Mia Yim is back in IMPACT! and she is being welcomed with open arms. The former Knockouts Champion made her return to the company in early May at the Under Siege event. She returned to make the save for Taya Valkyrie after a post-match attack by Deonna Purrazzo.
Yim sat down with Denise Salcedo to discuss her return to the company. She attributed Gail Kim as the reason for her return and she spoke about her decision to return to wrestling even though she was questioning it.
She was asked by Salcedo how it felt to be back with IMPACT and the changes that have taken place since she was there over five years ago.
“Freedom. Not that we weren’t free before, but the minute I signed my contract, I got a text like, ‘hey, what do you want to do for your character? What do you want to do for your tron?’ I’m like, ‘these are just suggestions, you don’t have to go for it,’ but I’ve been sitting on these ideas for the past two years, so I tossed it to them and they were like, ‘Great, we’ll set everything up.’ ‘This is so cool.’ It was different. You’re used to pitching ideas, but then nothing ever happens. ‘This is an idea I pitched, but nothing happened.’ In my mind, I was like, ‘th fact that they straight up asked me what I want to do says a lot,’ and then the fact that they went about and did it, I want to retire at IMPACT. This is where I want to stay forever, at this point. It was definitely a different feeling, but I felt like I was being heard and listened to and they took my ideas, and even little tweaks, they would ask, ‘How do you feel about this?’ ‘You’re really asking me?’ It’s nice to feel like I’m respected as a human,” she stated. [h/t – Fighftul]
She added –
“It’s an amazing and incredible feeling. Just to know that I know a majority of these people from the last time I was there, to meeting new people where I felt like I’ve known then forever. It’s a cool feeling to walk through those doors and be welcomed by, old, new, everybody. Not jut talent, but production and office. I’ve never worked with Scott (D’Amore) before, but man is he cool. He’s cool to sit back and talk with. It’s nice. It’s a really nice feeling.”
Yim further discussed her actual decision to step foot back into the ring. Prior to going back to IMPACT she had only two matches since December 2020 and her subsequent release from WWE. She faced Athena and then Janai Kai on indie shows.
“A lot was going on in my mind. It’s hard to pinpoint one or two specific things. me and Keith got released the same day, so it was a lot of trying to figure out of, I’ve done everything I’ve wanted in my career. Everything I set a goal for myself, I’ve done it all. Do I even want to wrestle anymore, just with the toxicity of social media and with what I did last, I was a joke, ‘Do I even bother?’ We got married, moved two weeks after and bought a house, a lot of real life stuff was happening and Keith, right after the wedding, he went to work. I was like, ‘Let me take a couple of months to hold down the fort and get things together with real life so he doesn’t have to worry about anything and everything will be taken care of at home.’ I took a couple of months off to do things in my real life, but also figure out if this is what I wanted to continue to do. It was a lot. I’m close friends with Gail (Kim) and have been talking with her ever since I left IMPACT the first time.”
She continues, “We had been talking and, I originally didn’t want to sign anywhere or do TV. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but Gail was putting over the company, the talent, Scott, everything. With Gail being in a position in IMPACT as the head of the women’s division, I had no question or second guesses or hesitation that, if I were to go to IMPACT, under Gail’s leadership, everything was going to be fine. There is no drama. I didn’t want to deal with drama, politics, I just wanted to, if I was going to wrestle, I just wanted to wrestle and hang out with my friends. In that place, I have a lot of friends and know I would have a lot of wrestling opportunities. It was a no-brainer for me to be like, ‘Okay, I’m going to give it one more try.’ I don’t want people to remember me as what I’ve done the past year or two. I want people to remember me as Mia Yim and I have a decade worth of work under my belt before I had the whole thing happen and I want people to remember that. I’m not just a manager for a group. I can ‘go’ too. Once I decided, ‘I’m going to give wrestling a try,’ it was, ‘Count me in Gail.’ I know that in IMPACT, I’m going to be okay.”
When asked about her goals moving forward, Yim did confirm that she would like to retire with IMPACT!
A time frame was not discussed but she mentioned the following :
“I don’t know if I said this earlier but I want to retire at IMPACT. IMPACT has treated me so well thus far, they always have back in the day. I’ve done everything I wanted to when I first started wrestling that now I just want to come back and see people that I helped with their trial matches are now part of IMPACT. Like Chelsea and Alisha. I want to continue to help the younger generations come up and teach them how it goes. I just want to help the younger generation and be an inspiration to others.”
Yim is currently booked for the first-ever Queen of the Mountain Match for the Knockouts World Title. It will take place at Slammiversary on June 19 and in that match includes all prior champions. Joining Yim will be Jordynne Grace, Chelsea Green, Deonna Purrazzo, and the current Knockouts World Champion Tasha Steelz.
