It should be noted that Molly Holly was the reason Gail Kim was hired, and by all accounts Holly is a saint in real life and one of the best workers in the women's division at that time. Using Gail Kim as a transitional champion makes sense, and I think this run by Molly Holly was sort of a "Thank you" from the office and all the other women who couldn't be happier putting her over. I strongly disagree with WWE releasing her when they did (and no, I don't blame Johnny Ace, I blame Vince), but I think the "problem" with Gail at this time was that she was caught in the middle of the super popular girls like Trish Stratus and Lita, and the better workers (at that time) like Ivory, Jacqueline, Victoria, and Molly Holly. I also think people forget that Gail Kim also wasn't all that great when she first got to TNA, but gradually got better and better, partially because the talented heels she began working with. She's a great underdog baby face and/or wily veteran, but it really took Awesome Kong for that to happen.
It also didn't help that WWE was hyping her up pretty big before the debut vignettes since she had coverage through their magazines & website at the time and then once she won the belt, more coverage through their Confidential TV show.
@@BabyMaharaja0you must not watch many. I just watched the Gail Kim hotspot shoot where she talks about Wrestlemania in Toronto and how at access Jason Sensation introduced Kim to Molly, and Molly sent in Kim’s tape. Smh 😂don’t lie
@@joeyfrmtheblock1735 She did leave but the circumstances of her leaving have been kept private, but all secondhand accounts say that she was unhappy with WWE at the time. She may not have been released per say, but she also wasn't being used in late 2004, early 2005 either.
Gail Kim is awesome but gets too much credit for her first WWE run it wasn’t that great….tbh. Now maybe that’s Vince’s fault but maximize your minutes kids (JR voice)
@@andrebryant5081 Sable wasn't really a wrestling star but someone fans liked to look at. Trish actually earned respect and Sunny was more popular than Sable anyway.
Another problem was Gail never really got used to how scripted the matches were. TNA gave more freedom (especially with the Knockouts) & Gail's matches were significantly better.
The Biggest problem with Gail's original run in the WWE is that she was just too green. Her first few matches against Victoria and Molly were her best because Victoria and Molly made everyone look like gold. Once they turned Gail heel she really only had Trish to work with. Most of the other faces at the time were models turned wrestlers (Torrie, Stacy and Nidia). Once they turned Victoria face Gail's match quality had an uptick again because she had a stable hand to work with again. The other problem was Vince didn't think Gail was hot enough to lead the women's division. So as soon as she started showing her greenness in the ring he cut her run. Gail went from pinning Molly, their most credible Heel at the time, clean to getting pinned after a miscommunication and then the next week losing her title clean to Molly. Gail took everything that happened here, went to TNA after a few years off and showed everyone just what a star she was. She struggled a little at the beginning of her TNA run, but she also didn't have anyone but Jackie to work against. As soon as they brought in Kong, ODB, Roxxi and Angelina Love and Gail had the opportunity to work with a higher quality of women her work rate SKY ROCKETED. Gail was a sponge and absorbed everything she was given and eventually became the face of TNA.
Gail Kim was drop dead gorgeous. Had a great entrance too but her WWE run was pretty forgettable. When I think of her, I think of her being a part of AMW in Impact
"A title win in your first match is rarer than your girl being in the mood to sleep with you". Marky you should know by now that modern day wrestling fans don't have girlfriends.
Important thing about the second half of this run: Those long bouts with sleepers was incredibly common during the late 2003/2004 run. Basically every match was "Getting heat by sitting on the guy for 3 minutes". It seemed like an office mandate, so I can't blame her for doing what the office likely told her to do.
@@EssexAggiegrad2011 Johnny Ace was talent relations, which probably meant he didn't have much input into match style. However the ending of this video is basically Johnny Ace's influence, as he helped bring in the Bikini model era.
feels like the WWE has done this to a lot of talent: thrown them into the spotlight then immediately say "wtf u didn't draw guess you're a jobber now" 2 weeks later
The botches should have been character development. She was brand new, won the title on a fluke and hadn't found herself just yet. Would she be a high flying luchadore or a technical submission specialist? It would have been great if later she got to attempt the springboard and turnbuckle arm drag and pulled them off. It wasn't easy. Molly nearly botched a springboard crossbody in her debut and she's probably one of the greatest female wrestlers ever. Always loved Gail. Always will.
Just a quick mention about Victoria... I absolutely loved her entrance with the eye in the hand and the Tatu song. She was perfect for the role to get Gail Kim over. Psycho Victoria was absolutely perfect as was Molly Holly's heel work. Great TH-cam post , as always ( aside for saying that Molly Holly looked like a "wet tea bag".)
