Gail Kim: Difference between revisions

Gail Kim (born February 20, 1977)  is a Canadian professional wrestler, valet, model and actress of Korean descent, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)[http://www.impactwrestling.com/]. She is also known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), [http://www.wwe.com/]where she won the WWE Women's Championship in her first match.

She began her career wrestling as La Felina on the Canadian independent circuit, before joining WWE in 2002 as Gail Kim. In her WWE debut match, she won the WWE Women's Championship. After being released by WWE in 2004, Kim joined TNA in September 2005. There, she joined the tag team America's Most Wanted as their valet. After the dissolution of the group, Kim performed as a singles wrestler, eventually going on to become the inaugural TNA Women's Knockout Champion in October 2007. She later left TNA in August 2008, to return to WWE three months later, making her televised return in March 2009. She announced on August 5, 2011 that she had quit WWE via her Twitter account. The following October she returned to TNA. In 2012, Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Kim the number one female wrestler in the world.

== '''Personal life''' ==

Gail Kim was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on February 20, 1977. Kim majored in kinesiology at the University of Toronto before transferring to Ryerson University and changing her major to nutrition.  Prior to signing with WWE, Kim underwent breast augmentation surgery. After signing, she had her implants enlarged. While performing for WWE, one of her implants ruptured, which resulted in her being sidelined for two weeks.  Kim married celebrity chef Robert Irvine May 10, 2012.  The couple met on the set of Dinner: Impossible.

== '''Canadian independent circuit (2000–2002)''' ==

After obtaining her degree from Ryerson University[http://www.ryerson.ca/index.html], Kim decided to become a professional wrestler and joined Ron Hutchinson's "School of Pro Wrestling" in Toronto.  She received supplementary training from Rob Etchevarria at the "Squared Circle Pro Wrestling Gym".  She debuted in December 2000, wearing a mask and wrestling as "The Queen of the Cats" La Felina in the Southern Ontario-based Apocalypse Wrestling Federation. She, however, was eventually unmasked by Tracy Brooks in a "Mask versus Hair" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_match_types]match.  Kim worked on the Canadian independent circuit for two years, wrestling for promotions such as Border City Wrestling.

== '''World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2004)''' ==

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.

== '''International circuit (2005)''' ==

After her release from WWE, Kim would make an appearance for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling on January 22, 2005 in South Korea, teaming with Lollipop in a tag team match, where they defeated Malia Hosaka and Nidia.  On June 26, Kim made her debut for World Series Wrestling (WSW) in Melbourne, Australia, losing to Nidia in a singles match.  Two days later at another WSW event in Sydney, Kim defeated Nidia in a rematch.  The following night, Kim teamed up with A.J. Styles to defeat Nidia and Christopher Daniels in a mixed tag team match.   

== '''Total Nonstop Action Wrestling''' ==

For the first half of 2011, Kim feuded with Melina; the matches between the two mainly took place on Superstars and saw Kim emerging victorious in two singles matches on May 30 and June 23.  On the August 1 episode of Raw, Kim participated in a Battle Royal to determine the number one contender for the Divas Championship, however, shortly after the match began, she eliminated herself. She later explained that WWE had instructed her to get herself eliminated from the match within the first minute, so she decided to take the easy way out and just eliminate herself.  On August 5, Gail Kim announced on her Twitter page that she had quit the WWE following the incident.  Kim later indicated that WWE did not grant her release, but would instead force her to stay with the promotion for the remainder of her contract.  Kim's WWE.com profile was removed on September 30, indicating that she had officially left the company.  Kim later stated in an interview with The Sun that she was not happy with her time in WWE due to feeling that she was being held back, while also vowing never to re-sign with the promotion.

== '''Return to TNA Wrestling (2011–present)''' ==

On January 13, 2013, at Genesis, Kim competed in a five woman gauntlet match to determine the number one contender to the Women's Knockout Championship. Kim eliminated Miss Tessmacher, ODB and Mickie James but was eventually eliminated by Velvet Sky after referee Taryn Terrell failed to notice Kim's foot under the ropes.  On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Kim received a rematch for Sky's number one contendership, but was again defeated. On February 14th Edition of Impact Gail teamed with Tara and Jessie in a winning effort against Party Marty and The Blossom Twins Afterward, Gail Demanded that she should receive a title shot. On February 21st edition of Impact Wrestling Kim received a title match in a Fatal Four-way Elimination match, She failed to win the title after being Eliminated by Velvet Sky, who won the match.

== '''Other Media''' ==

Kim posed topless for a cell phone ad campaign in South Korea.  In 2007, Kim was listed on Forbes' top 40 list of "America's Most Eligible Bachelorettes".  In 2009, Kim was a part of the cast of the independent psychological thriller entitled Royal Kill.  On October 13, 2011, Gail Kim, along with The Miz, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Harry Saludares and Eve Torres appeared on a special WWE edition of Family BrainSurge.  On August 18, 2012, Kim's and Robert Irvine's wedding ceremony was documented on an episode of Irvine's Restaurant: Impossible program.

== '''In wrestling''' ==

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== '''Championships and accomplishments''' ==

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