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Five-time Knockouts Champion and 2016 TNA Hall of Fame inductee Gail Kim recently spoke with Ring Rust Radio to discuss the honors of being the first female to be inducted to the TNA Hall of Fame, fans appreciation for women’s wrestling, opponents she’d would still like to work with and more.
Thoughts on being honored to the 2016 TNA Hall of Fame: “In terms of being honored at the TNA Hall of Fame, I think that’s something that every pro wrestler dreams about. You don’t think about it as your career is going on. For this moment to come it was almost surreal. To have the appreciation from your peers, the fans and the company you work for is the ultimate reward. For me, that has always been ultimate because respect has always been the most important thing to me in this business. I am very old school in that mind set and thinking that way. The business has changed a lot, and I love when I go to a show and see the up-and-coming talent being taught respect. For me, the Hall of Fame and being respected that way is the ultimate and top of what I can achieve in this business. I don’t know how much longer I can go and what I can achieve beyond that.”
On fans’ appreciation for women’s wrestling: “Way back before all this women’s wrestling happened for us back in 2007, people would always tell me that fans don’t want to watch women’s wrestling. I always refused to believe that. I could have listened to all these people who were my friends and other fans who thought they didn’t want to see it because they had a perception of what women’s wrestling was. I always believed and I was always passionate about women’s wrestling. I think the fans at the time saw us deliver and felt our passion. I always tried to think about why I wasn’t connecting with the fans in my early WWE days, and there were a lot of aspects to that at the time. Maybe I didn’t have a great story line, maybe I just wasn’t relatable, but I feel like ultimately in this business I connected with the fans because they felt my passion for this business. We shared that passion for wrestling. I am so glad that they appreciated everything from the beginning. Like the feud I had with Awesome Kong, they were the reason it was such a success. Yes, we took the ball and ran with it, but they truly believed in it. It took a long time for women’s wrestling to come this far since looking back at 2007. Now in 2016, the strides women’s wrestling has taken is great. I have said this in other interviews because people see us as competitive with WWE girls, but I support them. I want them to have that opportunity and the stage I never got to have back then. I can appreciate how bad they want it. When I see them accomplish what their dreams are it’s an unbelievable feeling. I know what it feels like and I want that for them as well.”
If there are any opponents she never had an opportunity to wrestle or have an extended program with but would still like to mix it up with: “Yes, yes, many people! Most of them are from my past like Beth Phoenix. She is probably, from my recollection, the best person I have been in the ring with from a worker’s point of view. She is always so calm and collected and really knew what she was doing in the ring. She was a great leader as well. Beth, Natty and Alicia Fox are probably my top three. There are so many girls that are really talented like Sasha Banks and Bayley. I have been lucky enough to work with many generations of girls, so every time you see someone really talented you get that urge to make some magic with that girl. There are definitely a couple of girls I would still like to work with.”
Listen to the full interview below:
What are your thoughts on Gail’s interview? Are you looking forward to Gail Kim versus Maria Kanellis at Bound for Glory? Let us know in the comments below!