She wasn't bad, either. She just didn't really have great women to work with. Once she was done facing Molly and instead teaming with her, her quality of opponents dipped and no one could work around her weaknesses.
I actually got to meet Gail before I even knew who she was. I was at Wrestlemania 18 Fan Axxess and ran into Jason Sensation and he had Gail with him as I guess he was going to meet Molly Holly and introduce the 2. Jason was a cool guy. Gail was beside another girl who may also have been a person looking to train.
Could the difference between the TNA & WWE house styles and training be a factor? Gail in these matches clearly looks faster, flippier, more high-flying and rope-based than all the other more grap-based opponents she faces, and that doesn't only seem due to the fact she's smaller and lighter. Gail wrestles like AJ Styles, essentially, but all the women she was up against wrestled like more like Cena. What's more, WWE rings are wider and the ropes seem higher, too--hence Gail's random slips? It's not what she was used to. Finally, the bookers at the time were just really high on Trish, so Trish went over absolutely everybody regardless.
As I recall, Gail had been used to training with men. And the guys tended to be bigger and heavier. So they could give her more of a base to perform these moves off of. When she tried to do it with the other women, that could not nearly as well so we got botches. She clearly figured it out as she went on because she became fantastic once she got to TNA.
I'm pretty sure he means the arm drags where you hold the others hand the Bulldogs and stuff like that where it takes both ppl to do it. Honestly she probly lost cuz she wasnt attractive enough to certain behind the scenes ppl. Not to mention wwe pays for all there divas breast I plants atleast they did back then idk if trips is still doing that
Gail Kim ditching the Matrix high flying gimmick into the submission expert is a good decision, it became her defining trait, not to mention I always watch her do creative ways to twist other girls into a pretzel, or am I the only one that has a kink out of it
She wasn't that great from the start. Hardly anybody could have known just how much she was going to improve. Just like no one could have predicted just how great AJ Styles would become just from his only televised match on Velocity in the WWE.
@@num1Jaysta she wrestle but wcw didn't promote much of a women division. they prefer playmate bodies over wrestling skills so most of the time the females were there just for their looks and use as valet. That why medusa run in wcw was so lackluster. wcw got one of the best female wrestler and they lack competition for her.
Nothing to do with this video. But the best in ring and most underappreciated female worker was absolutely Jackie Moore. Tough as hell. Amazing in ring. But forced to job for sable to keep her job and virtually no female division in WWF at that time
I'm trying to recall if Gail's second WWE run lasted longer than 30 matches on the main shows. The only things that I remember is her on-screen relationship with Daniel Bryan (that was revealed when the Bella Twins were both vying for his attention) and Gail eliminating herself from a battle royal, which I think was her last match.
Seems like they mainly used her as an enhancement talent in this run, to get other female wrestlers over. She had great high flying abilities but she wasn’t polished enough and wasn’t able to gain a great connection with the fans as a face so they turned her heel. She can take big bumps and sell well(we’ll still green here but got good at it) so she could do the heel thing but she would never be as good of a heel as she is a face as we learned from TNA.
The reason for this was because Vince absolutely could not fathom that people found Asian women attractive. Jim Ross even has a story where he was speaking with Vince about Gail early on in her run, and Jim Ross had to explain to Vince how Asian women were some of the most popular women in porn, and Vince didn't believe him. He was convinced no one liked Asian women, so he turned her heel and buried her.
It's been pretty obvious for years that Gails best matches came when she was a babyface whether it was in WWE or TNA. Early days of the Knockouts Division she was a face and she was putting on quality matches with Awesome Kong and Tara and was even mixing it up with the guys. Then she turned heel for several years and her match quality went to shit. After her last face turn and final run with TNA the match quality was much better until her retirement.
Idk I wouldn't agree that the match quality consistently hot worse as she was a heel. I'd say sometimes she worked almost a Triple H like style for a while which could be quite taxing to watch. She wasn't strong like Victoria or a flashy heel like Charlotte. Personal I enjoyed it, but when it was involving less experienced or talented girls sometimes the heel offense didn't look as crisp..
Poor Gail. Her first run with WWE was so uneventful and she wasn't exactly crisp in the ring. She's come a long way for sure, but I think even Jericho would be embarrassed at his first run on television. It happens.
22:42 That's Steven Richards in the short-lived Mystery Woman gimmick, which ended at _Unforgiven_ 2004. Ostensibly he helped Victoria win matches, yet in practice it was a tool to get Tyson Tomko over...or something. Never got the point of it.
It was an odd choice, but ngl I liked Stevie as Victoria's valet/accomplice/male cheerleader. His perky eccentric flamboyance really made it work as something fun and different.
