A la TIME’s Person of the Year list, Diva Dirt has compiled a countdown of the women we feel have best embodied the zeitgeist of the year in women’s wrestling. To compile this list, the Diva Dirt team have tracked the headlines here at Diva Dirt over the past 12 months, followed the lively fan debate on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, considered the impact that the women have made within the industry, and taken into account personal achievements as well. More information on the Women of the Year list here.
GAIL KIM
The Headline Grabber
No woman has defined the news agenda for women’s wrestling in 2011 more than Gail Kim.
As a news outlet, no story was bigger, juicier or grabbed more attention amongst the readers of Diva Dirt than Gail Kim quitting WWE and later re-joining TNA, now Impact Wrestling. In fact, coverage of Gail’s first interview during a live Internet pay per view broke traffic records for our website.
In the unyielding corporate world of WWE, it’s hard to think of the last time that an employee so successfully challenged the status quo, “sticking it to the man”, as it were, and spoke out in the way that Kim did when she quit WWE this past August. Of course, we all have our own opinions on how wise or professional it was of her to speak out, but one cannot deny the impact that Gail Kim made this year.
Kim’s revelations in interviews with Diva Dirt, The Sun and others had women’s wrestling enthusiasts, and the wrestling world in general, abuzz.
It was a pretty gutsy move on Gail’s part to quit WWE, a job that most in the wrestling industry strive for, leaving behind a big salary and television exposure around the world, but Kim’s principles must be admired. Since her departure, the first ever Knockouts Champion returned to Impact Wrestling and in hindsight, it certainly looks as though her gamble paid off, as she sits atop the Knockouts division once more with not one, but two championships.
Whatever you may think of her actions this year, Gail Kim went from being in the background to being one of the most talked about people in wrestling this year.
Gail Kim has indeed been the headline grabber.
PREVIOUSLY:
– The Women of the Year 2011: Jessicka Havok (#3)
