Gail Kim Talks More About Quitting WWE, Would Like to Return to TNA
Former WWE Diva Gail Kim spoke to The Sun in the UK this week about her WWE departure and more. A lot of the ground covered is what we already knew from the shoot interview on Wednesday, however, now we can actually attribute quotes to Gail instead of recapping what was said.
On quitting WWE, Gail says:
“The night of the Battle Royal where I eliminated myself, it was ten minutes before Raw ended, and I pulled Johnny (Laurinaitis) aside. It was right after his first on-air segment, and I told him ‘I just want to give you my notice. I’m quitting.’
“He was surprised and said ‘You’re putting this on me ten minutes before Raw ends?’
“There were words between us. Nothing bad – even though you might hear bad things about Johnny, I understand what his job is. I have never felt in any way afraid to talk to him about how I feel.
“So I just told him. I told him I felt held down and just ready to move on. I said ‘I don’t want your money; I just want to be free. Free to do whatever I want.’
“Johnny said ‘I’ll have to get clearance for you to quit, it shouldn’t be a problem.’ Of course it was a problem, and they didn’t want me to work anywhere else, so I had to stay at home.”
On the battle royal where she eliminated herself, Gail admits that perhaps it was childish. She says:
“It was a very controversial thing,” she said. “A lot of people said that they lost respect for me because I was unprofessional. But unless anyone walks in your shoes they do not what you feel.
“I can admit that maybe it was a childish thing to do. But I would not take it back. I was disrespected many times by the company, and when you get disrespected that many times there is only so much you can take.”
On whether she’d return to TNA, Gail cites an interview she did for the Knockouts DVD a few years ago, where she said she’d like to end her career there. Gail says:
“I’m not retiring from wrestling, I can say that. I always said – I said it in my last interview with TNA on a Knockout’s DVD – that I always felt like I would return there one day. I’d love to finish up my career there.
Read more here.
number1AngelinaLovefan
October 15, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Ooo good for Gail and i really HOPE she will be threr at BFG it would be AWESOME
Melina&Mickie4ever!
October 15, 2011 at 3:06 pm
I still have respect for Gail Kim. Do I think it was unprofessional ? Nope not at all !!! Gail isn’t and won’t be the last superstar or diva to chew WWE out for the lies they promised or proposed to them. How can you be with a company for years and you hardly get a solid push , but the same people are given opportunities over and over again.
FashionQueen86
October 15, 2011 at 6:29 pm
WWE was unprofessional.
bressie
October 16, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Both not true even by Gail’s account
Hummingbird
October 15, 2011 at 3:19 pm
“It was a very controversial thing” LOL
Not really, nobody saw her.
JJ
October 15, 2011 at 3:26 pm
I really hope she returns to TNA soon. I know she is getting married and planning her wedding so maybe once all that is done she will return sometime next year. I would really love to see both her and Melina in TNA. I think the two of them could really help to freshen up the Knockout’s division. If the the rumors of John Morrison leaving WWE soon are true maybe he and Melina will join TNA together? TNA could give Gail and Melina the chance to have the real feud that WWE never gave any time and effort to.
EveLover
October 15, 2011 at 3:38 pm
I really hope she just goes to TNA .I want to see more of her matches
Imagine:
Mickie vs Gail ( Feud or Match )
Tara vs Gail ( Feud or Match )
Angelina vs Gail
Winter vs Gail
And so on ..I would not be surprised if she gets signed before the end of this year .
Kaledrina
October 15, 2011 at 4:10 pm
as much as i love gail as a performer, tna don’t really need her.
bressie
October 15, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Yeah TNA doesnt need a proven ratings draw for the promotion.
This place sometimes.
Kaledrina
October 15, 2011 at 7:55 pm
how is gail a proven ratings draw for tna? the knockouts as a whole division has always gathered the ratings, the knockouts didn’t lose viewers after gail left. if i had the time and resources i’d probably look into it and likely see that they’ve had higher rated knockout segments without gail at the helm.
personally, i would rather her go somewhere else, gail doesn’t need to develop as a performer but she can sure help a company develop. like ring of honor or lucha libre usa, she can go and help them build up a better female division.
just a suggestion but if you don’t like ‘this place’, feel free to leave or much better, just don’t comment on my comments, i don’t care if you ignore me okay :)
NaomiNightfan2011
October 15, 2011 at 10:40 pm
The thing is though is that Gail is partially the reason that the Knockouts are as successful as they already are.
