Gail Kim

Gail Kim (born February 20, 1977) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, currently signed to TNA Wrestling, where she serves as a producer and occasional on-screen talent.

In Impact Wrestling she was the inaugural and record setting seven-time Knockouts Champion and she also was a one-time Knockouts Tag Team Champion with Madison Rayne.

She is also known for her two stints in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where she won the WWE Women's Championship in her first match.

During her time in TNA, she had an acclaimed feud with Awesome Kong, which is generally considered one of the greatest women's wrestling feuds of the 2000s.

She debuted in December 2000, wearing a mask and wrestling as "The Queen of the Cats" La Felina in the Southern Ontario-based Apocalypse Wrestling Federation.

She, however, was eventually unmasked by Tracy Brooks in a "Mask versus Hair" match.

Kim worked on the Canadian independent circuit for two years, wrestling for promotions such as Border City Wrestling.

Kim was introduced to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) employee Nora Greenwald (known on-screen as Molly Holly) by Jason Sensation in 2001; Greenwald encouraged Kim to send her videos and tapes to WWF officials.

Kim began her career wrestling on the Canadian-American independent circuit, before joining WWE in 2002.

She became the first WWE Diva in history to win a championship in her debut match.

In October 2002, she was hired by the WWF, now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

She spent eight months training in their then-developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and wrestled house shows and dark matches before being called up to their main roster.

After several weeks of vignettes showcasing Matrix-like effects aired on Raw, Kim debuted on June 30 as a fan favorite, with a Matrix-inspired outfit.

Her first televised WWE match was a seven-woman battle royal on the June 30, 2003, episode of Raw with the WWE Women's Championship, then held by an injured Jazz, on the line.

Kim won the match by lastly eliminating Victoria.

Kim held the title for four weeks, successfully defending it once against Molly Holly, before losing it to Holly on the July 28 episode of Raw.

The following week, Kim turned heel on Trish Stratus, which stemmed from a previous Raw episode where Stratus cost Kim and herself a tag match against Victoria and Holly; Kim subsequently formed an alliance with Holly to take on Stratus, defeating her and various partners on several occasions, until Stratus was later assisted by Lita.

At WWE's Unforgiven pay-per-view event on September 21, Stratus and Lita defeated Kim and Holly in a tag team match.

The four women continued to feud until November, when Kim was sidelined with a broken right collarbone.

After being released by WWE in 2004, Kim joined TNA in September 2005.

There, she joined the tag team America's Most Wanted as their valet.

Kim returned to Raw in April 2004 and immediately reforged her alliance with Holly.

In May 2004, Kim submitted then-Women's Champion Victoria twice, in singles match and a six-woman tag match, earning herself a title shot at Bad Blood.

However, Lita pinned Kim on the June 7 episode of Raw, and Lita and Trish Stratus were added to the championship match.

At Bad Blood on June 13, she faced Lita, Stratus, and Victoria in a Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE Women's Championship, which was won by Stratus.

Kim participated in a battle royal on October 19 at Taboo Tuesday, which was won by Stratus.

Kim, however, was released by WWE on November 3, 2004, as a result of cost cutting.

Kim was caught off guard by her release and was told that management wanted to take the women's division in a new direction.

Following her release from WWE and the expiration of her 90-day no-compete clause, Kim made sporadic appearances on the independent circuit, including at Michigan's All World Wrestling League and in Japan.

After her release from WWE, Kim made an appearance for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling on January 22, 2005, in South Korea, teaming with Lollipop in a tag team match, where they defeated Malia Hosaka and Nidia.

On June 26, Kim made her debut for World Series Wrestling (WSW) in Melbourne, Australia, losing to Nidia in a singles match.

Two days later at another WSW event in Sydney, Kim defeated Nidia in a rematch.

The following night, Kim teamed up with A.J. Styles to defeat Nidia and Christopher Daniels in a mixed tag team match.

She also competed in Korea and Mexico before being signed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on September 6, 2005.

After the dissolution of the group, Kim performed as a singles wrestler, eventually becoming the inaugural TNA Knockouts Champion in October 2007.

She later left TNA in August 2008, to return to WWE three months later, where she remained until 2011.

The following October she returned to TNA.

In 2012, Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Kim the number one female wrestler in the world and in 2016 she was announced as the first female inductee into the TNA Wrestling Hall of Fame.

After obtaining her degree from Ryerson University, Kim decided to become a professional wrestler and joined Ron Hutchison's School of Pro Wrestling in Toronto.

She received supplementary training from Rob Etchevarria at the Squared Circle Pro Wrestling Gym.