Mick Foley recently shared a story about seeing Gail Kim’s husband Chef Irvine’s live show. Foley then went on to tan about how important Gail Kim is to women’s wrestler and he posted the following on his Facebook page.
“A NIGHT TO REMEMBER – and a woman we should never forget.
I had no idea what to expect when my old pal Jeremy Borash, invited me to Chef Robert Irvine’s live show at the Paramount theater in Huntington, New York. I certainly did not expect to end up handcuffed to the world-famous, and incredibly fit chef, as we worked together as a team to defeat two talented local chefs in an extreme cooking challenge. It was the rush of wrestling, combined with the terror of doing the big money round of Family Feud. Chef Irvine and I scored a decisive victory, and I sat down in my car for the drive home with a a feeling of elation and accomplishment, and the satisfaction a father feels when he knows that his adult daughter still likes hanging out with him.
But after a couple minutes behind the wheel, I started thinking about Chef Irvine’s wife, TNA Knockout Gail Kim – and her contributions to the wrestling business.
I have written quite a bit about women’s wrestling in the past year and a half – since I saw the Natalya/Charlotte match at #NXTTakeover that I absolutely saw as a game changer for women’s wrestling in #WWE. But in all that time, I think I only mentioned Gail Kim once. That’s a shame. For while it was the Natalya/Charlotte match that made me see the potential for women’s wrestling in WWE, Gail Kim had raised the bar years earlier with her classic TNA matches with Awesome Kong. I remember being blown away by their series of matches, and getting caught up in the emotion and excitement that pro wrestling is still capable of creating when things are done really well.
Gail Kim did so many things really well. No discussion of the best current female wrestlers in the business is complete without the inclusion of her name. In my opinion, no discussion of all-time great female wrestlers is complete without the inclusion of her name.
I will never understand why Gail wasn’t better utilized during her time in WWE. That’s the danger of working in a business as subjective as professional wrestling – sometimes the swift don’t always win the race.
I hope some of you will take the time to look up some of Gail’s great matches. She gave so much, for so long – and in my opinion, her contributions to our business are often overlooked. I’ve been guilty of overlooking them myself.
Thank you, Gail, for everything you have done. Funny how being hand-cuffed to your husband made me feel so much closer to you.”
