Gail Kim is rightfully respected as the greatest female wrestler in Impact Wrestling and one of the best in North American history. WWE dropping the ball with Kim on two occasions inspired her to shine even brighter in her TNA/Impact runs. Life outside of WWE also opened new doors in other areas of entertainment and wrestling.
The in-ring work of Gail is her strongest calling card, but the overall accomplishments made her a legend. Any talent to reach that level will be viewed a lot of expectations when having big matches or feuds. Kim did her best to always deliver when put in a position to show her talent. The following things will be relevant to any Gail fan outside of the WWE world.
10 First Feud Was With Jackie Gayda
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Most fans have no memory of Jackie Gayda even being in TNA, but she signed around the same time as Gail Kim. TNA wanted to add more known names from WWE when released, and two former members of their women’s division signed.
Both women feuded in the same faction when getting added to Jeff Jarrett’s Planet Jarrett group. Gail was the manager of Jarrett and America’s Most Wanted by choice, but a blackmail scenario forced Jackie into the group. Kim bossing around Gayda didn’t pay off since Jackie left when getting pregnant in real life.
9 Underrated Tag Team With Madison Rayne
Everyone thinks about Gail Kim being a dominant Knockouts Champion for TNA, but she held another title in the company as well. The Knockouts Tag Team Championship have a mixed history with more flops than successes holding gold in the past TNA era before its return in Impact.
Gail and Madison Rayne deserve a lot of credit for being among the better tag teams to hold those belts. TNA placed them in an unlikely alliance when Kim returned for her second stint as a heel. Madison and Gail thrived as heels with Karen Jarrett using her power as an authority figure to help them.
8 Her Husband Was Involved In The Second Taryn Terrell Feud
The first feud between Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell is often discussed as a huge moment in their respective careers. Kim was the perfect heel to put over a new face, but they had another run against each other a few years later.
Taryn returned from an absence playing a new heel character and targeting the now face Gail. The story featured Terrell making a pass at Kim’s husband Robert Irvine and trying to get in the lives of Gail’s stepchildren. TNA added a different dynamic that added a new chapter to their feud with fans behind Kim.
7 Lei'D Tapa Was Her Enforcer
TNA hired Lei'D Tapa after an appearance in their controversial Gut Check concept tested out unsigned talents. Tapa was clearly green with little experience that exposed her weaknesses when having to take part in live matches.
Gail Kim added Tapa as an enforcer bodyguard character to help her continue heel dominance as a top champ. The interference of Tapa made Kim a better heel getting to cheat to stay ahead. Unfortunately, TNA didn’t keep Tapa around that long since she struggled in actual matches.
6 Teamed With Petey Williams In Multiple Feuds
TNA didn’t originally have a women’s division when Gail Kim joined, despite her fighting for it until they finally created one. A rare chance to get women in matches featured the mixed tag feud of Gail and Petey Williams vs various mutual enemies.
James Storm and Bobby Roode each had tag runs with Jackie Moore against Williams and Kim. Three mixed tag matches for Petey and Gail made fans fall in love with Kim’s in-ring work. This set up Gail being the top star when the Knockouts division officially started later that year.
5 Teamed Up With Awesome Kong To Feud With The Dollhouse
Taryn Terrell turning heel to feud with Gail Kim led to her having a new faction known as The Dollhouse. Mia Yim, Marti Belle and Rebel following suit. Billy Corgan even secured the rights to the song “Doll Parts” by Hole to make the act feel even bigger.
Kim having the numbers advantage against her led to an unlikely alliance with another former rival. Awesome Kong teamed up with Gail to unite against the common enemies of The Dollhouse. Terrell did the best character work of her career to be the strong heel against two iconic Knockouts.
4 AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels Added Manager To Stop Her
One of the first noteworthy storylines for Gail Kim featured her cheating to help America’s Most Wanted defeat AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels in tag title matches. Kim interfering always cost Styles and Daniels their chance and forced them to plan ahead.
The relatively unknown Sirelda joined the faces to stop Kim and used her larger size advantage to terrify Gail. Styles and Daniels vs America’s Most Wanted had some of the best tag matches of that time and Kim played into the general story.
3 Helped Make New Stars
Every relevant main event wrestler will be tasked to help build new talents at some point, but Gail Kim truly created new stars. TNA often placed new women against Kim to see if they would sink or swim in the big match scenarios.
The debut TNA match for Taryn Terell against Kim stole the show and made her a big deal right away with the shocking victory. An even bigger instance of this came when Gail put over Brooke Adams in her home state of Texas to become Knockouts Champion for the first time.
2 Came Out Of Retirement To Put Over Tessa Blanchard
The retirement of Gail Kim has been more respected than other wrestlers having a retirement tour. Kim came out of retirement once for a feud and match with Tessa Blanchard. Impact hiring Blanchard saw her becoming arguably their hottest act before all the controversy played out.
Gail working backstage and Impact having a big PPV in Canada made it an easier decision to have this dream match. Both ladies gave their all for a strong program and great match. Kim put over Tessa like a million bucks before she moved into the male world title scene.
1 Faced Male Wrestler Tigre Uno In Singles Match
TNA had a unique tournament with a title shot on the line to whoever won and featured a rare intergender singles match. Gail Kim was part of the tournament as the top female star and wrestled X-Division standout Tigre Uno.
The match only lasted about six minutes and featured Tigre Uno winning, but Gail getting offense and false finishes teasing the upset made it a fascinating match. Most interviews of Kim have seen her being anti-intergender matches, but she clearly could thrive in them if she wanted to.