Gail Kim Ending Her In-Ring Career Next Month
Gail Kim recently returned to the ring for Impact Wrestling after taking over ten months off to heal up injuries. In July, the 41-year old legend of women's wrestling said it was time to retire. Now, she has a date in mind.
The Hall of Famer has revealed that her final in-ring match will be at Impact Wrestling's November 5 Bound For Glory show in her home province of Ontario.
"I wanted to come back. If you ask any wrestler, we want to finish on our own terms. That's what I want. I want to close this door myself. I've worked so hard to get to this point, I want to go out on my point. What I miss most about being away was just being in the mix. The fans, the adrenaline you get from performing, pushing ourselves to the limit. That's what I miss the most," said Kim.
This summer saw Kim return to the ring and unsuccessfully challenge for the GFW Knockouts Championship. It was noted the month prior that she would be moving into a backstage agent role with the company after over a decade on and off working with them.
Kim will retire quite likely drastically underrated for her contributions to women's wrestling and wrestling in general. She debuted in WWE in 2003, where she won the WWE Women's Championship in her first televised match. She would go on to have a tumultuous relationship with WWE, being fired twice over the next several years.
Kim found big success outside of the ring and WWE, as well. she managed America's Most Wanted to a TNA Tag Team Championship reign. She won the TNA Knockout's Championship six times, in addition to the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles once. She was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2016, just one year after she won the TNA World Cup in 2015.
The signing of Kim helped TNA Wrestling in the mid-2000's set apart their women's divisions from that of WWE. Her feud with Awesome Kong helped carry the division, and Kim continued to have good matches into her late 30's with the likes of Taryn Terrell.
Bound for Glory takes place November 5 from the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Canada. Fightful will have full, live coverage of the show. Gail Kim will compete against Sienna, Taryn Terrell and Allie for the Knockouts Championship in what she says will be her final match.
