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Gail Kim

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Gail Kim
Born (1976-02-20) February 20, 1976 (age 48)
Toronto, Ontario
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Gail Kim
La Felina[1]
Billed height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)[2]
Billed weight125 lb (57 kg)[3]
Billed fromTampa, Florida
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Seoul, South Korea
Trained byRon Hutchinson[2]
Rob "El Fuego" Etcheverria
Fit Finlay
DebutDecember 2000

Gail Kim (born February 20, 1976) is a Korean Canadian professional wrestler, valet, model, and actress. She is currently signed to a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. She formerly worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) [4] where she was the first ever TNA Women's Knockout Champion. She is also a one-time WWE Women's Champion, having won the title on her debut match for World Wrestling Entertainment. She is also the only woman to have held both the WWE and TNA Women's Championships.

Early life and training

Kim attended the York Memorial Collegiate Institute in Toronto, partaking in numerous sports and twice being named "Athlete of the Year". Upon her graduation, she began studying kinesiology at the University of Toronto, but later switched to nutrition at Ryerson University.[2]

After obtaining her degree, Kim decided to become a professional wrestler and joined Ron Hutchinson's "School of Pro Wrestling" in Toronto.[2] She received supplementary training from Rob Etchevarria at the "Squared Circle Pro Wrestling Gym". She debuted in December 2000, wearing a mask and wrestling as "The Queen of the Cats" La Felina in the Southern Ontario-based Apocalypse Wrestling Federation and was eventually unmasked by Tracy Brooks (Tracy Brookshaw) in a "mask versus hair" match.[1][2] Kim worked on the Canadian independent circuit for two years, wrestling for promotions such as Border City Wrestling.[3] On September 27, 2002, Kim reached the semi-finals of the WXW Women's Elite 8 Tournament in Danbury, Connecticut, defeating Nikki Roxx (Nicole Raczynski) and April Hunter before losing to Tracy Brooks.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2004)

Kim was introduced to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) employee Nora Greenwald (known on-screen as Molly Holly) by Jason Sensation in 2001; Greenwald encouraged Kim to send her videos and tapes to WWF officials, which eventually led to her contract.[5] In October 2002, she was hired by WWE. She spent eight months training in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and appearing in house shows and dark matches before being called up to the main roster.[3] After several weeks of vignettes showcasing Matrix-like effects aired on Raw, Kim debuted on the June 30, edition of Raw as a fan favorite, with a Matrix-inspired outfit.[3]

Her first televised WWE match was a seven-woman battle royal in Buffalo, New York with the WWE Women's Championship, then held by an injured Jazz (Carlene Begnaud), on the line.[3] Kim won the match by lastly eliminating Victoria (Lisa Marie Varon).[3] Kim held the title for four weeks, feuding with both Victoria and Molly Holly. Kim lost the title to Holly on the July 28 edition of Raw. Following the bout, Trish Stratus (Patricia Stratigias) was double teamed by Holly and Victoria until Kim ran to the ring. Kim helped Stratus up, but then became a heel by leveling Stratus with a Waterwheel Slam, a slam where a person is lifted in the air and then slammed back down to the mat with as much force as possible. Kim forged an alliance with Holly, and the duo defeated Stratus who partnered with both Ivory (Lisa Moretti) and Jacqueline (Jacqueline Moore) on two separate occasions. The following week, on the September 15 edition of Raw, they defeated Stratus in a handicap match. Following the match, Kim and Holly were prevented from further assaulting Stratus by the returning Lita (Amy Dumas), who had previously been absent since injuring her neck in 2002. At Unforgiven on September 21, Stratus and Lita defeated Kim and Holly in a tag match. The four women continued to feud until November, when Kim was sidelined with a broken right collarbone.[5] Kim returned to Raw on April 5 and immediately reforged her alliance with Holly. She dropped her high flying style (possibly to avoid further injury) and adopted a new submission-based offensive technique. She even dubbed herself "wrestling's submission specialist". At Bad Blood on June 13, she faced Lita, Stratus, and WWE Women's Champion Victoria in a Fatal Four-Way, a which was won by Stratus. Kim continued to compete in the women's division, receiving several more shots at the title (including a battle royal on October 19, at Taboo Tuesday) and joining fellow heel divas Stratus and Holly in a feud with diva Stacy Keibler. Her last appearance was aiding Stratus in an attack on Lita on the November 1 edition of Raw.

