Hello again wrestling fans, and welcome back to How It Started vs. How It Ended. On this edition of the column, we’ll take a look back at the story of Gail Kim in WWE. Enjoy!
First Impressions
After Jason Sensation and the future Molly Holly asked her to send tapes to WWE, Gail Kim signed a contract in October of 2002. Following her decision to sign with WWE, Kim headed south to Ohio Valley Wrestling, before making the rounds on the company’s Live Event loop. While Gail picked up Bra & Panties match wins over Dawn Marie at House Show’s, Matrix-esque vignettes began airing on Raw, ahead of her arrival on WWE’s flagship show.
Upon joining the main roster, Kim made her long awaited debut on Monday Night Raw, where the Asian-Canadian Superstar helped fill out a WWE Women’s Championship Battle Royal. The seven woman bout featured defending Champion Jazz, along with challengers Ivory, Molly Holly, Trish Stratus, Victoria, and of course, Gail Kim. After Victoria used Kim to eliminate Trish, Gail eliminated Victoria without aid, and left the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York as the new WWE Women’s Champion.
Kim competed in her first mixed tag team match a week later, partnering up with Val Venis for a win over Steven Richards and Victoria. Gail’s hot streak continued into July 20th’s Monday Night Raw taping, where Kim defended her title against Molly Holly, and put away the current WWE producer in less than three-and-a-half minutes. The Raw roster headed west to Colorado Springs two weeks later, where Women’s Champion Gail Kim once again defended her title against Molly Holly. In the closing moments of the short match, Holly nailed Kim with the Molly-Go-Round, and put an end to Gail’s month-long reign as Women’s Champion.
When the former Champion failed to regain her title, Kim shifted over to the heel locker room, and aligned with new Women’s Champion Molly Holly. Gail and Molly engaged in a months-long feud with Lita and Trish Stratus, eventually battling the duo at Unforgiven, where the Champion and former Champion fell in defeat. The dastardly duo continued to have issues with Trish and Lita throughout November, until a broken right collarbone forced Gail out of action.
Reboot
Gail Kim returned to in-ring competition at Louisville, Kentucky’s Davis Arena in March of 2004, where she competed in an OVW tag team loss. After her reemergence on the main roster, Kim realigned with Molly Holly, and forced Women’s Champion Victoria to submit in consecutive meetings. The victories earned Gail a title shot at Bad Blood, where Trish Stratus and Lita joined the mix in a Fatal 4-Way match. The final stanza of the match saw Lita blast Kim with a vicious DDT, before a Victory roll helped Stratus become the new Women’s Champion.
On the backside of June’s Bad Blood event, Kim moved on to Taboo Tuesday, where she competed in a Schoolgirl Battle Royal with Jazz, Women’s Champion Trish Stratus, Nidia, Molly Holly, Victoria, and Stacy Keibler. Two minutes into the match, Victoria tossed Gail over the top rope, and quickly shattered Kim’s title hopes in the process. Gail wrestled the final match of her first WWE stint on October 31st, before “budget cuts” sent Kim to TNA on November 3rd, 2004.
Return Of The Mack
Coming off of a historic run as TNA’s first ever Knockouts Champion, Gail Kim returned to a WWE ring at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. During the March 2009 Live Event, Kim scored a victory over Maryse and Michelle McCool, with assistance from her tag team partner Maria Kanellis. Gail and Maria duplicated the result on Smackdown the following week, before traveling to Houston for WrestleMania 25’s Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal. Gail entered the 25-Diva Battle Royal with loads of momentum on her side, but even the former WWE Women’s Champion couldn’t top eventual Miss WrestleMania winner Santina Marella…
At the conclusion of WrestleMania season, Kim reignited her rivalry with Maryse and Michelle McCool on Smackdown, while picking up 6-Diva Tag Team victories with The Bella Twins on WWE’s WrestleMania Revenge Tour. Gail eventually earned her first DIvas Championship opportunity on April 21st, in a singles clash with Divas title holder Maryse. During the final moments of the match, Maryse tried to run for the hills, but Kim dragged the Champion back into the ring. After a moment of hesitation by Kim, Maryse blasted Gail with the French Kiss, and retained the title in under three minutes.
With the wind taken out of her sails, Kim struggled to find any traction in WWE’s Divas division, and competed in numerous multi-person matches over the summer of 2009. On the August 10th edition of Monday Night Raw, Gail Kim defeated Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, and Kelly Kelly, setting up a massive Divas Championship showdown between Champion Mickie James and challenger Gail Kim. James and Kim traded rapid fire blows for over three minutes on episode #847 of Monday Night Raw, until a botched finish helped Mickie leave the St. Louis Scottrade Center with the Divas title in hand.
Once her first year in the Divas locker room ended, 2010 offered Kim another chance at WWE’s pink butterfly belt. A tournament for the vacant Divas Championship started in early January, where Kim scored victories over Alicia Fox and Jillian Hall, en route to a finals defeat by her old rival Maryse. Gail dropped down the card through WrestleMania season, before earning one last shot at the Divas Championship in June. Kim, along with Eve Torres and Alicia Fox, challenged Maryse for the title at WWE’s one-off Fatal 4 Way Pay-Per-View. Maryse pinned Alicia Fox to become the new Champion at the event, while Eve Torres and Gail Kim played dead at ringside.
Ight… Imma Head Out
Now a complete afterthought in the Divas division, Gail Kim entered 2011 on a cold streak, and started accompanying Daniel Bryan to the ring. Bryan’s valets, The Bella Twins, quickly became jealous of Gail, and started a short-lived feud with Kim. The start and stop feud lost steam by February, and Kim, along with her boyfriend Daniel Bryan, moved into a lower card program with Tyson Kidd and Natalya. At the March 21st Superstars taping, Kim and Bryan defeated the team of Natalya and Tyson Kidd, but the romance between Gail and Daniel quickly fizzled out.
Gail competed on Superstars and House Shows for the remainder of 2011’s first-half, until Kim entered a 14-Diva Tag Team match on Raw. Episode #942 of WWE Monday Night Raw saw Kim, along with AJ Lee, Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres, Kaitlyn, Kelly Kelly, and Natalya, earn a victory over Nikki & Brie Bella, Maryse, Alicia Fox, Tamina, Rosa Mendes, and Melina. Gail and her babyface friends repeated the result two weeks later, before a 14-Diva Battle Royal decided the next Number One Contender to the WWE Divas Championship. In the match, 13 of the Divas battled for a title shot, while Kim literally went home early, and slipped out of the ring off-camera. After announcing her decision to leave the company in August, WWE granted Gail her release on September 5th, and Kim rapidly returned to TNA.
That’s all for this edition of How It Started vs. How It Ended. During next months column, we’ll reflect on Jinder Mahal’s random WWE Championship reign.