They tended to pair the greener women with Ivory or Molly back in the day to help train them up a little. It seems like Gail Kim either never gained the office's trust or just didn't get much better.
@@poindexterflex3528 and it'd be easy to rank too. Jazz could make a satr out of anyone and I defy people to say she wasn't damn good. Shame she never got the chance to go thirty minutes or do all of these first evers that the newer crop of girls have, because I reckon this crop would have done it better too.
Man, if some of these woman wrestled today, some of these woman would have had a much more star studded career. I remember I particularly liked Molly as a heel.
@@ahmeddemha6112 the fact that you know a vast majority of the female stars of that era is a testament to their star power and how they maintained a certain level of credibility.
@@tonshaad1230 Less the star power and more of the fact I personally watched WWE heavily from 95 ish to about 09 or so. That and the fact the women’s division was a lot more shallow than the men’s division.
@@ahmeddemha6112 That isn't a fair criticism. I also watched that era and really you can't compare it with the metrics we use today. Whether or not some of the females could wrestle or not, you knew them instantly off of their characters and how they portrayed themselves whether that be good or bad. Sure the matches post-Medusa era for a while weren't the best but they were never the main focus so whatever they did, they had to do it and do it quickly.
@@hinro I believe you, but with HHH there running things Nx some of the people she may have been unhappy with there possibly gone, I'll am keeping my fingers crossed.
@@patrickwagner6247 I could maybe see it happening! She’s a producer for impact but I know mickie went into wwe royal rumble as an impact champ so anything is possible I guess
The two runs Gail had in WWE were not too great. Given how she was booked, I don't blame her for eliminating herself in that battle royal. But at least in TNA (Impact), she was treated like a star and became an important part of the Knockouts Division such as the inaugural Knockouts Champion as well as the first female inductee into the Impact Hall of Fame.
She was so much worse on Sunday Night Heat in the beginning. I guessed at the time that WWE was set to bury her which was why she ended up turning heel so that she couldn't do the top rope stuff that she was repeatedly botching at the time. It would've been much better if she were in NWA TNA at the time fighting with Trinity and the young, goofy Mickie James.
Gail Kim had a great entrance theme. Her debut was made to be a big deal and it was, winning the title on her first night. The fans seemed to get behind her too. Then things went downhill and never really reached that level again.
5:05 I don't care how weird Molly Holly walks, her thiccness at the time had me absolutely bonkers for her in my early 20s. That and she was easily the best worker among the chick wrestlers at the time, followed very closely by Jackie Moore.
She was learning her craft her first time. She was on the independent scene before but she was still pretty green. I thought she was great, a breath of fresh air.
Gail has always been an A+ wrestler. As of botches, everyone has had them especially people regarded as best wrestlers currently like Sasha, Charlotte etc.
Clearly you're wrong, you don't start out A+ , when you're green you're green - she gained much experience working with the veterans like Molly Holly, Victoria, Jazz, LIta the Golden Era Girls and if it wasn't for them you'd never see her actual A+ TNA dream run and that's just the facts.
Gail Kim calling herself the greatest female wrestling is like Canadian Football League champion calling themselves world champions when they couldn't beat the worst team in the NFL!!!
Some wrestlers just improve with time. It's apparent that Gail had the skills and athletic ability to belong in the ring, but hadn't honed it into something great yet. That's what experience gives you. I think had WWE kept her around she would have been just as great as she later became in TNA... or not, because the WWE's women division would soon be replaced by the bimbos. Gail wouldn't have had anyone to wrestle. Maybe it's a good thing that she was let go, in hindsight.
It's okay Kim, ppl say Jade Cargill is the best female wrestler around now and she deserves her own botchamania special lol
Jade cargill is average at best
People who say Jade is the best:
Nobody.
@@petesmart1983 I think she’s popular because she has a unique look
I think people are impressed with jade because she is doing it for one year. Also I don't care about botches, Gail Kim is a legend
@@Markyd123 kind of like Chyna in a way
It should be noted that Molly Holly was the reason Gail Kim was hired, and by all accounts Holly is a saint in real life and one of the best workers in the women's division at that time. Using Gail Kim as a transitional champion makes sense, and I think this run by Molly Holly was sort of a "Thank you" from the office and all the other women who couldn't be happier putting her over. I strongly disagree with WWE releasing her when they did (and no, I don't blame Johnny Ace, I blame Vince), but I think the "problem" with Gail at this time was that she was caught in the middle of the super popular girls like Trish Stratus and Lita, and the better workers (at that time) like Ivory, Jacqueline, Victoria, and Molly Holly.
I also think people forget that Gail Kim also wasn't all that great when she first got to TNA, but gradually got better and better, partially because the talented heels she began working with. She's a great underdog baby face and/or wily veteran, but it really took Awesome Kong for that to happen.