Gail was released on November 2, 2004 by WWE. Kim was caught off guard by her release and was told that management wanted to take the women's division in a new direction.[5] Following her release and the expiration of her ninety-day no-compete clause,[5] Kim made sporadic appearances on the independent circuit, including wrestling matches in Japan.[6]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2008)

Kim with America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm)

On September 6, 2005, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) announced that they had signed Kim to a contract. On the October 8 edition of Impact!, Kim made her debut, aligning herself with Jeff Jarrett and America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) (AMW).[6] Shortly thereafter, she helped AMW regain the NWA World Tag Team Championship from The Naturals (Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens). In the later part of the year, Kim feuded with Jackie Gayda (Jacquelyn Haas).[6] Gayda was "fired" by Kim at Sacrifice on May 14, 2006 after announcing that she was pregnant.

On May 15, Kim wrestled Traci (Tracy Brookshaw) in a dark match to be featured on the TNA Knockouts DVD. The match was the first women's match in TNA in over a year and Kim's first match on American soil since her WWE release. Since then, Kim was attacked at Slammiversary by Sirelda (Jaime Dauncey). The weeks after this, the two traded blows until Victory Road, where Sirelda's team defeated Kim's team. At Hard Justice, they faced off against each other in a one-on-one match, which Kim won.

On the October 19, 2006 Impact!, Kim was kayfabe injured in the ring by Hernandez (Shawn Hernandez) when he gave her a Bordertoss following a loss in an eight man tag match where the The Latin American X-Change (Homicide [Nelson Erazo] and Hernandez) teamed with America's Most Wanted, with whom she was the valet for at the time. At Genesis, America's Most Wanted lost to LAX after James Storm was hit with a blowtorch can. After the match, Homicide tried to use Da Gringo Killa on her, but she was saved by Petey Williams (Peter Williams), who beat LAX with a lead pipe. AMW got another shot against LAX in a flag match at Turning Point where James Storm accidentally hit Chris Harris with shards of a beer bottle allowing LAX to win again. AMW then got one more shot in a Title vs Team match where AMW would have to disband if they lost. AMW lost when Storm hit Harris with the beer bottle on purpose. Kim went by Harris' side as Storm left. At Final Resolution, Kim accompanied James Storm, who defeated Petey Williams, to the ring. She saved Williams from further assault, however, by taking Storm's beer bottle out of his hand and giving him a low blow. Kim was then jumped from behind by a returning Jacqueline Moore, who became Storm's new manager. In response, Kim became Williams' new manager. Kim and Williams faced Storm and Moore in a mixed tag match at Against All Odds; Moore was able to pin Kim after Storm collided into her. After the match, Chris Harris returned to chase away Storm. A rematch with Kim against Storm was made in a Double Bullrope match which Storm won. At Lockdown, Kim faced off with Moore in a Cat Fight Steel cage match, the first women's cage match in TNA. Kim won the match after a flying crossbody from the cage. Kim and Moore had a rematch in a street fight, where Kim once again defeated Moore.

Kim made her return at Slammiversary when she kissed Eric Young (Jeremy Fritz) to get him to concentrate for his match, as he was being seduced by Ms. Brooks (Tracy Brookshaw). She also aided him by taking out Brooks allowing Young to defeat Robert Roode. Kim later defeated Brooks in a match on Impact! by order of Jim Cornette. Kim then teamed with Eric Young to defeat Ms. Brooks and Robert Roode at Victory Road. She later reappeared to help Eric embarrass Ms. Brooks at Hard Justice by tarring and feathering her.

At Bound for Glory, she became the first ever TNA Women's Knockout Champion, when she won a 10 Woman gauntlet elimination match last defeating Roxxi Laveaux (Nicole Raczynski). She defended the title one month later against Laveaux, O.D.B. (Jessica Kresa), and Angel Williams in a four-way match at Genesis and retained the title when she pinned O.D.B. In the next couple of weeks, she competed in the TNA Knockouts Santa's Workshop Street Fight where she immediately ran to the ring going after her rival Awesome Kong (Kia Stevens), who won the match. Kim defeated Kong at Final Resolution in a No Disqualification match to retain her TNA Women's Knockout Championship. Kim, however, lost the Championship to Kong on the main event of the January 10 edition of Impact!, after Kong pinned her. Kim was named 2007 TNA Knockout of the Year on the January 24 edition of Impact!, where she called out Kong and told her that Kong will never put her out. Kong came to the ring and started beating down Kim. Just as Kong was about to perform the Awesome Bomb, O.D.B. came to the ring to save Kim. On the February 21 edition of Impact!, Kim and tag team partner O.D.B. had some miscommunication and started brawling with each other. At Destination X she lost a 3-Way Dance, which included O.D.B., to Kong. At Lockdown, she and O.D.B. defeated Raisha Saeed (Melissa Anderson) and Kong in a tag team match.[7] On the May 8 edition of Impact!, Gail won immunity from having her head shaved bald, in a Sheers on a Pole match. Kim then went onto win the first ever women's ladder match in TNA at Sacrifice to gain number one contendership to the Women's Knockout Championship.[8] Kim was later injured, in storyline, which resulted in Kim teaming up with O.D.B. and Laveaux to fight The Beautiful People (Angeline Love [Lauren Williams] and Velvet Sky [Jamie Szantyr]) and the debuting Moose (Mickie Knuckles) at Slammiversary, in which Kim's team was victorious.[9] A match was then set for Victory Road between Kim and Love, which Kim won.[10] At Hard Justice, Kim once again teamed with O.D.B., but with the new addition of Taylor Wilde (Shantelle Malawski), to defeat The Beautiful People and Awesome Kong. Kim's TNA contract expired on August 20, 2008[11]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2008–present)

