Current producer for Impact Wrestling and Impact Hall of Famer Gail Kim was on a media call recently. Kim spoke about a women's Ultimate X Match and why she didn't think it would work, her controversial refereeing Impact Homecoming, and if she could come out of retirement for one more match.
Kim was asked if the Knockouts division should give an Ultimate X match a try. At Impact Homecoming, Rich Swann defeated Ethan Page, Jake Crist, and Trey Miguel to win the X Division Championship in an Ultimate X Match. Kim said she was approached during her days as an active wrestler about the match, but felt like the women may not have the upper body strength to pull off a comparable match to those in the X Division.
"Someone just asked me that the day of the PPV as they were setting up for that match," Kim began. "It's funny because when I was active years ago, one of the writers had approached me about that and they said, 'Do you think that we should do one?' It's going to probably sound wrong when it comes out of my mouth [Laughs] but I am one who wants the best, so I want the girls to have the best match, I want them to steal the show, and I always felt that way as an active wrestler.
"Truth be told - maybe some women can prove me wrong, but I think that match is a lot of upper body strength and I'm not sure how many girls can execute it to that degree, and I feel like we would be compared to the X Division. Maybe if we come up with something similar, but not the same, I think that would be more realistic. 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. If I didn't feel like I could, I wouldn't want to disappoint, or be less than. In that [Ultimate X] match, I don't know if we would be able to surpass those division guys because they are so super athletic."
At Impact Homecoming, Kim was the special guest referee for Tessa Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie's Impact Knockouts Championship match. Near the end of the bout, Kim ended up getting very involved in the match by accidentally hitting Valkyrie with the title and giving her finisher, Eat Defeat, to Blanchard, which ultimately would cost the former champion her title.
"Yes there was a lot of controversy around my officiating at the Homecoming PPV, but that moment built up to what happened," Kim said. "I'm going to defend myself, Tessa was abusing authority at that point, and a lot of people said, 'Why didn't you just disqualify her?' and that was the easy way out in my mind. When I went into that match, I knew I wasn't going to disqualify her because I just had a feeling of that that's where she'd go."
Kim wrestled her final match last February in the UK, and then took on a producer role with Impact Wrestling where she has worked predominately with the Knockouts division. She has noted previously, and again in this call, that her back is a big reason for her retirement, and still troubles her from time to time. Kim was asked if she could ever do another match and said a lot of factors would come into play for her to give it another go.
"That's a hard question to answer," Kim admitted. "I guess I would say it depends on the circumstances and how far I'm pushed. Also, 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, on and off. I pretty much look normal in day-to-day life, but that doesn't mean I can have a wrestling match. I am getting an update on my back just to see where it was at because it's been bothering me. If I did feel good and the circumstance did arise, I wouldn't abject to it. There's a lot of factors that play into it, I'd want to see how bad the fans want to see it."
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