It also didn't help that WWE was hyping her up pretty big before the debut vignettes since she had coverage through their magazines & website at the time and then once she won the belt, more coverage through their Confidential TV show.
Edge was the reason, not Molly. Gail never mentions Molly during interviews when she talks about getting signed by WWE
@@BabyMaharaja0you must not watch many. I just watched the Gail Kim hotspot shoot where she talks about Wrestlemania in Toronto and how at access Jason Sensation introduced Kim to Molly, and Molly sent in Kim’s tape.
Smh 😂don’t lie
I’m pretty sure Molly left, no?
@@joeyfrmtheblock1735 She did leave but the circumstances of her leaving have been kept private, but all secondhand accounts say that she was unhappy with WWE at the time. She may not have been released per say, but she also wasn't being used in late 2004, early 2005 either.
Gail Kim, Jacqueline, Molly Holly, Ivory, Victoria and Jazz were the female workers back then. That’s why there was so much actual wrestling early on.
That’s the exact list! These are my favorite divas. Jazz is # 1
I loved Jazz
Gail Kim is awesome but gets too much credit for her first WWE run it wasn’t that great….tbh. Now maybe that’s Vince’s fault but maximize your minutes kids (JR voice)
If im rating Divas in SVR05. Jaqueline (default cruiserweight champ) - 70 Shaniqua - 70 Jazz - 69 Ivory - 68 Molly Holly - 68 Victoria - 67 Gail Kim (Default Women’s champ)- 66 Sable - 65 Trish - 65 Lita - 65 Torrie Wilson - 60 Stephanie McMahon - 59 Stacy Keebler - 59 Dawn Marie - 58 Nidia - 57 Jackie Gayda - 55
Just say u didn’t want to mention Trish and Lita lol a obvious hater
The problem was Molly, Victoria, and Ivory were the three best in ring wrestlers they had; but she never really faced them one on one that much.
And you also have to remember that the only two stars that mattered in the women's division was mostly Trish Stratus and Lita
@@thecharmcityplayerbrandona8827 Well after Sable left
@@andrebryant5081 Sable wasn't really a wrestling star but someone fans liked to look at. Trish actually earned respect and Sunny was more popular than Sable anyway.
Another problem was Gail never really got used to how scripted the matches were. TNA gave more freedom (especially with the Knockouts) & Gail's matches were significantly better.
No the real problem was WWE creative had no ideas in their pty heads. Still a problem today 😁
It's a shame how WWE treated Gail Kim. Other then her early title win they treated her like a jobber after that.
It was like she had a title reign in her contract, so they got it over with right at the start and then put her back in her place.
than* not then, what a tool.
The Biggest problem with Gail's original run in the WWE is that she was just too green. Her first few matches against Victoria and Molly were her best because Victoria and Molly made everyone look like gold. Once they turned Gail heel she really only had Trish to work with. Most of the other faces at the time were models turned wrestlers (Torrie, Stacy and Nidia). Once they turned Victoria face Gail's match quality had an uptick again because she had a stable hand to work with again.
The other problem was Vince didn't think Gail was hot enough to lead the women's division. So as soon as she started showing her greenness in the ring he cut her run. Gail went from pinning Molly, their most credible Heel at the time, clean to getting pinned after a miscommunication and then the next week losing her title clean to Molly.
Gail took everything that happened here, went to TNA after a few years off and showed everyone just what a star she was. She struggled a little at the beginning of her TNA run, but she also didn't have anyone but Jackie to work against. As soon as they brought in Kong, ODB, Roxxi and Angelina Love and Gail had the opportunity to work with a higher quality of women her work rate SKY ROCKETED. Gail was a sponge and absorbed everything she was given and eventually became the face of TNA.
*Molly Holly, Jacqueline Moore, "Victoria", and "Ivory" could've all gotten it.*
Pretty sure you dont have a choice with Jacqueline, death by snu snu
*🤣😂😂🤣* @@emanuelmartinez7267
@@emanuelmartinez7267 jokes on you im into that shit
@@emanuelmartinez7267 dude, Jacqueline is like 4'10"...lol (would still have smashed)
@@That_Guy- a fellow man of culture
Gail Kim was drop dead gorgeous. Had a great entrance too but her WWE run was pretty forgettable. When I think of her, I think of her being a part of AMW in Impact
Yep, I think of her TNA run and rivalry with Kong,they really did some great stuff back then.
Word is Vince didn't think she was attractive shocker given his history -_- an sadly many say that is the main reason she was held back
the problem with tna is that they didn't let her retire when she wanted/needed to retire after her first retirement announcement
@@gamerfourlife64 wins championship on debut, held back...