Kim will reportedly sign with WWE.[12][13] Kim was spotted and heavily cheered at the August 21, 2008 edition of Florida Championship Wrestling, igniting the rumors of her signing with WWE even more. On August 29th, it was reported that Kim had officially signed with the company. [14][15]

Other media

Kim has admitted to breast augmentation surgery before signing with WWE.[5] While working for WWE, she enlarged her implants.[5] She once ruptured an implant and was sidelined for two weeks.[5] In 2005, Kim posed topless multiple times for a popular cell phone ad campaign in Korea.[16][17] In December 2007, Kim was featured in the top 40 list of "America's Most Eligible Bachelorettes" by Forbes.[18]

In December 2005, Kim played an assassin in an independent film entitled Princess.[6] In 2008, she appeared in the film Royal Kill as "Nadia".

In wrestling

  • Theme music
    • "International Woman" by Dara Shindler (WWE)
    • "Anime Girls"
    • "Guilty" by Dale Oliver (TNA)
    • "Gail Force" by Dale Oliver
    • "Unstoppable" by Dale Oliver
    • "Unstoppable (remix)" by Dale Oliver (TNA)

Championships and accomplishments

  • Apocalypse Wrestling Federation
    • Diva of the Year[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Saelhof, Todd (August 1, 2004). "One on one with Gail Kim". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Chambers, Doug (April 26, 2002). "La Felina --'Queen of the Cats'". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Gail Kim wins WWE Women\'s belt". SLAM! Wrestling. July 1, 2003. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  4. ^ "Gail Kim Reportedly Finished With TNA". WrestlingHeadlines.com. 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-08-20. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Gerweck, Steve (December 6, 2004). "Interview Recap: Gail Kim". Gerweck.com. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  6. ^ a b c d Cohen, Russ (February 27, 2006). "Gail Kim isn't just TNA". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  7. ^ SOKOL, CHRIS (2008-04-18). "TNA Lockdown:Joe captures gold". Slam Sports.ca. Retrieved 2008-07-09. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "Exclusive Ringside Photos From Sacrifice". TNAWrestling.com. 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-07-24. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Slammiversary: No gimmicks needed for thumbs up PPV". Slam Sports.com. 2008-06-08. Retrieved 2008-08-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Meltzer, Dave. "TNA Victory Road PPV report". Wrestling Observer.com. Retrieved 2008-08-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Hard Justice Pay-Per-View Results". TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-08-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Background on Gail Kim Departure". Pro Wrestling Insider.com. Retrieved 2008-08-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Rothstein, Simon (2008-08-21), Vince McMahon brings Kim in, The Sun, retrieved 2008-08-21 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Tenay Confirms Gail Kim's TNA Departure, Knockout/Marijuana Expo". [1]. Retrieved 2008-08-30. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Paglino, Nick (2008-08-30), Tenay Confirms Gail Kim's TNA Departure, Knockout/Marijuana Expo=http://www.wrestlezone.com//article.php?articleid=222043780, Wrestlezone {{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ The News Vault - WWE Gail Kim Nude / Naked Photos, Pictures Topless WWE Diva WWF Sexy Gallery Images
  17. ^ Gail Kim - FamousWhy
  18. ^ Baines, Tim (December 15, 2007). "Canadian hero Gail Kim coming home". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  19. ^ "TNA KNOCKOUT TITLE HISTORY". solie.org. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  20. ^ "WWWF/WWF/WWE WOMENS' TITLE HISTORY". solie.org. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
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