Interview mit TNA Women's Champion Gail Kim (Audio&Text)

Kompletter Text-Auszug aus einem Radio-Interview mit TNA Women's Champion Gail Kim. Die Quelle zum Internet-Stream (mit komplettem Rückblick auf den letzten TNA PPV gibt es am Ende des Eintrages!)[/size]


Dan Lovranski (LAW Co-host): Alright, now I want to bring on another special guest to the program. You’ve seen her, of course, in the WWF before, you’ve seen her in TNA for quite a while now, and if you watched the TNA’s Bound For Glory Pay-Per-View tonight, you saw her in action. She is TNA’s first Knockout Women’s Champion - it’s always a pleasure to have this lady on the program, Ms. Gail Kim. Gail, how are you doing?

Gail Kim: I’m so happy (Laughs). You just caught me at the perfect moment, I’m still on Cloud Nine.

Lovranski: You’re celebrating quite heavily, are you?

Gail Kim: Well, I’m actually stuck in traffic to be honest. I’m on my way back from the building, the arena, right now to head back to the hotel room. We’re gonna celebrate, yes.

Lovranski: Okay, well, that’s good. Well, yeah, hopefully, we’ll do the quick interview here, get you to the hotel, and then you guys can party on down.

Gail Kim: Okay (Laughs).

Lovranski: When did they first decide, Gail, to kind of do a serious women’s division? Because really, it’s been, you know, kind of hit and miss right? You’re in there, Traci’s in there, but not really a women’s division. When did they decide to do this? Was this just recently?

Gail Kim: It was … well, to be honest, when I started with the company, and they called me to offer me a contract, they said, “We want to build a women’s divison, but it’s not going to happen overnight”. And, I said, “Okay”. And, kind of a year had passed, a year and a half passed, and I said, “Guys, I want to wrestle. That’s what I love to do. I want to wrestle”. We can make a serious women’s division, but the time restraints, you know, an hour show, forty-three minutes of programming - so that means, you know, only a handful of girls. You can’t really build a division on four girls.

Lovranski: Right, right.

Gail Kim: So, then, they told me wait for two hours, and we were so patient. Two hours came, and they fulfilled their promise, and … I think we’re doing our end. I mean, I hope we are. I think they fans are really happy with everything they’ve seen and I’m so happy. This is my dream women’s division right now.

Lovranski: Well, I have to say I’m happy, because, you know, after watching the WWE, where they just pick girls because they’re hot-looking and have all the right accouterments, I was very impressed that all of the girls tonight looked like they had some working abilities as well.

Gail Kim: Right. And you know what? We want to be different, because to be honest, you know, the sport’s called wrestling.

Lovranski: Yes, right.

Gail Kim: And, I think they’re sick and tired of seeing, you know, the same thing over and over again. And we just want to show that we can go in the ring and put on entertaining matches and be just as tough as the guys.

Lovranski: Right. Now, the only thing is I think you should talk to Awesome Kong about her outfit, because she had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction.

Gail Kim: I know - did you guys see that?!

Lovranski: Oh, yeah. Gail, it was very visible on the Pay-Per-View.

Gail Kim: Oh, no, someone said that you couldn’t see it, but I guess you could (Laughs).

Lovranski: Oh, no, no, you could. I mean, I thought … she’s a great worker. The match you had with her on the T.V. this week I thought was very good as well. Just tell her to adjust her clothing and I think she’ll be all set.

Gail Kim (Laughs): Okay, I will. She is a very talented individual and I think she’s going to make a really big impact on the women’s division, definitely.

Lovranski: Talk about a couple of the other girls as well, because we’ve got Angel Williams in there as well, who’s also from up this way.

Gail Kim: Right. And I trained with her briefly. So did Ms. Brooks, and we actually haven’t worked with you since, you know, when I got signed by WWE. Traci went to TNA, and now we all kind of came full circle, and we got to be a part of this “Gauntlet” match, so it’s … amazing. It was a great moment for everyone.

Lovranski: Yeah. Can you tell us a bit more about a couple of the other girls too? I was impressed with ODB. What’s her background?

Gail Kim: Oh, my gosh. She’s been wrestling as long as Traci and I have been wrestling, so we’re going on eight years now.

Lovranski: Right.

Gail Kim: She’s such a talented girl. She’s so charismatic, she can work in the ring, and she’s got personality. So, hopefully, you know, she can land a contract and join the family one day.

Lovranski: So some of the girls, it was just a one-off for some of the girls tonight?

Gail Kim: Yes. Awesome Kong now, she got signed, and also … I’m not sure, there’s rumors about Shelly Martinez, but I’m not sure, really. I don’t really know the scoop, but I guess they’ll officially announce whoever gets signed as they sign them on the website.