Gail was the main star of when the Knockouts were getting more recognition from the TNA creative team and the audience. If Gail wasn’t in the company at the time that she was, then the Knockouts arguably wouldn’t be as successful as they are today
perceval
October 15, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Yeah, because TNA really uses it’s talented women. Looking forward to seeing Tara & Brooke defending their Championship on Impact… some day.
Strange as it sounds, Rosa has been getting more TV time than Tara lately.
Acer
October 15, 2011 at 4:57 pm
I want to see Gail back on my TV. End of.
Jamal
October 15, 2011 at 5:02 pm
I’d advise anyone with itunes to listen to the full interview on the One Sided Ring with Rob McNichol. Definitely good stuff
Nostalgia
October 15, 2011 at 5:17 pm
TNA has one show. The WWE has 4. TNA barely makes use of the Knockouts as a whole. ODB and Jackie haven’t been on air since the summer
WWFoverWWE
October 15, 2011 at 7:03 pm
bad choice to give those 2 contracts if they weren’t going to be used
shameronstar
October 15, 2011 at 8:26 pm
They should become Karen Angle’s personal bodyguards after Bound for Glory ends.
Mr. Asstastic
October 15, 2011 at 5:29 pm
I really hope that if Gail comes back to TNA, that they don’t just send her straight back to the top. They’ve got Mickie, they’ve got Winter, Velvet is just now getting a crack at the main event scene after four years, Tara and Brooke haven’t wrestled in weeks. It would be really unfair to the other Knockouts.
Nostalgia
October 15, 2011 at 5:33 pm
That’s what I’m saying
Kaledrina
October 15, 2011 at 8:00 pm
exactly. tna have a good couple handfuls of talented, over with the crowd knockouts. either she’d come back and rarely be used, or she’d come back and other knockouts would barely be used (some already are). it would be nice and give me that ‘warm feeling’ to see gail back in tna, but i really don’t see a gail tna return as a win/win situation.
shameronstar
October 15, 2011 at 8:29 pm
It would be kind of hard not to make a one of the main knockouts considering she’s the inaugural knockout’s champion.
Piggie James
October 15, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Why are some of you already finding something to complain about again? And making the WWE comparisons? It’s pretty obvious that the Knockout Tag Team titles have been put aside due to Bound for Glory. They’ve never been used particularly well in the past, and that trend will probably not change with the amount of airtime TNA currently has, but it’s clear that they’ll be used again once BFG is over.
The TV Champion Eric Young has also had the same treatment, since there’s no match planned for him at BFG either. It’s just how it goes sometimes. If they have no room for you on the PPV card, then it’d just be lip service if you’re promoted. Perhaps we can hope the Knockout Tag Team titles make the card next year or at least the preshow where the World Tag Team titles have ended up.
It’s a systemic issue therefore if only 3 of the titles are actually being defended on TNA’s biggest PPV, and not limited to just the Knockouts, but if that’s the plan, then only the matches on the card should be promoted.
I agree that TNA doesn’t ‘need’ Gail at the moment, but she’s certainly someone they’ve used well in the past, and she’s pretty much the founder of the division. TNA aren’t obliged to rehire her, given that she chose to leave them for the other company, but Gail could certainly be a valuable asset to them, which would make their roster formidable (provided she’s used well).
Personally I’d like to see her back again, just so she can have a rematch against Mickie! They actually seemed to have a lot of chemistry together, until a sequence of misfortune. It would also be interesting if she turned heel!
Until she returns, it’d be great to see her in the indies. If she goes to Japan too that would be awesome. I hope she isn’t too rusty after doing so little for the past two years!
perceval
October 15, 2011 at 6:28 pm
TNA doesn’t have time for the undercard because they’re devoting it all to Hogan & Bischoff. Now, if Hogan & Bischoff were the ratings draws they were in the 90s, that would be one thing. But, since Impact became the Hogan & Bischoff Show, the ratings haven’t improved one bit.
