Gail Kim On Winning the WWE Women’s Title In Her Debut, Having Mixed Emotions Over It and a Possible WWE Hall of Fame Induction

Gail Kim spoke with Jeffrey Harris for the 411 Wrestling Interview Podcast and discussed winning the WWE Women’s Championship in her debut and whether she’d accept a Hall of Fame induction. Kim won the title in her first televised WWE match on the June 30, 2003 episode of Raw in a seven women battle royal to crown a new champion due to Jazz being injured. She had the title for four weeks before losing it to Molly Holly. Kim recalled how green she was at that time in the business and how starting and how she has mixed emotions over the win because of that.

Kim has also been vocal about issues she had with WWE over the years and when asked by Jeffrey about a potential Hall of Fame induction down the like, talked about how she would want to discuss those things with WWE should she ever be picked to join the WWE Hall of Fame. Highlights and the full podcast are below:

On winning the Women’s Title in her WWE debut: “Well, I remember that day. And I mean, I do and don’t remember that day [laughs]. Because it was a blur, and I was just so green. And for that to happen, I just … [didn’t know] how people were, the perception of me. And thank God I didn’t know actually, because I’d probably be so paranoid. But I remember looking back at it and thinking, ‘Oh my god, what was the rest of the roster thinking?’ Like, I just came in there — I didn’t have time to really grasp it. I’m very appreciative of the moment looking back, that I became Women’s Champion. But you know, I think it’s more satisfying if you worked so hard to attain that goal, and you achieve it after some hard work.”

On having mixed emotions about it: “It was a great learning experience, and I think I wouldn’t have learned any quicker, to be honest. It’s just hard to really talk about that time, because I don’t know, I feel so mixed on it. Very split. I’m grateful, but at the same time I knew it wasn’t the right thing to be completely honest.”

On if she would accept a WWE Hall of Fame induction: “People have asked me this before. This is a really hard question for me to answer. I don’t know. I mean obviously — I would just want to make good in terms of, just like any other relationship you would have in your life. You don’t want any type of [bad blood]. Like, I look back and am grateful for my time there and everything, I just — there were certain experiences that I had that I maybe need to just be discussed, I think. I think everything’s about communication and having an open conversation. And there are things I experienced that didn’t really sit well with me. And so like I said, those would be discussions to be had, to work out.”

In the full interview, Kim discusses her Kayfabe project with Christy Hemme and Lita that you can support via Kickstarter here, winning the WWE Women’s Championship in her debut match, whether the TNA Knockouts paved the way for the Women’s evolution in WWE, ending her career on her own terms, her storyline with the Bella Twins and Daniel Bryan, whether she would accept a WWE Hall of Fame induction and much more.

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0:00: Introduction
0:56: On the premise of Kayfabe, the uniqueness of the project being wrestling told from a women’s perspective
3:14: On the stories being told and how it’s scripted with writers, whether the stories are coming from Kim, Hemme and Lita’s lives
5:00: On the production team for the show including Chavo Guerrero, Dave Sehadi and more
6:23: On Kim’s WWE Women’s Championship win in her debut for the company, her reaction and why she has mixed emotions about it
9:14: On whether what she and Awesome Kong did in TNA with the Knockouts paved the way for WWE’s Women’s evolution
12:47: On her return to WWE in 2009 and how it didn’t go the way she hoped, not feeling she was used to the best of her ability, being happy with her career
15:39: On her storyline with the Bellas and Daniel Bryan, her initial reaction to it and how she was about to quit before she got that storyline, why she ultimately left
18:34: On the ‘catfight’ era of women’s wrestling and how wrestling is moving away from that in a positive way
20:21: On ending her in-ring career on her own terms with the match she wanted to have, how certain she is that she’s done in the ring
22:05: On if she ever had any conversations with Vince McMahon and not getting feedback in WWE, how that led to her quitting
24:25: On if she would accept a WWE Hall of Fame induction
25:34: On dealing with high-stress emotional issue in the industry and how she handles that
27:18: On her favorite aspect of Kayfabe and working with Lita and Hemme
28:25: On if she’s ever been cooked anything by her husband Robert Irvine where she had to ‘grin and bear it’
29:04: On where to find her and where to contribute to the Kayfabe Kickstarter, how you can help out

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