Gail Kim Gives A “State Of The Knockouts Division” Address

Gail Kim’s officiating at Homecoming came under fire last week when Taya Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard for the Knockouts Championship. She was asked about her officiating in the match as well as the potential for her coming out of retirement for one more match with Tessa Blanchard on today’s Impact Wrestling Press Pass.

“Yes, there’s a lot of controversy in terms of my officiating at the Homecoming PPV,” Kim said. “That moment just built up to what happened and I’m going to defend myself. Tessa was abusing authority at that point.”

Ok well im hearing this a lot. So her pushing me twice, choking out a previous referee and trying to choke and punch me was ok…. funny how the minds work. I was going to let that match happen no matter what. The difference is I will defend myself.

— Gail Kim-Irvine (@gailkimITSME) January 8, 2019

Kim continued to say that DQ’ing Blanchard was “the easy way out.”

Last week on Impact Wrestling, Blanchard used Kim’s Eat Defeat move to win a single’s match. This has led to speculation Kim could come out of retirement for one more match against Tessa Blanchard.

“It depends on the circumstances and how far I’m pushed,” Kim said regarding coming out of retirement. “I think it goes honestly by how my body feels at that moment because still to this day since I retired last February my back gives me a lot of problems.”

She continued to say that she is getting an update on her back shortly, however, and if she feels good she wouldn’t object to one more match. Kim also wants to know how bad the fans want to see it as well.

She was asked what the dark storyline featuring Su Yung, Dark Allie, & Rosemary brings to the division.

“I think it’s the first time that I’ve ever witnessed in my time female dark characters of this magnitude,” Kim said.

Kim then spoke regarding the diversity of characters earlier in the Knockout division’s history.

“I feel like what really broke the mold with the original Knockouts division is when we had a variety of characters like ODB and Awesome Kong,” Kim continued. “Things you had never seen before and then it kind of opened that door to different types of characters. Rosemary came along and Su Yung made that transition, because she’s been wrestling a really long time, and now we have Dark Allie. I’ll say they proved me wrong because I always thought there isn’t space for 3 dark characters.”

Kim continued to say Rosemary is the most popular Knockout currently and she’s been injured for a long time. She also mentioned that kids enjoy the storyline.

Kim was also asked about what female Superstars on the independent scene she’d like to sign. Her answer suggests she’s frustrated with other wrestling promotions signing up lots of talent.

“There’s a couple of girls I guess but I almost don’t want to say it because WWE signs everyone,” Kim joked. “There snatching up everyone and making slim pickings for everyone.”

She mentioned rumors that Viper had signed with WWE. Kim also mentioned of Shotzi Blackheart who competed on Impact last year but is currently injured. She then said there are a few girls in Mexico she was interested in bringing into Impact as well.

“I just want more of a pool to pick from,” Kim continued. She continued to say that many prospects are now choosing to turn down WWE, however, feeling as though they would get lost in the shuffle.