Hulkamania lives forever! At least in the mind of Dixie Carter…
Piggie James
October 15, 2011 at 7:52 pm
The ratings have actually trended slightly upwards from before they came in, but by no means a massive improvement. Two things though are that the ratings have not fallen below 1.0 all of 2011, something that TNA has never achieved in previous years. They’ve also managed to get a few 1.4′s that they were never able to get before. Overall there has still been some improvement in ratings, although it’s possible they could have achieved this without Hogan/Bischoff, but no one will ever know.
Ratings of course aren’t the most reliable indicator of the success of a promotion, but can be a guide. When it comes down to it, the entire ‘ratings’ of the US is based completely on the less than 100,000 homes with a Nielsen box, but obviously advertisers still place high importance on this data. There are of course other factors that can be measured like attendance figures, PPV buys, merchandise sales, licensing, and sponsorships.
Bischoff was never a major draw as an on air talent, and was never brought in specifically for that purpose. His main role has been as executive producer, and production has certainly improved considerably since he signed. He’s certainly more than adequate as an authority figure as well, and it’s a simple fact that all mainstream promotions have authority figures and devote fairly significant amounts of time to them. Bischoff has never been given more time than necessary for his role.
Hogan on the other hand was primarily brought in for his name value and the legitimacy he gives to the product in the eyes on sponsors. TNA have landed quite a few sponsorships since Hogan joined, including a multi-million dollar deal with Direct General, which they probably would have been unable to get otherwise.
Hogan has always been a huge seller of merchandise as well. Furthermore, the quarter hours that he has appeared in, have usually been higher than the other quarters on average (just like the Knockouts, but not like the X-Division that usually rates low).
I could list plenty more positives that both of them bring to the company, but a blanket statement that you’ve given that they have done nothing is an inaccurate generalization. Just as saying that ‘all’ the airtime is devoted to them. There are 8 (9 with the preshow) matches on the BFG card, and Hogan is only in one of them (Bischoff in none). The majority of the matches have been promoted well, so obviously not all the time could have been devoted to Hogan and Bischoff.
That Dixie Carter comment seems completely irrelevant. No one knows how the mind of Dixie works as much as various writers on the internet will claim they do (besides never actually meeting her in real life, let alone working with her).
perceval
October 15, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Hogan promised 3.0 ratings in January 2009. He didn’t come through.
Then, there’s the home grown talent he buried, like Storm and Styles. They went from being the nucleus of the company to fodder that were each taken out by one punch from Hogan.
Don’t forget what Hogan bringing in his buddy, Bubba the Love Sponge cost the Knockouts Division: Awesome Kong.
But hey, who needs home grown talent when Hogan can just bring in ex-WWE people like the Hardys and RVD? Never mind that, instead of making TNA a viable alternative to WWE, it just makes it WWE Lite…
Speaking of which, making the central focus of TNA a feud over… a WWE Hall of Fame ring. TNA Cahmpionship? What’s that?
Oh, maybe we should remember we have out own World Championship, but let’s redesign the belt! We’ll make it look like a TRUE Championship belt by modelling it on the Diva’s Championship. Really strange moment watching Impact and seeing what looked like the butterfly belt descending dramatically from the rafters.
Hogan: “The belt represents life after life after life…” Aww, at least SOMEBODY loves and respects the butterfly belt. :)
But, now that Beth’s the TNA Immortal Champion, why isn’t she defending it at Bound for Glory?
Piggie James
October 16, 2011 at 5:39 am
There’s a lot of negatives about Hogan too, and I’m personally don’t really like him, but I appreciate what he actually does for the company, and why he’s necessary to help the company get to the next level. Unfortunately we have to put up with a lot of his pitfalls as well, but there’s no doubt that the company is still better off overall now than before he came in.
Anyone who really believed that TNA could get 3.0 ratings anytime in the next 5 years since he said that would obviously be deluded. If he believed that himself, then he would be too, but with Hogan, most of what he says is all hyperbole, since that’s his gimmick.
I don’t believe he buried Storm and Styles, since they’re both still focal points of the company. Fortune has been built up as a strong faction under Immortal, and even stronger when they broke away. Storm and Roode have both been pushed as strong singles competitors recently. However this is more due to creative than to Hogan, and I don’t approve of Hogan recently burying Roode and Styles in an interview the other day.