@@edwells4769 Wins championship, loses championship, they don't do jack with her after....
2003ish WWE women's wrestling was awesome. Very good quality matches during that era. Molly Holly is best girl.
Gail has said that she hated her WWE run, and she never understood her gimmick and no one ever explained it to her.
Objectively and in hindsight, it's still impossible to work out what Creative were going for there.
@@pendafen7405matrix knockoff gimmick
"A title win in your first match is rarer than your girl being in the mood to sleep with you".
Marky you should know by now that modern day wrestling fans don't have girlfriends.
No but they might have boyfriends. I'm just saying.
That has to be some sort of self own lmao, you're watching a small youtuber talking abt wrestling, this is way more nerdy than modern wrestling
Important thing about the second half of this run: Those long bouts with sleepers was incredibly common during the late 2003/2004 run. Basically every match was "Getting heat by sitting on the guy for 3 minutes". It seemed like an office mandate, so I can't blame her for doing what the office likely told her to do.
Damn that's why everyone was sleeper hold.
So glad Johnny Ace is gone
@@EssexAggiegrad2011 Johnny Ace was talent relations, which probably meant he didn't have much input into match style. However the ending of this video is basically Johnny Ace's influence, as he helped bring in the Bikini model era.
@@Carlitonsp1 Exactly
I remember Randy "Chinlock" Orton well... lol
feels like the WWE has done this to a lot of talent: thrown them into the spotlight then immediately say "wtf u didn't draw guess you're a jobber now" 2 weeks later
ah, misogyny strikes again
Still my favorite women's roster. All they needed was more in ring time.
The botches should have been character development. She was brand new, won the title on a fluke and hadn't found herself just yet. Would she be a high flying luchadore or a technical submission specialist? It would have been great if later she got to attempt the springboard and turnbuckle arm drag and pulled them off. It wasn't easy. Molly nearly botched a springboard crossbody in her debut and she's probably one of the greatest female wrestlers ever. Always loved Gail. Always will.
botches shouldn't be importgant to determine if a wrestler is good or not! specially highflyers that do moves that are waaaaaaay harder to execute
Gail Kim was the reason why I had a thing for Asian girls.
I thought I was the only one
You guys are DEFINITELY not alone. 🥵
my thing for Asian girls is why Gail Kim stood out to me 😂🤣 her being a fellow Canadian was bonus.
Just a quick mention about Victoria... I absolutely loved her entrance with the eye in the hand and the Tatu song. She was perfect for the role to get Gail Kim over. Psycho Victoria was absolutely perfect as was Molly Holly's heel work. Great TH-cam post , as always ( aside for saying that Molly Holly looked like a "wet tea bag".)
Gail Kim has admitted that she doesn’t want fans to remember her initial run in WWE. She knew she wasn’t good in it.
She wasn't bad, either. She just didn't really have great women to work with. Once she was done facing Molly and instead teaming with her, her quality of opponents dipped and no one could work around her weaknesses.
@@IAmNeomicshe doesn't have great women to work with?? are you kidding me?
I actually got to meet Gail before I even knew who she was. I was at Wrestlemania 18 Fan Axxess and ran into Jason Sensation and he had Gail with him as I guess he was going to meet Molly Holly and introduce the 2. Jason was a cool guy. Gail was beside another girl who may also have been a person looking to train.
Yeah, when Gail Kim debuted I had been hoping for serious women's wrestling matches. WWE was not ready
You really passed up on the opportunity to call her “Fail Kim”. 😅
I bet the chances of gails chef husband of ever getting a divorce from her are very very slim to none.
Could the difference between the TNA & WWE house styles and training be a factor? Gail in these matches clearly looks faster, flippier, more high-flying and rope-based than all the other more grap-based opponents she faces, and that doesn't only seem due to the fact she's smaller and lighter. Gail wrestles like AJ Styles, essentially, but all the women she was up against wrestled like more like Cena. What's more, WWE rings are wider and the ropes seem higher, too--hence Gail's random slips? It's not what she was used to. Finally, the bookers at the time were just really high on Trish, so Trish went over absolutely everybody regardless.
Trish used the spinebuster a lot starting around 2003 until she retired.
I had completely opted out of wrestling at this stage in my life. Absolutely no regrets.
Do Jillian Hall's WWE run.
Oh god no. (Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss)
I think she had more than 30 matches though.
a legend if you ask me
As I recall, Gail had been used to training with men. And the guys tended to be bigger and heavier. So they could give her more of a base to perform these moves off of. When she tried to do it with the other women, that could not nearly as well so we got botches.
She clearly figured it out as she went on because she became fantastic once she got to TNA.
