Diva Dirt caught up with the woman of the moment, Gail Kim, Monday for an exclusive interview about her return to TNA, quitting WWE and much more.
Gail made a “kimpact”, if you will, when she returned to Impact Wrestling last Thursday on Spike TV — and was even a worldwide trending topic on Twitter!
In this 50 minute interview, Gail discusses her return to the company she calls “home”, reveals more details about her time in WWE, frustration at the way the Divas are used and more.
Gail, who is due to marry TV chef Robert Irvine (Food Network’s Restaurant Impossible) next year, also reveals an upcoming TV project: an episode of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress” which she filmed a month or so ago.
On her return to TNA: “During the time that Johnny [John Laurinaitis] said that he wanted to re-sign me, I already kinda knew that I didn’t want to re-sign and it was just a matter of timing because I was under contract. That was pretty much my plan the whole entire time; to go back to TNA.”
“Everybody was very positive and happy and said, ‘We’re so glad to have you back’. First off, I’m really happy that they were happy to see me back. The first thing I always said was, ‘You know, I already knew I’d be back’. I even said it in my last interview on the [Knockouts] DVD – hopefully, I’ll finish my career there. That’s always what I pictured, anyway. […] I always hoped for the best there [in WWE], obviously, and it didn’t turn out the way I had pictured completely, but I’m back where I pictured I would be. I’m just happy with the way everything turned out.”
“I’m a true believer in everything happens for a reason. I was meant to leave there [TNA] at that time. […] I think it was a refresher in some ways, too, for me to leave and try something else and then come back to where my home was.”
On the growth of the Knockouts division since her last run: “Well, there’s a lot more girls, it seems like. We had a lot of girls back then, but we have a lot of girls now. […] I love it because the girls there are all from pretty much an independent background. You get to the point where you’re happy to be in a division where you know the girls can step it up, and that you can have a challenging match, and that you guys can rock the house, basically.”
On whether she made the right decision to quit WWE: “I’m very confident in my decision making. Everything happens for a reason. I made this decision for a reason. It’s supposed to happen.”
“I don’t regret anything. I always had to accept what they gave me. It wasn’t even about how they used me because I knew going in, I had to accept whatever they gave me & how they used me. It was more about the disrespect behind the scenes, and that’s what pushed me over the edge to say, ‘I just don’t wanna be here anymore. I’m miserable. I just have to leave for my own sanity’.”
On quitting instead of waiting for her contract to run its course: “I was pretty much at my wit’s end at that point. […] For my own sanity, like I said, I had to leave. I knew seven weeks out from my contract end, ‘Okay well, you know what? I know that I can survive financially, and take a little break, and be with my fiancé’. Him and I both discussed it because it’s a decision for both of us as well, for our lives. I just couldn’t take it anymore mentally or emotionally. Physically, no problem. But on the other end, you can’t go to work and feel like you’re just dreading it. I just didn’t wanna go to work anymore. I’ll miss my friends and the people there, but that’s about it. You can’t contribute to a company when you don’t feel passion anymore. It’s a waste of time.”
Gail talks about much more in the interview including working with Karen Jarrett and Madison Rayne in TNA, which WWE Divas she’d like to see in TNA, WWE controlling its Superstars & Divas and the projects they can do, her first match back on Impact with Tara this Thursday and much, much more.
The interview is available here.
