HeadLocker — Jay Shannon
The Impact of Gail Kim‘s Nove to WWE
Our resident ring philosopher examines Gail Kim’s headline-making switch back to WWE.
Gail Kim was a minor superstar in WWE on her first time through Vinnyland. Gail became a legend as the very first TNA Knockout champion. Now, Gail has decided to take a bigger paycheck and jump back into the WWE. In this edition of HeadLocker, I want to give my thoughts on how this will affect the different federations.
TNA
Losing Gail will further cripple an already limping Knockout division. There is a possibility that TNA will try to slip Gail’s sister, Katie, into her spot. They might even let Kong or Angelina Love beat Taylor and then have Katie take down Kong or Love to provide the first sisters to hold the same championship.
Gail had been pretty much reduced to a novelty act since dropping the belt to Kong. Gail needed a new environment to revamp her career. While Kim’s move will hurt TNA, it will definitely help her.
Raw
Gail won her WWE Women’s title on her debut match on Raw. She would be a interesting person to toss into the mix on Raw. WWE has pushed the Smackdown side, as of late. Raw is basically down to Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Jillian Hall and Katie Lea Burchill. Melina has disappeared in recent weeks. Raw needs a surge of new talent. Gail might be the perfect choice. It will be interesting to see if Gail Kim, former WWE Women’s champions, arrives or if a new personality is revealed. WWE has twisted the identities of other TNA recruits, including Chris Harris and Ron Killings. Gail is likely to lose her famous identity, as well.
A change in name could also bring a change in attitude. Would Gail face off against Beth or Mickie? Gail might serve as Melina’s replacement on the Raw roster. Gail would most likely use the Necktie Neckbreaker as her finisher. It is doubtful that WWE would allow her to use her Old School Arm Drag. That could insult Undertaker and that just wouldn’t be allowed.
Smackdown
If WWE were to decide to send Gail to the Blue Brand, it’s almost a lock that she would be a heel character. The official WWE web site still has Gail listed as Gail Kim. If she were to defeat Michelle McCool, she could be the first female to hold both women’s titles.
Gail could enter Smackdown and start unloading on Maria, Maryse, Victoria and the handful of other Divas on her way to the Divas title. This would be the better brand to place Gail in. Smackdown needs a unique Diva. Natalya is too close to Victoria’s look. Maria, Michelle, Maryse and Eve all have that Model-Look. Gail would be unique among all the cookie-cutters.
ECW
This would be a complete waste of Gail. The only reason to put her in the minor leagues would be to serve as a managerette. That would be a foolish waste of her talent. I can’t imagine anyone being that foolish. My only reason to even suggest it is that Gail is in FCW, right now. The FCW kids seem to start in ECW before heading to one of the big two. There really wouldn’t be anyone in ECW for her to battle. WWE would have to send some Divas over from Smackdown to battle her. If she is going to fight the Smackdowners, then why not just put her there to start.
In Conclusion:
The WWE and Gail Kim are the big winners in this move. Gail gets a bigger payday and WWE gets a female that can actually wrestle. I only hope that Creative will get their act together and realize that women’s wrestling should be something more than a glorified catwalk for Plastic Princesses to stroll out to jumpstart the hormones of the teen male audience (and a few well-past-teen watchers, as well).
Gail will either end up as the next reborn superstar or the next decent wrestler to be crushed by the image doctors. Gail probably won’t have a lot to say about what happens in her career. I can only keep my most positive thoughts alive that she isn’t turned into another cartoon character in the McMahon Circus.
— Jay Shannon
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(8/24/2008)