By figuring it out you mean 'work with Awesome Kong as much as possible'
I didn't know the ropes were female in WWE. So she wouldn't have repeatedly botched off the ropes if they used male ropes? Interesting.
I'm pretty sure he means the arm drags where you hold the others hand the Bulldogs and stuff like that where it takes both ppl to do it. Honestly she probly lost cuz she wasnt attractive enough to certain behind the scenes ppl. Not to mention wwe pays for all there divas breast I plants atleast they did back then idk if trips is still doing that
if the main women's wrestlers were injured at the time gail would not have even been called up from developmental
Gail Kim ditching the Matrix high flying gimmick into the submission expert is a good decision, it became her defining trait, not to mention I always watch her do creative ways to twist other girls into a pretzel, or am I the only one that has a kink out of it
canadians are great submission/technical wrestlers. i think that wwe needed a female rey mysterio at that thime
Gail Kim was purely underrated and she could've already proven herself way before Impact takes her. She was a star in the making
She wasn't that great from the start. Hardly anybody could have known just how much she was going to improve. Just like no one could have predicted just how great AJ Styles would become just from his only televised match on Velocity in the WWE.
Anyone else remember Molly's run in WCW as Miss Madness/Mona? She was barely used there after she left Randy Savage.
Literally have not heard of that in years. Good call.
Did she wrestle? I didn't think she did. May bave to look up a match
@@TheBuddha337 She did but mostly on their C shows so they might be hard to find.
Yep
@@num1Jaysta she wrestle but wcw didn't promote much of a women division. they prefer playmate bodies over wrestling skills so most of the time the females were there just for their looks and use as valet. That why medusa run in wcw was so lackluster. wcw got one of the best female wrestler and they lack competition for her.
Victoria was so fine back in the day.
Nothing to do with this video. But the best in ring and most underappreciated female worker was absolutely Jackie Moore. Tough as hell. Amazing in ring. But forced to job for sable to keep her job and virtually no female division in WWF at that time
I'm trying to recall if Gail's second WWE run lasted longer than 30 matches on the main shows. The only things that I remember is her on-screen relationship with Daniel Bryan (that was revealed when the Bella Twins were both vying for his attention) and Gail eliminating herself from a battle royal, which I think was her last match.
Why and how did she eliminate herself?
@@pendafen7405she went off script cause she hated her run in wwe and did it as a way to get released.
Gail was my first Wrestling Crush, and remains top 3 to this day
It's always a great day when Markyd123 releases another splendid upload.
I didn't know a crossbody was called a missile dropkick
Damn I’m still learning the moves. 😂
Seems like they mainly used her as an enhancement talent in this run, to get other female wrestlers over. She had great high flying abilities but she wasn’t polished enough and wasn’t able to gain a great connection with the fans as a face so they turned her heel. She can take big bumps and sell well(we’ll still green here but got good at it) so she could do the heel thing but she would never be as good of a heel as she is a face as we learned from TNA.
i agree! and her selling is actually one of the best (i'm not a huge fan of the oversellers)
The reason for this was because Vince absolutely could not fathom that people found Asian women attractive. Jim Ross even has a story where he was speaking with Vince about Gail early on in her run, and Jim Ross had to explain to Vince how Asian women were some of the most popular women in porn, and Vince didn't believe him. He was convinced no one liked Asian women, so he turned her heel and buried her.
Didnt expect so much wrestling from this era... The Fit Finley era.
“Trish is now in who mounts Gail.” *Insert “god I wish that was me” meme.*
I've always thought Gail Kim was a bit overrated as a worker. I enjoyed her stuff with Kong, but most everything else is average at best.
Watch her match with tessa blanchard it was a great match
It's been pretty obvious for years that Gails best matches came when she was a babyface whether it was in WWE or TNA. Early days of the Knockouts Division she was a face and she was putting on quality matches with Awesome Kong and Tara and was even mixing it up with the guys. Then she turned heel for several years and her match quality went to shit. After her last face turn and final run with TNA the match quality was much better until her retirement.
Idk I wouldn't agree that the match quality consistently hot worse as she was a heel. I'd say sometimes she worked almost a Triple H like style for a while which could be quite taxing to watch. She wasn't strong like Victoria or a flashy heel like Charlotte. Personal I enjoyed it, but when it was involving less experienced or talented girls sometimes the heel offense didn't look as crisp..
Good ole jr said Vince never wanted to hire Gail but jr told him that men love Asian women and Vince then hired her
Poor Gail. Her first run with WWE was so uneventful and she wasn't exactly crisp in the ring. She's come a long way for sure, but I think even Jericho would be embarrassed at his first run on television. It happens.
