History Wrestling / GailKim

She returned to Canada for BSE Pro Wrestling then went back to the USA where she signed with Wrestling/{{TNA}} in 2005 to help build up their fledgling women's division. Kim received rave reviews for her in-ring work which paid off in 2007 where she was crowned the first ever [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tna/tna-wm.html TNA Knockouts Champion]]. A feud with Awesome Kong followed, which was highly praised by critics and helped draw a huge amount of ratings for TNA. She left the company in 2008 over a pay dispute and resigned with WWE for the next three years. She then re-debuted in TNA, regaining the Knockouts Title belt, winning the Knockouts Tag Team Title Belts, again becoming one of their top female talents. Elsewhere she'd become the inaugural holder of Imperial Wrestling Revolution's Diamonds Title Belt.

** [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Awesome Kong]] was built up as this in TNA, going so far as to attack Gail's non wrestling sister.

** Taryn Terrell became this for a bit in TNA when she thought Taryn was abusing her power as a referee to openly help Velvet beat her. For how that ended up, see WorthyOpponent and FireForgedFriends.

* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: One could argue she was the brains with ODB being the Brawn and Roxxi Laveaux being the beauty in TNA (though ODB and Roxxi argue for a switch). Heel opponents such as Molly Holly and Angelina Love have argued against Gail being "smart" too.

* BigShutUp: To the crowd during a match in the UK against "Portugal's Perfect Athlete" Shanna after Gail slipped while trying to interrupt a cross body attempt. Naturally, Gail failed.

* CanadaEh: She's a Toronto native and would be billed from there occasionally in WWE. During 2004, WWE decided that Canadian wrestlers would only be billed from their hometowns if they had Canadian gimmicks - so Gail was billed from Korea (although she has Korean ancestry, she's born and raised in Toronto). In her second run, she was billed from Tampa, except when she competed in Toronto (to get a hometown pop).

* CurbstompBattle: When Victoria was was women's champion she fought off Molly Holly and Gail at once but then later got curbstomed when Gail started using the christo. Gail's first defense of the knockouts title against Kong ended up being successful but Kim hadn't yet figured out how to keep up a sustained offense against her. Kim took advantage early on in her last woman standing match against Angelina Love and only slipped up a few times due to Sky's continual interference.

* DragonLady: Considering how many other ethnic stereotypes ProfessionalWrestling has chewed up and spit out (SassyBlackWoman with Jacqueline, FrenchJerk with Maryse, SpicyLatina with... anyone applicable), the fact that she wasn't turned into a Dragon Lady is a notable aversion. They did veer close with her first WWE run, when they played up the "mysterious" and "dangerous" parts of the trope. However, since she debuted during the popularity of ''Film/TheMatrix,'' the "Asian" part was ignored in favor of giving her sunglasses and a BadassLongcoat and turning her into a kind of Cyberpunk Dragon Lady. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb7mpOAAL5c Her intro sums it up.]][[note]]Considering that the last women before Gail of any kind of Asian ethnicity to have had a role in WWE were [[Website/{{WrestleCrap}} "Mrs. Yamaguchi-San" of Val Venis vs. Kaientai "Me Choppy-Choppy Your Pee-Pee" infamy]], and Hiroko, who didn't wrestle much but accompanied Kenzo Suzuki to the ring in full geisha makeup, she was '''VERY''' fortunate to avert the trope.[[/note]]

* FinishingMove: Among the more notable is the Necktie Breaker (like the Regal Cutter with two arms), which she used in TNA. Eat Defeat, an innovative jawbreaker done with the foot which she first did in her second WWE run and then carried to her TNA return. Sometimes the Flying Dragon/Christo, a headscissors into an arm bar[[note]]She didn't innovate it, but since she's the first WWE wrestler to use it she often gets credited for doing so. The move was originally done by Dragon Kid of Toryumon[=/=]{{Wrestling/Dragon Gate}}. Gail ironically would end up in Toryumon Mexico in between WWE and TNA.[[/note]]. She formerly also had the air raid crash, known to WWE viewers as the Celtic Cross of Wrestling/FitFinlay or to latter viewers, White Noise of Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}.

* GirlishPigtails: She does often like to wrestle with her hair like this and makes the style badass (though they just make her an even easier target for ODB's turnbuckle routine). She even won the Knockouts title with her hair in pigtails.

* IHaveTheHighGround: Has planted her feet atop the six side of steel, pretty high ground. She once defeated {{Wrestling/Jacqueline}} with a crossbody off the top of the cage.

* ItsThePrincipleOfTheThing: Gail Kim was under no obligation to defend her Knockout's Championship belt after Havok assaulted her from behind and separated Kim's shoulder but decided to go through with it anyway. It's not everyday the knockouts get to main event, not to mention pride, revenge and all that. Kim would continue to challenge Havok, despite her arm not fully recovering because she refused to "go down without a fight" in protest to insistence she take more time to heal.
* {{Kayfabe}}: La Felina threatened physical violence toward inteviewers asking personal questions(like what's your favorite color) and claimed to have no hobbies that didn't involve helping her get better at wrestling in some way(it'd be four years before she relented on that stance). Gail Kim believed in preserving it to the point she was proud that various TNA wrestlers kept approaching her and asking if she and Jackie Moore really hated each other. Ditto for Awesome Kong. She said she was annoyed when Melina admitted on Twitter that the "horrible friend" thing was "just a storyline".

** Yes, she is a lot more than just this, but, it's insulting to leave it out. She was actually rarely used as this in WWE and has commented on it, saying it was likely because she gave off the impression that she was sexy in her own way.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Here's your reminder that Gail Kim is almost 40.

