IMPACT Hall of Famer Gail Kim will return to the ring at IMPACT 1000 on September 9.
IMPACT Wrestling‘s Gail Kim was a guest today on Busted Open Radio. In the midst of the interview, Kim was “convinced” by Dave LaGreca and Tommy Dreamer to have a match next month at IMPACT 1000.
During the conversation, it was teased that Kim might be stepping into the ring with Awesome Kong at IMPACT 1000. However, Gail Kim’s opponent has yet to be confirmed.
Gail Kim’s last match occurred in April 2019 at IMPACT Rebellion, where she lost to Tessa Blanchard via submission.
Update: Gail appeared in a new promo video and said Kong is her greatest opponent, but she’ll now be her greatest partner. Gail then called for all Knockouts past and present to stand with them, or against them.
Earlier this year, Kim was a guest on The Ten Count. And while she ruled out a “Last Rodeo” type return that Mickie James has had, she didn’t shut the door on the idea of one last match.
“I don’t know if I could do what Mickie [James] did in terms of go through all those matches to get to the top and prove myself because I don’t know if my body would hold up for that,” Gail Kim admitted. “But never say never to a dream — like a three-way or a dream four-way of all these different women from different promotions.”
Kim also told WrestleZone that her comeback would have to be “perfect” to even consider it.
Gail Kim has done several interviews since retiring about finding closure in that final match, also noting that she has considered her health as well. Asked if time has allowed requests for her return to slow down, Gail said that she does still get offers to return, but doesn’t miss the ring and doesn’t want to spoil what she considers a perfect sendoff.
“People still ask [me to return]. I actually got a formal kind of inquiry recently as well. [IMPACT] has asked me in the past to face Deonna [Purrazzo] and things like that. But for me, I value my career and hold it dearly, so I don’t want to ruin the status. I was okay with the last match. I was great with it, and so do I go back — in my crazy perfectionist mind — and ruin that? So it would take a lot,” Gail said. “It would have to be the perfect opponent. It would have to be the perfect situation for me to be able to put my back at risk again because I have no disc in my L4 or L5. I work very hard on the daily to have a normal day-to-day life.
“If I did come out of retirement, then there’s a high percentage of a back surgery, and I don’t want to go through that again. So it would have to be something quite impressive for me to come out of retirement because I get satisfaction from helping the women grow in the division,” Gail stated. “I really, truly feel like I don’t miss the ring because of that. So I’m so grateful that I don’t miss the ring. To be honest, I was deathly afraid of that, as all athletes are. So if I’m feeling happy and healthy, why would I?”
It would seem that Gail finally found the perfect scenario to compete one more time. Will the IMPACT Hall of Famer be able to go out on top next month? We’ll find out soon enough.
READ MORE: Gail Kim: The Knockouts Division Owes Everything To Jeff Jarrett
What are your thoughts on Gail returning to the ring? Are you excited about IMPACT 1000 next month? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
