Gail Kim Says Stephanie McMahon Could Have Fought For Women Sooner
Impact Hall of Famer Gail Kim is the special guest on "Women's Pro Wrestling Weekly", which you can watch in the video above or download on iTunes. They sent us these highlights:
Why she retired:
"My back was starting to deteriorate and basically what happened was I just couldn't walk after a couple of matches here and there. I never had an MRI and I never knew what was going on in my body for so long, and then it was coming to point where I was always wrestling and not being able to walk after. And I was like ' It's time, I need to know what is going on. It's a scary thought, but you have to know so you can help it'.So, I got an MRI done and I guess, I'm grateful it wasn't worst. My L4 and my L5, pretty much the discs, was just basically all gone and there was just a thin layer left to the point, it could be bone on bone soon. Basically, I made the decision that I didn't want to keep on going, where I had to have that major surgery because that minor surgery; he (the doctor) told me I can get back in the ring in 7 weeks and that 7 weeks turned into 7 months."
Ivory mentioning her during her WWE Hall of Fame acceptance speech:
"It was unexpected because Ivory and I worked together for a short period of time. But, I had such great memories and experiences with her. She was always so nice, you never know how girls are going to be. But, she was always so nice and very helpful and I really looked up to girls like her and Molly; because they were veterans back then and they were very polished and Ivory was such a great speaker. She was already a good wrestler but her talking ability was on another level."
Being a producer for Impact:
"I think a lot of people think I'm apart of the creative team and I'm not part of the creative. I'm a producer agent for the girls. So, when we are at TV's, I'm the one that helps them put together their matches, tell them the business of the match and tweak whatever I think? for myself I'm more about the psychology of the match, that is where I'm very nitpicky. And that is something I tried to focus on when I was wrestling. I always wanted to make the matches, in some way different unique and interesting. I never wanted to have that basic match. I just wanted us to stand out in some way or another, whether it was storytelling or interesting wrestling moves. So, I tried to incorporate that and the girls know my personality too. I'm very direct and I don't sugar coat anything? I went from working with these girls and I've always kind of felt like a motherly, older sister type and I was already transitioning in that role anyways for years, so it felt like a very natural thing to happen."
Stephanie McMahon:
"WWE always thinks in a business mindset. For them, they are thinking, 'ok this woman's revolution is becoming hot, Ronda Rousey, this 'Me Too' movement'; so of course to be honest I'm going to say this, because I've said it on Twitter, Stephanie (McMahon) could have been fighting for us a long time ago. She was there every single time I worked there and she had zero interest in fighting for the women back then. So, for them, everything is business motivated. So, them having this women's revolution, and it's from the fans as well? the fans did demand it through social media and Vince heard it and made it happen. And I think finally the girls are getting treated the way they want to get treated."
Pay for women wrestlers:
"They put their bodies through the same thing the guys go through. These girls should be getting paid equally. Everyone is an independent contractor, so everyone gets paid differently. So, we don't really discuss those things amongst ourselves because money is kind of a taboo subject to this day. But, I think if there are two girls that are going to main event a pay-per-view, they should be getting paid the same amount as two guys main-eventing. I mean, they are obviously important enough to main event and they are good enough to main event? so they should be getting paid."
Who she would like to have dream matches with:
"I would have loved to have a proper feud with some of the girls now, Allie, Rosemary, Taya, there are so many great girls. But, of course, you know Charlotte is an amazing athlete, I love her work. Now Asuka's there. There are so many girls that are really talented right now. There is such a huge generation now that want to be wrestlers and workers. And now Ember Moon, I just heard debuted last night. She's a great athlete too. There are so many girls. Charlotte, Sasha, Asuka those are probably my top three if you look at WWE."