Lovranski: Right, right. We had just seen Shelly Martinez in ECW doing the Ariel character. I guess she didn’t go too far in the Elvira competition, right?

Gail Kim: I heard about that. I don’t know exactly what it was. I mean, we don’t really talk about it, so I don’t know.

Lovranski: I’m pretty sure Mike Tenay said in the commentary tonight that she had gotten beaten, unfortunately. Because I thought, when I heard that she was going to be in that I thought that she’d be a natural for that.

Gail Kim: Yes. I love her look, I think she has a very different look, and I love the fact that all the TNA Knockouts have their own distinctive personalities and look. So, she would be a great addition as well.

Lovranski: Yeah, that is definitely a good point, because again, in the WWE they really do tend to go for the cookie-cutter girl, right? They all want blondes, same, you know, blonde - blonde, blonde, blonde, blonde. And you guys did do a good job of presenting ten very different-looking women.

Gail Kim: Exactly. And I think that … I think it stands out to the fans and they remember that. And they can connect with you or they have a preference of who they like, so … sorry, we almost ran over someone right now (Laughs).

Lovranski (Jokingly): Whoa, easy Gail! Now, now, don’t run anyone over - please, please.

Gail Kim (Laughs): I know. Just have to interview and drive.

Lovranski: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now you mentioned too how Awesome Kong was Amazing Kong, now it’s Awesome Kong. What happened there - why did they change the name abruptly like that?

Gail Kim: I don’t really know, to be honest. I think that they kind of liked that name better for some reason. I’m not sure, I heard a couple of different names - I heard “Queen Kong”, I heard “Awesome Kong”, and then that was the final decision I guess tonight.

Lovranski: Right, right.

Gail Kim: Yeah, yeah. Did you guys enjoy the match?

Lovranski: Yeah - again, as I said, because we’re so used to the WWE - they just pick the women because they look hot, they don’t really have any in-ring abilities, so we were very happy. Well, Gail, you used the “Emerald Frosion” to win the match, how could I not be happy?

Gail Kim (Laughs): Yeah, I kind of busted that out of nowhere tonight.

Lovranski: I liked it. I thought that was great, I’m a big Misawa fan, I thought that was awesome.

Gail Kim: Good, I’m glad. And you know, you were talking about how you’re so used to seeing the WWE and those girls, and the thing is, the mainstream crowd watches WWE, and they get millions of more viewers. So, a lot of people have a certain image of women’s wrestling in their minds, so it’s like we’re fighting against that stereotypical thought. So, it’s even harder that way, so we’re still looked under the microscope and we’re just so happy. Everyone’s so happy right now.

Lovranski: So, what are we going to see next? We’ve got you as the Champion. Now we’ve got to get some challengers for you now. I would expect because Kong beat you on the T.V., storyline-wise that would be perfect to have her challenge you for the title?

Gail Kim: Well, I’m welcoming the challenge. That’s all I gotta say.

Lovranski: And I guess it will definitely get a more prominent position now on the television and all that kind of stuff?

Gail Kim: Yes. You know, like they said, they’re gonna have a women’s division. So I’m going to assume that … we have already had a match every week, so I think they’re gonna follow up on that and we’ve gotten such positive reactions from all the matches. So I think TNA’s really happy and wants to keep going in that direction.

Lovranski: And there’s one other question I do want to address with you, Gail, just because it’s kind of overall wrestling industry question and a wrestling industry issue at the moment. And that, of course, is about the drug testing in pro wrestling, because we’re hearing that the U.S. government is looking into it, we’re going to have hearings. I just was curious as to whether anyone from TNA management has spoken to talent about a specific drug policy for TNA.

Gail Kim: Yeah, I mean, we’ve heard about it. We’re not sure exactly when it’s starting. But I know it’s going to be implemented, and we’re going to follow all the regulations and whatever we need to do.

Lovranski: So, you have heard that one will be in place soon then?

Gail Kim: Yes, yes, that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t … you know, don’t quote me on it (Laughs), but I’m pretty sure it’s gonna happen. And it should, it should.

Lovranski: Yeah, absolutely. Alright, Gail, I want to thank you so much for joining us tonight and congratulations on winning the belt.

Gail Kim: Thank you so much.

Lovranski: And, hopefully, we will see a proper women’s division in TNA.

Gail Kim (Laughs): Thank you so much, guys.

Lovranski (Jokingly): Alright now, drive safely, eh, okay?

Gail Kim (Laughs): Okay, I will. Bye.

Lovranski: That was Gail Kim, your new TNA Women’s Champion.

[size=150]Quelle: www.liveaudiowrestling.com (Rechts oben klicken für den Audio-Stream mit komplettem TNA Bound for Glory PPV Bericht)