Can't wait till we see CM Punk's AEW run on here in a few years
It's hilarious that Gail was paired with Venis when you remember that Vince was convinced to hire her by being told that Asian porn was popular.
Met Gail a while ago at a Philadelphia convention. She's really sweet.
Love how Nidia became Nivea 🤣🤣
22:42 That's Steven Richards in the short-lived Mystery Woman gimmick, which ended at _Unforgiven_ 2004. Ostensibly he helped Victoria win matches, yet in practice it was a tool to get Tyson Tomko over...or something. Never got the point of it.
It was an odd choice, but ngl I liked Stevie as Victoria's valet/accomplice/male cheerleader. His perky eccentric flamboyance really made it work as something fun and different.
They tended to pair the greener women with Ivory or Molly back in the day to help train them up a little. It seems like Gail Kim either never gained the office's trust or just didn't get much better.
A few of the higher ups had a serious hate boner for Gail….guess she denied the private jet trips 😂🤷♂️. I do know Duhn didn’t care for her at all.
That bottom rope in the thumbnail almost fooled me into thinking I’ve already watched this. Bastard. Never miss a hawk talk
Damn I never noticed that very true
They needed a talented wrestler to play heel against Trish so that Trish can get over
I'd like to see a RotH on Jazz in WWE, idk how many matches she's had though.
I can't imagine she qualified. She was a multiple time champion and defended the belt at Wrestlemania X8. No way she had under 30 A show matches.
@@poindexterflex3528 and it'd be easy to rank too. Jazz could make a satr out of anyone and I defy people to say she wasn't damn good. Shame she never got the chance to go thirty minutes or do all of these first evers that the newer crop of girls have, because I reckon this crop would have done it better too.
Its too bad we never had a Jazz vs Gail Kim feud
Man I love your videos I enjoy the critique style of them🔥
Thanks brother
Man, if some of these woman wrestled today, some of these woman would have had a much more star studded career. I remember I particularly liked Molly as a heel.
No they would've been forgettable. This current era is dead as shit
Deader than it was in the 90’s and from 2000 to 2015?
@@ahmeddemha6112 the fact that you know a vast majority of the female stars of that era is a testament to their star power and how they maintained a certain level of credibility.
@@tonshaad1230
Less the star power and more of the fact I personally watched WWE heavily from 95 ish to about 09 or so.
That and the fact the women’s division was a lot more shallow than the men’s division.
@@ahmeddemha6112 That isn't a fair criticism. I also watched that era and really you can't compare it with the metrics we use today. Whether or not some of the females could wrestle or not, you knew them instantly off of their characters and how they portrayed themselves whether that be good or bad.
Sure the matches post-Medusa era for a while weren't the best but they were never the main focus so whatever they did, they had to do it and do it quickly.
Well to be fair.. the workhorses in the 2003 women’s division, there was no way that locker room was going to settle for less
Mollys is an angel do not make fun of her
Marky, please do a whole collection of Attitude Era Raw episode reviews, one by one. Goldmine
I'm gonna get a patreon to suggest Eva Marie on the main roster for RoH, it'll be a nice watch
I got one for feud Samoa Joe vs Shinsuke Nakamura in NXT
Never seen a missile drop kick quite like that before 🤔 4:32 one of the most innovative ones I’ve ever seen.
Damn I was supposed to correct that. Oh well 😂
I’m not the biggest fan of Gail. She barely put women over in Impact.
18:34
the first lot of punches looks like it might have unintentionally connected with Gail, right in the face - but i agree the second one looked bad
Your content is actually very good, don’t get pulled in to click bait lists or titles
In the long run it will work better for you
For me it wasn’t click bait it actually did suprise me how many botched there were
@@Markyd123 I was actually reading how much the title effects video performance this morning- fair enough!
@@Solid_Jackson Thanks brother
God I miss Molly Holly, that woman was thicc in thighs and nice on the eyes - Its an A from Jay
I want Gail Kim to be a surprise entry into the Women's Rumble at some point. Not sure if it would happen, but with HHH running creative, maybe?
I don't think that would happen. after her last run with the company I don't think she will ever go back to the wwe.
@@hinro I believe you, but with HHH there running things Nx some of the people she may have been unhappy with there possibly gone, I'll am keeping my fingers crossed.
@@patrickwagner6247 I could maybe see it happening! She’s a producer for impact but I know mickie went into wwe royal rumble as an impact champ so anything is possible I guess
@hinro lol bro if cm punks trashass came back then she can to.. I always thought she was hot af
The two runs Gail had in WWE were not too great. Given how she was booked, I don't blame her for eliminating herself in that battle royal. But at least in TNA (Impact), she was treated like a star and became an important part of the Knockouts Division such as the inaugural Knockouts Champion as well as the first female inductee into the Impact Hall of Fame.
