WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett, who serves as All Elite Wrestling’s Director of Business Development, recently appeared on an episode of his podcast, “My World with Jeff Jarrett.” During the episode, he discussed various topics, including what set Gail Kim apart from other women in TNA.
Jarrett said, “Well right out of the gate, she was the OG. I mean look, I know we had dancers on, and people are going, ‘Say no, no, she wasn’t the original.’ And we had a little bit — but with me and America’s Most Wanted, she was the first one, and she really, really pushed. She did. You know, if we get to the topic — if not, we’ll get to it sometime. She really, really pushed for a women’s division at that time. And I gave the pushback multiple times, because I said, ‘Hey, we just — A, if we’re going to do it, we got to make sure we give the proper amount of time to it. We got to have a deep enough roster because when you have four or six, it’s so hard.’ I said, ‘I think we need to get up to around eight.’ Anyway, what made her different right out of the gate? I just think you have to say, her athleticism. She’d jump off the top and do a hurricanrana, but her athleticism in the the early days jumped off the page. Now look, obviously as the days, months, and years rolled by and Kong, and the presence and her ability to really personify a female fighting, athletic babyface. I think to this day, when you really look and maybe study her career during that TNA run, that’s what — she knew how to be a babyface. And that’s -— you have to have time in and understand your craft and trade to really be able to do that. Yes, she had a great monster heel, but if she didn’t know how to sell… but the chemistry that that had. And you gotta give both of them in a lot of ways equal credit. But she knew how to be a babyface. And I’ll say this with diplomacy; sometimes it is harder for a female to be that — you know, as we call the business white meat babyface. I think it’s harder for a female to portray that, because you still got to have an edge. And I don’t want to say be a bitch, because then that pushes it over. But you got to have that edge. She was very, very, very skilled, and I’ll say this: a professional wrestler.”
On Kevin Owens’ neck injury:
“I think the understanding that it was kind of like two moves that happened. There’s been a couple of things they put online, the bad bumps he’s taken throughout the years — and Kevin is one of those guys. He ain’t afraid, he’s taken big, big, big —- I’ll call him dangerous bumps. And I guess something happened in a recent match. Man, I hate it. I mean, if that’s the reality — look, it’s never a good time but man, what a disastrous time for all this to go down. And the thing that — you know Conrad, it feels like it was just yesterday, and then on the other hand, like, kind of like a lifetime that — man, you have C3, C4, C5 surgery, you’re done. It is instant retirement, you know, it’s over. But now with, I guess you could say the advancements in the procedures and the technology and the healing and what they know and all that. That have they given a specific diagnosis? My understanding is no, because that’s what I would kind of lean into, like what actually is the surgery? Because I do know enough to know that neck surgeries can be minor or major. I think that’s the easy way to say it. Man, I hate it for him. What a hell of a performer [who] puts his heart into this business in so many ways and has for years. And so missing a Mania is huge for those guys.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
