Trivia / Gail Kim

• Actor-Inspired Element: It was Gail's idea to bring Kia Stevens into TNA to build the Knockouts division. She apparently wanted "NWA World Womens Champion/WWWA World Champion" rather than Amazing Kong specifically, as Kim didn't know how big she was or how stiff was until their first match.
• Contractual Purity: Avoided. WWE hired her back during the PG Era, despite having done topless photos for a Korean cellphone company. At the time they also had Candice Michelle and Mickie James who had done softcore porn in the past. In a different sense, Gail was rarely used in an overt Fanservice capacity. Aside from a couple of costume matches, she rarely did a Bra & Panties match. She commented on this in an interview, saying that she probably gives off the impression that she's sexy in her own way.
• Creator Backlash:
  • She didn't like the La Felina gimmick and was happy when she lost the mask.
  • Her entire second WWE run due to how horribly the Divas were treated by management.
  • Her first live event for WWE was a Bra & Panties match, which she has called one of the most traumatic memories of her life. She was also told that since she was winning, she still had to strip off her clothes afterwards anyway.
  • Other T&A themed matches she did in both her runs with WWE were equally traumatic for her, and she felt pressured into doing them.
  "Now I have to live with these memories and pictures. I have to live with shame. Not them."
• Creator's Favorite: Ivory said Gail was one of Ace's favorites, but not for very long.
• Creator's Pest: Vince McMahon initially didn't want to hire Gail at all, in disbelief that anyone would find an Asian woman attractive (notably the most prominent Asian woman in the company beforehand had been Bull Nakano, portrayed as a Brawn Hilda). Jim Ross revealed that he had to show Vince an Asian-themed porn site to convince him to sign her. Years later, Gail said that she felt Vince didn't think an Asian person could be pushed as a star.
• Dear Negative Reader: Whenever Gail is reminded of eliminating herself from the battle royal that would be her last match in WWE, she likes to insist that she wouldn't have done so if it would have affected the finish of the match.
• Doing It for the Art: Gail has always loved wrestling and she had to be talked into re-signing with WWE because she didn't want to leave TNA - because she got the chance to actually wrestle, even if she wasn't able to afford to stay there.
• Enforced Method Acting: In her first match against Awesome Kong, she had not seen her in her gear or in character before. So when Kong made her entrance, Gail was legitimately freaked out and can be seen saying "oh shit" on camera.
• Fake Nationality: In 2004 WWE billed her from Korea. Although she has Korean ancestry, she was born and raised entirely in Canada.
• He Also Did: Got to play her dream role of an assassin in the movie Princess. She later got to do it again in Royal Kill.
• Money, Dear Boy: She's said that's really the only reason she returned to WWE. To elaborate, TNA is the company that made her a star. She was one of the pioneers of their women's division, was their first Knockouts Champion, and her feud with Awesome Kong was one of the highest-rated segments in TNA at the time (including main-eventing Impact, unheard of for a women's match). However, when it was time to renew her contract, sources claim that the deal offered to her was pathetic (she and a few other wrestlers, male and female, were given such low-ball offers, that, when you factor in expenses, it would have actually cost her money to work for them). Gail had already had one disappointing run in WWE, and had no reason to assume that the second time would be any better, but reportedly her WWE contract was three times that of her one in TNA. She then returned to TNA, because money was no longer an issue.
• Paying Their Dues: How she describes the La Felina gimmick, stating it wasn't her idea and she'd rather forget about it.
• Playing Against Type: She got her start as a heel, and wasn't used to playing a face when she was called up to TV in 2003 (at the end of her debut match, she says the referee was telling her to be happier). Although she soon turned heel in WWE, she found most of her career success as a face. Even though her 2011 return to TNA was as a heel, she turned back face in 2014 and remained so for the rest of her career.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: The storyline involving the Bella Twins and Daniel Bryan was ordered to be ended by the network - out of fear it was heading in a non-PG direction. So Gail was written in as his girlfriend of six months. Apparently the higher ups loved their Cat Fights so much they had them do several more in the next few weeks.
• Reality Subtext: Becoming The Dragon to Molly Holly. Molly had been something of a mentor to her and managed to get her signed by showing a tape of her wrestling to people at OVW.
• Screwed by the Network
  • Twice. The first time, WWE turned her heel abruptly without giving her a chance to get over, made her Molly Holly's minion and then got rid of her in favor of a bunch of contest losers with no wrestling experience. The second time, WWE barely used her after they hired her back, then refused to let her out of her contract despite the fact they had no more intention of using her just to postpone her getting work somewhere else.
  • TNA also offered her a pittance back in 2008 when her contract was up, despite her being a proven ratings draw with Awesome Kong. Then when she had no other choice but to sign with WWE, TNA officials called her a "sellout".
  • A different kind of screwing happened with her return to TNA. She ended up winning both sets of Knockouts titles within a month with hardly any fanfare. Such a push could have made a great few months of television, showing her gradually conquering the division. Instead they ruined her return storyline by handing her the belts almost immediately.
• Throw It In!: Famously winning the Women's Championship in her first night in WWE might not have happened if reigning champion Jazz hadn't taken a shoulder injury a minute into the match. Jazz had actually been injured two weeks previously, but the injury in the match was envisioned as a way to write her off TV. Gail was told she was winning the title the day of the show.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In her first run with WWE, she said people kept asking her if she spoke Korean, which she didn't. She suspected they were going to give her a bilingual gimmick along the lines of Tajiri, Kenzo Suzuki etc.
  • At first she was offered a trainer's position in FCW when she re-signed with WWE, but turned it down as she felt she still had a lot to offer as a wrestler.
  • Rumours were that she was going to feud with Mickie in WWE, though people weren't sure which of them was going to turn heel. There was also talk of Kharma's first WWE match being against her.
  • She was offered the chance to be in a documentary about successful Korean people. John Laurinitis initially agreed but then turned around and refused, saying he didn't want cameras filming backstage. Gail suggested just some sitdown interviews and stock footage — but was turned down.
  • She said she was ready to quit WWE the night she was revealed as Daniel Bryan's girlfriend, but stayed on for a few more months because she was finally being used.