I don't know if he can qualify for of this. as I'm not sure how many matches he had, but Shane helms's Gregory helms run?
She was so much worse on Sunday Night Heat in the beginning. I guessed at the time that WWE was set to bury her which was why she ended up turning heel so that she couldn't do the top rope stuff that she was repeatedly botching at the time. It would've been much better if she were in NWA TNA at the time fighting with Trinity and the young, goofy Mickie James.
The difference between Gail here and Gail in TNA. She was so much better in TNA.
Without any reason or justification the fed turned her heel and had her turn down her wrestling style.
Unforgiven 2003 was the first match of Gail I've seen. Her WWE run wasn't very eventful though.
Daaaaamn..... Lita was (still is) Smoking hot
Forgot to cover her short return run in wwe think she had a love triangle with Daniel Bryan
Gail was doing a diving cross body not a missile drop kick lol
1:38 that first match entrance had me girlcrushing all over again😍😍😍😍same for Lita at 13:12
4:30 Crossbody not Dropkick
16:52 Clothesline not Big Boot
Marky, there is always something interesting in ANY match Stacy Kiebler is in.
Once you mentioned Trish with Tyson Tomko, I was like wait a minute... when did Trish go heel? I don't remember it lol
Wrestlemania 20
I seriously miss Victoria. She was a modern era women's wrestler in an era of "Attitude" sensibilities. And her theme song was an all-time great.
Gail Kim had a great entrance theme. Her debut was made to be a big deal and it was, winning the title on her first night. The fans seemed to get behind her too. Then things went downhill and never really reached that level again.
TNA/Impact Wrestling was much more willing to get behind her.
most of the women's division were injured at the time that why they called gail up from developmental
"I'll slow it down for you"
I then literally blinked and missed it. lol
Here it was years ago , Gail Kim was not yet at her best, and oddly enough at Impact she hardly ever botched any moves
5:05 I don't care how weird Molly Holly walks, her thiccness at the time had me absolutely bonkers for her in my early 20s. That and she was easily the best worker among the chick wrestlers at the time, followed very closely by Jackie Moore.
She doesn't walk weird, Marky is just weird lol. And I agree with you 100% on Molly Holly, although I was in my teens at the time lol.
She was learning her craft her first time. She was on the independent scene before but she was still pretty green. I thought she was great, a breath of fresh air.
Hope to see mark jindrak in this one day. One of many wants.
Can you do Donk The clown his run in 1993 on Roh And Jake Roberts in wwf in 1996 to 97?
Gail has always been an A+ wrestler. As of botches, everyone has had them especially people regarded as best wrestlers currently like Sasha, Charlotte etc.
Clearly you're wrong, you don't start out A+ , when you're green you're green - she gained much experience working with the veterans like Molly Holly, Victoria, Jazz, LIta the Golden Era Girls and if it wasn't for them you'd never see her actual A+ TNA dream run and that's just the facts.
Dude, this is WWE, these matches are as good as it gets. I hope things changed now that HHH is in control.
Dude this 2003/4 your talking like this still the standard watch nxt takeover Brooklyn
God forbid humans and wrestlers make mistakes or botches in the ring 🙄
Gail Kim calling herself the greatest female wrestling is like Canadian Football League champion calling themselves world champions when they couldn't beat the worst team in the NFL!!!
How many gimmicks does steven Richards have during his whole career?
She was garbage in WWE, and I'll say this....nerves, trying too much, green? No idea but she was miles ahead in TNA.
TNA hid her weaknesses
The fact she’s even considered the greatest female wrestler lmao, what a joke. There’s women way more talented than her and that’s facts.
I’ve always wondered what background music is playing during an episode of ring of the hawk
The best female Wrestler today is Charlotte Flair. Natty is amazing but no one can do it like Charlotte.
molly hollys walk is the same walk crash holly does its a holly family thing.
"I notice that Molly Holly walks weird." *That's* what you notice about Molly Holly Hawk?! Ok dude...😄😄
The way she returned from an injury only to be eliminated in a battle royal during the commercial break is hilarious
they never really did storylines for the women wrestlers in those days, it felt very much like a random selection and an afterthought
Some wrestlers just improve with time. It's apparent that Gail had the skills and athletic ability to belong in the ring, but hadn't honed it into something great yet. That's what experience gives you. I think had WWE kept her around she would have been just as great as she later became in TNA... or not, because the WWE's women division would soon be replaced by the bimbos. Gail wouldn't have had anyone to wrestle. Maybe it's a good thing that she was let go, in hindsight.
Perfectly perfect