Gail Kim

I want to contribute the best I can to TNA and the Knockouts division. I want to be a part of taking the Knockouts division to another level.

I was very green when I started in WWE and felt very uncomfortable with talking.

I wish WWE had their own creative team for the girls. They could have an even stronger women's division.

Ronda Rousey proved that women can be a draw and an attraction, so WWE followed in those footsteps.

Myself and every Knockout in the company at the beginning worked so hard to build up a credible women's division in TNA so finally holding the title meant so much to me.

I would never take back winning the WWE Women's title for a moment, but winning the TNA Knockouts title meant a whole lot more to me.

Of course, I wrestled in Windsor for Scott D'Amore's promotion way back in my very early days. That was at the very, very beginning, when I was working under a mask as La Felina.

I always believe there's a place in wrestling for a little bit of everything.

Broken Matt Hardy was born in Impact Wrestling and I think he had great memories.

Impact has always been a great place for camaraderie and feeling like a family.

I think a lot of the time when you just see a lot of beautiful girls it kind of just all blends in together. You want something about yourself to stand out.

Normally, with girls that I know in the business, they start off managing and then they become a wrestler, or they just stay as a manager who can wrestle, but I was always a wrestler.

True wrestling fans love a great wrestling match.

People at WWE would say, 'It doesn't matter if you're the best wrestler,' but I would think about Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio. They weren't necessarily the greatest talkers, but they were great wrestlers. I wanted to be that person.

I feel that my talent is in the ring.

I consider myself more of a wrestler than a sports entertainer.

There are so many girls that are really talented like Sasha Banks and Bayley. I have been lucky enough to work with many generations of girls, so every time you see someone really talented you get that urge to make some magic with that girl.

To have the title has always been special to me, and I would love to win the championship.

The true wrestling fans that watch TNA Impact, I think they've always known. I don't want to say they take it for granted in anyway, but they always just know that TNA and Impact Wrestling are going to give them women's wrestling.

I'm just glad when I was fighting for us to wrestle I would always have people tell me, 'Gail, women's wrestling is for the bathroom breaks, you know they really don't want to see it.' I would get discouraged a little bit but I was very adamant, so I'm glad that we girls proved them wrong.

When I joined the WWE, Dave 'Fit' Finley was our first agent that we worked with all the time and he brought in another form of aggression in me.

Wrestling has progressed to the point that the fourth wall has been broken. People would enjoy more seeing what is behind the superhero that they watch on TV.

We always tell everyone that women's wrestling has always been told through the lens of a man because it's a male-dominated industry. It's never been told through the lens of a woman and we want to be able to tell that story.

You know, in terms of accomplishments and things like that, I feel like I've accomplished what I've wanted.

I have always said that I will retire when my body starts giving out on me.

The culture or environment of a company starts from the top. The leadership. The leadership of a company sends a message to its employees of what is tolerated and what is not.

I heard about 'GLOW,' but I found out a little too late. I kind of made a run of getting a role training the actresses to show them how to wrestle.

Canadians have better chocolates, better candy, better flavors of chips. And Tim Horton's of course.

I've noticed a huge difference in my energy level cutting out the red meat. It's crazy.

If a hotel has a microwave, I always get a sweet potato and make sure I have a fork and I can microwave a sweet potato. Seven minutes, and I can do that. You really learn how to eat on the road.

I love food. I love to eat. I'm married to a chef. I can't go without food.

I always tell everyone wrestling is like the mafia, once you get in, you can't get out.

For me, if I had a magical match that I was so proud of, and I had to work the same person after that again, it was always about topping that last thing and being the best.

Impact Wrestling has never stopped with women's wrestling.

WWE can say they don't watch Impact and TNA but I know that's a lie.

A lot of people that have worked with me know I'm pretty direct.

As an ethnic female in wrestling, there will be people reading my words and I want to set an example. I did experience racism.

I want racial and gender equality.

I am grateful to have been in this business for 16 years, which not a lot of women can say they have been fortunate to do that kind of run that many years in a row.

WWE always thinks in a business mindset.

I'm very direct and I don't sugar coat anything.

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.

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.

I would miss the action if I ever stepped away from wrestling.

Wrestling is very physically demanding. You can be in great shape and still not be in ring shape.

I've lived a gypsy life and wouldn't know any other way to live.

Timing is everything in wrestling and when I was with the WWE it just wasn't the right time. I was unhappy and I decided to look for opportunities elsewhere.

I was always into sports.

I have lots of people tell me I'm beautiful and ask if I'm a model, but the biggest compliment I got was a fan came up to me and said, 'You're the best female technical wrestler.' That's the one compliment that sticks out.

In high school, I played basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball, badminton - two sports every season - and I was named female athlete of the year twice.