Former WWE star Gail Kim was recently interviewed by 411Mania to talk about several professional wrestling topics.
Here are the highlights:
If she felt her WWE return was a disappointment:
Uh yeah, you know if I’m gonna be completely honest. But when I went back, I did clear my path in terms of how I felt, and I really was optimistic. And at that time, I remember ’cause it was past the Diva Search and all that stuff, that kind had already long gone. And they were starting to have the women wrestle again. And so I felt very positive, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m stronger. I’m wiser, I have more experience under my belt.’
And I had done the stuff with Awesome Kong, so it did build more confidence. And so when I went back, it was — it was disappointing, I will say. I’ll say that I never felt like I was used to my potential, you know. They had seen what I had done in TNA, and that’s why they hired me back. And so, I would think a logical thing would be to use you to your best ability, and what you know is great about that person, about the talents that that person had. But I never felt like that was happening.
Her departure paving the way for her return to TNA:
And this is the way I look at it, because a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t understand why WWE never used you in the proper way.’ Or on the other side of the coin, a lot of people are like, ‘Why are you so bitter about it?’ And for me, listen. I look back, and the way that I looked at it is that if they didn’t treat me that way, I would never have done all the things I did in TNA.
I would never have — you know, then I went back to TNA/Impact, and I had my feud with Taryn Terrell. And if they didn’t treat me that way, then I wouldn’t have lost, right? [laughs] I wouldn’t have been able to make that match afterwards. And so, I’m grateful for every experience. I’m a true believer in, ‘Everything that happens in your life is meant to be,’ and it happens for a reason. It sounds very cliche, but I’m a true believer in that.
And you may not know why until years later. And I’m just so satisfied and happy with my career, and you know there’s not many people that can say that they ended their career with some closure. And that’s why I’ll never step back into a ring in an official match because I know it’s a very rare thing to have, and I’m very grateful. And I don’t want the fans to remember me as anything but my best.
Her initial reaction to the storyline with Daniel Bryan and the Bellas:
Well actually, I’ll tell you a little behind-the-scenes story with that. I was literally — I was on the house show loop that weekend, and I remember I was ready to quit. I was gonna go to Raw and I was gonna quit. I was just done, very done. And Brian Gewirtz, the head writer of Raw who, we got along … I knew a lot of storylines that he wrote just got nixed. And so he had called me with excitement, because he’s like, ‘Oh my god, we have a story for you finally.’
And I was like, ‘Oh my God, the week that I was gonna quit he’s calling to tell me that he’s so excited that he’s got a storyline for me. So it was something I really wrestled with, I was just like ‘Ugh, what do I do,’ you know. And so he told me the storyline, and I just thought ‘Okay, I’ll give it a shot and see where it goes.’
How she felt about the storyline:
And you know, it was a good experience in terms of having a story and being more of a — not wrestler, but character I guess amongst the story. People remember it, I’ll say that. [laughs] That’s for sure. So that did prolong my time there, and I think we played that out. And it was basically like, I remember they were really happy with it.
They loved the catfights and all those things, and we had like two more catfights after that backstage and in the ring. And then I got kind of replaced by Eve Torres in that storyline, and I remember just thinking, ‘Okay, why did that happen?’ And then, you know I tried to talk it out with the office, just confused about my direction and why I wasn’t being used. And I really didn’t get any answers.
So I was just really unhappy, and I really believe that in life, you’ve just got to be happy. And I never — at that point, money wasn’t important to me. I knew, I felt like literally I was ticking my time away, and I knew I had something to give to this business. And so I said, ‘I’ve gotta leave. I have to leave.’
Also Read: Gail Kim Discusses Pro Wrestling Possibly Going Dark Due to Coronavirus