Bubba the Love Sponge and the Nasty Boyz definitely sucked. But at least Hogan learned from his mistake, and hasn’t tried anything like that again (it’s been over a year now).
The ‘ex-WWE’ argument is always fickle, since no one complained when talents were jumping all around from ECW, WWF, and WCW. They never really complained either when TNA talents jump to WWE. Neither do they complain when TNA and WWE talents go to ROH. They just nitpick on TNA in particular for doing it. Looking at the Bound for Glory card, more than half the talents never made their name in WWE. Their products (imo) are polar opposites in terms of content, and they obviously market themselves to different demographics.
Your irrelevant rant about the ‘Immortal Championship’ seems to just portray you as being ‘worked’ by the kayfabe storyline. The ridiculous looking Hardy belt was supposed to generate heat given that he’s a heel (they threw the old belt in the trash which Eric Young salvaged), and was always going to be temporary belt. Obviously they replaced it with Sting’s new title that is being used now.
Once again, I don’t see how your misplaced rant is relevant, given that Hogan is not responsible for Hardy, and most of what you’ve complained about are from 6 to 18 months ago. It just seems like the usual anti-TNA rant that people regurgitate, when they lack legitimate criticisms of the company.
Seeing you want to compare TNA’s main title to the Diva’s title, why ignore the WWE’s main title compared to the Knockout’s title? People complained about the Knockout Championship being ‘hot potatoed’ just because it exchanged hands between Mickie and Winter twice in a month. Yet when the WWE Championship has 6 different reigns (+ a co-reign) within 3 months the same criticism isn’t leveled.
So going on an obsolete tirade about the TNA Championship, when the WWE Championship currently has its own share of issues (especially not being the focal point at all now) is incredibly pointless.
And besides for the few negatives about Hogan that you and I have listed (I’ve probably listed more legitimate ones in fact), you still haven’t been able to counter the positives that he has brought, namely a lot more opportunities for the company to expand and become more profitable (for example gaining an increasing number of international television deals).
Still waiting for what your problems are with Bischoff, and why you believe ratings to be all important, when TNA’s main issue has always been marketing and promotion to establish brand awareness.
LayCoolAddict
October 15, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Im kind of fed up with divas going to TNA now because they take the spotlight from the knockout’s however Gail is an exception because in my opinion she is the best knockout of all time or atleast one of them and id love her to back and end her career there.. in a few years ;)
WWFoverWWE
October 15, 2011 at 7:01 pm
she should return to TNA next year. I really want TNA to sign some new girls, but they won’t do that if old knockouts keep returning
kellytrishfan
October 15, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Saw this one coming.
squared.circle
October 15, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Shit happens. Maybe she shouldn’t have eliminated herself. Or maybe she should not have been overly frank on twitter. Regardless, she is now where she wants to be. Hopefully she’ll make the best of her new found freedom and salvage her career before she retires. It would be a pity if Gail took every opportunity to “expose” the WWE. Move on and do well for yourself. After all, that is the best revenge, not trying to get them back every time you do an interview. I wish Gail the best!
art
October 15, 2011 at 8:40 pm
i say good for her its about time a diva spoke out about the mistreatment of the women…who cares if she eliminated herself anyway,she was only going to be in the ring for under a minute…
id like to see her go back to tna ive watched her tna matches against kong & i think she’d fit in as long as she wasnt pushed right to the title right off the bat id like to see her return…
kellytrishfan
October 15, 2011 at 9:32 pm
I do find it a little silly of Gail to just eliminate herself in the battle royal. Obviously, she wasn’t scheduled to win, so why not just play it by card and then do what you have to do after the match. I’m not trying to be hard on Gail, but I just find it weird that she would just eliminate herself – it does seem unprofessional to me, even Gail admitted it was childish, but whatever. Best of luck to the girl. She’s got exactly what she asked for.
nathaniel
October 16, 2011 at 1:56 am
TNA is not going to put on three KO matches on Impact. I got a feeling that if Gail goes back to TNA, someone’s going to not be used and will be staying home; and my feeling is it’s gonna be Tara.