Sometimes the strangest things happen for reasons we don’t know or understand at the time, and Gail Kim gave us one of those for This Day in Wrestling History when she eliminated herself from the Diva’s Battle Royal on August 1, 2011.
Of course, this was one of those moments that slipped under the radar for many of us, including the implications and reasoning for why she did it.
Transitional statement
The battle royal was for a participant to win a shot at the WWE Divas Championship at SummerSlam that year, and Beth Phoenix won after she eliminated Brie and Nikki Bella.
While that’s what many of us remember about the match, the odd thing is that Gail Kim eliminated herself by sliding under the bottom rope.
It’s one of those weird quirky moments that may or may not have been noticed or remembered that, and the reason was just as odd in its own way.
At a later time, Kim said she did it because she was told to be out of the match in the first minute. To make sure she followed orders and possibly flipped off the boss, she did it to herself.
The notion of it being a statement gained strength when she tweeted a few days later that she quit the WWE, but the WWE apparently decided to repay her by refusing to release her and so she sat home for the next two months until her contract ended.
Returning home
Things were far from over for Kim as she returned to TNA where she’d go on to add to her legacy by winning the Knockouts Championship five more times and even the tag team championship.
Her career continued surging and she established herself as one of the best in the business that the WWE undervalued and underused.
It’s something we’ve heard a lot, and she’s among the top of individuals that proved they could be huge with the WWE.
Because of her skill and drive, at the end of it all, she was inducted into the TNA/Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame and retired afterwards to close the year out.
Now, she works for Impact as an Executive Producer and helped Deonna Purrazzo get over even more by brining Thunder Rosa in to challenge her for the Knockouts title at Slammiversary.
She also served as a peacemaker between Purrazzo and Micki James.
Gail Kim had plenty of This Day in Wrestling History moments, but this could be one of the most important ones of her career.
What’s your favorite Gail Kim moment? Let us know in the comments below.
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