Balistik Blabber #6: A True Knockout

 Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program! Last week we kicked things off with the one and only, electrifying Dwayne Johnson.  This time, let me spice things up by starting with: a picture!

That’s right boys! Today we’re talking about TNA’s FIRST Knockout Champion…

 Gail Kim

            This Korean-Canadian woman is a clear case of brains and brawl in one package.  Like her co-worker Mark LoMonaco (aka “Bubba Ray Dudley” aka “Brother Ray”), she was serious with her education and graduated with a college degree in nutrition at the University of Toronto.  What? You don’t believe Brother Ray’s smart? I don’t know if he got his college degree yet but he sure as heck graduated from high school and was even the strongest link for most rounds during the “Weakest Link” WWE special episode years ago! Anyway enough about his brains, we’re talking about Gail Kim darn it!

 For being active in basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball and badminton (holy moley that’s A LOT), she was named “Athlete of The Year” twice while in her college days and after graduating, she decided to become a wrestler! The world is just full of surprising twists isn’t it? And so she trained and debuted in 2000 as a LUCHADOR under the pseudonym “La Felina” the Queen of Cats in the “Apocalypse Wrestling Federation”!

Unfortunately she lost her mask in a “luchas de apuestas” (matches with wagers) match to another fellow TNA Knockout, Tracy Brooks.  Not much later, she is introduced to Molly Holly which led to the WWE hiring her.  After a bit of a hype, wearing a “Matrix”-style gimmick outfit (black shiny shades and trench coat), she surprised the fans by winning the “WWE Women’s Title” in a seven-woman over-the-top battle royal on the night of her debut! To date, no other WWE Diva has achieved this kind of success in their first match! She successfully defended her title for 4 weeks before losing it to Molly Holly (coincidence?).  Afterwards Kim paired up with Molly and excelled in tag team competition taking on the likes of Lita, Trish Stratus and even the long-legged Stacy Keibler.  Her style consisted of high flying maneuvers much like today but in an unfortunate moment she got injured and was sidelined for months.  When she returned, she opted for a submission style and dubbed herself wrestling’s “submission specialist”.  She had many other chances at the Women’s Title but alas it always eluded her.  She was finally released by the WWE in 2004 after which, she made appearances in various independent circuits around the world, from Mexico to her home country of Korea (no disrespect, but I’m sure it was in the South).  She also posed for several ads including a “more than your usual sexy” ad for a certain phone company… no, I won’t tell you which, Google it!

             So what happened after WWE? Total Nonstop Action is what happened! In 2005, Gail made her debut as a valet with then tag team “America’s Most Wanted” and helping them eventually regain the tag team championship belts! After that team broke up, as most of you may know, she eventually ended up teaming with various characters such as Petey Williams and Eric Young.  She eventually began wrestling in TNA on 2006 which culminated in 2007 pay-per-view “Bound For Glory”, where she finally returned to the top by winning a ten woman gauntlet elimination match, defeating Roxxi Laveaux last to become TNA’s FIRST WOMEN’S CHAMPION (aka Knockout Championship)! Since then she’s had a lot of defenses, fighting a lot of professional wrestling’s most hardworking females to date, but eventually lost her title to her dangerous rival: Awesome Kong.  These two raise the roof whenever they face each other in the ring! It’s their answer to Rey Mysterio VS *insert big muscular guy here* with Kim utilizing her speed and agility to go for high risk and Kong dishing out the power strikes and slams.

            Truly, Gail Kim has a bright future ahead of her.  She’s beautiful, intelligent, highly athletic and she knows how to use her assets without losing her reputation.  No matter where she wrestles, she can… and will deliver! May she have many more titles and great matches!

            Thanks for reading, this is Akira Kagami and I will see you all back here for the 3^rd feature in our ex-WWE talent talk next week!  Here’s what I’m going to do, if you leave a comment, vote whether the next featured talent should be a man or woman! I’ll still make the final decision but if the vote is significant enough, it’ll contribute to which one you prefer! Bye for now and SAY NO TO FLAME WARS!

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