because I think if I wasn’t getting that feeling, I would probably be back in the ring because I’d miss it too much.
(H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling
)