Gail Kim: Difference between revisions

Kim was introduced to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) employee Nora Greenwald (known on-screen as Molly Holly) by Jason Sensation in 2001; Greenwald encouraged Kim to send her videos and tapes to WWF officials, which eventually led to her contract. In October 2002, she was hired by the WWF, now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).  She spent eight months training in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW)[http://www.ovwrestling.com/] and appearing in house shows and dark matches before being called up to the main roster.  After several weeks of vignettes showcasing Matrix-like effects aired on Raw, Kim debuted on June 30 as a fan favorite, with a Matrix-inspired outfit.  Her first televised WWE match was a seven-woman battle royal in Buffalo, New York on the June 30, 2003 episode of Raw with the WWE Women's Championship, then held by an injured Jazz, on the line.  Kim won the match by lastly eliminating Victoria.  Kim held the title for four weeks, before losing it to Molly Holly on the July 28, 2003 episode of Raw.  On the August 25 episode of Raw, Kim turned on Trish Stratus and subsequently formed an alliance with Holly to take on Stratus, defeating her and various partners on several occasions, until she was later assisted by Lita.  At WWE's Unforgiven PPV event on September 21, 2003, Stratus and Lita defeated Kim and Holly in a tag match.  The four women continued to feud until November, when Kim was sidelined with a broken right collarbone.  Kim returned to Raw in April 2004 and immediately reforged her alliance with Holly. At WWE's Bad Blood PPV event on June 13, 2004, she faced Lita, Stratus, and Victoria in a Fatal Four-Way for the WWE Women's Championship, which was won by Stratus.  Kim participated in a battle royal on October 19, 2004 at WWE's Taboo Tuesday PPV event, which was won by Stratus.  She, however, was released by WWE on November 3, 2004 as a result of cost cutting.  Kim was caught off guard by her release and was told that management wanted to take the women's division in a new direction.

Following her release and the expiration of her 90-day no-compete clause, Kim made sporadic appearances on the independent circuit, including at Michigan's All World Wrestling League and in Japan. She also competed in Korea and Mexico before being signed by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion on September 6, 2005. She made her TNA debut on the October 8, 2005 episode of TNA's television program TNA Impact!, aligning herself with Jeff Jarrett and America's Most Wanted (AMW) (Chris Harris and James Storm) and taking on the role of AMW's and Jarrett's manager. Kim made her in-ring debut on July 16, 2006 at TNA's Victory Road PPV event in a Six Man Mixed Tag Team match with AMW against A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Sirelda. However, her team ended up on the losing end of the contest.   At TNA's Hard Justice PPV event on August 13, 2006, Kim defeated Sirelda in a standard wrestling match.

 

In early 2007 after the dissolution of AMW, Kim began a more active role as an in-ring competitor in TNA. This began with an on-screen feud with her former alliance, Storm, and his new manager Jacqueline. The first encounter between the group was on February 11, 2007 at TNA's Against All Odds PPV event in a Mixed Tag Team match, which Kim and her partner, Petey Williams, lost. On March 11, 2007 at TNA's Destination X PPV event, Storm and Jacqueline won a rematch against Williams and Kim in a Double Bullrope match. Kim went on to defeat Jacqueline in a Six Sides of Steel cage match on April 15, 2007 at TNA's Lockdown PPV event. Their feud came to an end on the May 3, 2007 episode of TNA Impact!, when Kim defeated Moore under street fight rules.

After the conclusion to her feud with Moore, Kim made two minor TNA PPV appearances before outlasting nine other competitors in a ten-woman gauntlet match to crown the first TNA Women's World Champion on October 14, 2007 at TNA's Bound for Glory PPV event. She made her first title defense on November 11 at TNA's Genesis PPV event; there she successfully retained the now renamed TNA Women's Knockout Championship by defeating Roxxi Laveaux, ODB, and Angel Williams. Kim then began a feud with Awesome Kong over the championship. Their first encounter occurred on December 2 at TNA's Turning Point PPV event, which resulted in Kim retaining due to a disqualification by Kong. On January 6, 2008 at TNA's Final Resolution PPV event, Kim defeated Kong in their second encounter to retain the championship under no disqualification rules. In their third and final encounter in the main event of the January 10 episode of TNA Impact!, Kong defeated Kim to win the TNA Women's Knockout Championship.