* TheRival: She considers her best WWE matches to be the ones she had with Nidia on ''[[{{BShow}} Sunday Night Heat]]''. They since met up on opposite sides multiple times in Mexico, Korea and Australia in promotions such as [[Wrestling/DragonGate Toryumon]], Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Series Wrestling.

* TokenMinority: The first woman of Korean descent to win the WWE Women's title. In shoot interviews prior to her WWE debut she hoped the fans might take to her being a little different. Besides her lucha moves, there were hardly any Asian women in the company since the early 1990s till she came in mid 2000s. What's more is that there have rarely been two Asian women at a time in WWE. When she was rehired in 2008, another Asian Diva Lena Yada was released (though she barely appeared anyway).

* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: TNA's crossovers with the United Wrestling Federation came after Gail's Korean photo shoot, leading her to demanded she be announced as "The Most Beautiful Woman In All Of Professional Wrestling."

* CanadaEh: FROM NORTH KOREA...ONTARIO!
** Trained in both Toronto's "School Of Pro Wrestling" and "Squared Circle Gym". When WWE was in Toronto it started billing her as "A Native Of Korea"(she's not) which was either to help along her FaceHeelTurn or in the trend started in 2003 to remove Canadian hometowns). Still called a "Canadian Hero" by Tim Baines of the Ottawa Sun though.

* IHaveTheHighGround: Has planted her feet atop the six side of steel, pretty high ground.

* SpyCatsuit: La Felina's ring gear was called a catsuit, [[SleevesAreForWimps although it had no sleeves]]. After un masking she went with pants a sports bra.

[[quoteright:288:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gail14.jpg]]

Gail Kim (born on February 20, 1977 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a female Canadian professional wrestler of Korean descent, known for her high-flying innovative moves. Trained by El Fuego, Ron Hutchison and later, Fit Finlay, La Felina debuted in the year 2000, causing mischief in the Apocalypse Wrestling Federation and then touring for two years across the Canadian circuit after being unmasked. Gail Kim then got a developmental deal with Wrestling/{{WWE}} farm league Ohio Valley Wrestling in the USA and stopped by Michigan's All World Wrestling League. She went on to serve on the WWE's active roster for two years after she won the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-wm.html WWE Women's Championship]] on her very first night on Raw. She was abruptly released with many others in late 2004 and spent a year honing her craft in Mexico, Australia, Japan and UsefulNotes/SouthKorea.

'''Gail Kim''' (born on February 20, 1977 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a female Canadian professional wrestler of Korean descent, known for her high-flying innovative moves. Trained by El Fuego, Ron Hutchison and later, Fit Finlay, La Felina debuted in the year 2000, causing mischief in the Apocalypse Wrestling Federation and then touring for two years across the Canadian circuit after being unmasked. Gail Kim then got a developmental deal with Wrestling/{{WWE}} farm league Ohio Valley Wrestling in the USA and stopped by Michigan's All World Wrestling League. She went on to serve on the WWE's active roster for two years after she won the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-wm.html WWE Women's Championship]] on her very first night on Raw. She was abruptly released with many others in late 2004 and spent a year honing her craft in Mexico, Australia, Japan and UsefulNotes/SouthKorea.

* TookALevelInBadass: Around 2007-ish. She went from arm wrestling and "double bull rope" matches with James Storm in Jacqueline to being in cage matches, street fights and even a ladder match.

* TookALevelInBadass: Around 2007-ish. She was in cage matches, street fights and even a ladder match.

** Has came up short in quite a few of them, she won the 2013 Queen Of The Knockouts though it was more like a series of qualifying matches for a Gauntlet Battle Royal than a tournament in usual sense of the word.

!!! "International Tropes":

* AllAsiansLookAlike: WWE also kept pushing her to have an "Asian" gimmick, e.g. a racist stereotype who speaks {{Engrish}}, a sexualized Geisha, or something similar ("OH HERRO PWREASE I AM MOST HONORABLE GAILU KIMU. I KUNG FU WOOMAN CHAMPEON LONG TIME!") and she was like, ''what are you talking about, I'm Canadian. So gross.''

* {{Face}}: Although Gail has said she's more natural as a heel, she's primarily a face wherever she goes. She was a heel for her first stint in WWE - and showed up as such in TNA. However respect for her in-ring talent lead to her eventually turning face. She did make a heel run work when she returned to TNA - but she turned back face after a couple of years.

** Tried appealing to Dollhouse but had already planned on joining Awesome Kong it didn't work.

She returned to Canada for BSE Pro Wrestling then went back to the USA where she signed with Wrestling/{{TNA}} in 2005 to help build up their fledgling women's division. Kim received rave reviews for her in-ring work which paid off in 2007 where she was crowned the first ever [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tna/tna-wm.html TNA Knockouts Champion]]. A feud with Awesome Kong followed, which was highly praised by critics and helped draw a huge amount of ratings for TNA. She left the company in 2008 over a pay dispute and resigned with WWE for the next three years. She then re-debuted in TNA, regaining the Knockouts Title belt, winning the Knockouts Tag Team Title Belts, again becoming one of their top female talents. She'd also become the inaugural holder of Imperial Wrestling Revolution's Diamonds Title Belt.

* TagTeam: With Wrestling/MollyHolly, where their main role was beating the hell out of Wrestling/TrishStratus on a weekly basis.

She returned to Canada for BSE Pro Wrestling then went back to the USA where she signed with Wrestling/{{TNA}} in 2005 to help build up their fledgling women's division. Kim received rave reviews for her in-ring work which paid off in 2007 where she was crowned the first ever [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tna/tna-wm.html TNA Knockouts Champion]]. A feud with Awesome Kong followed, which was highly praised by critics and helped draw a huge amount of ratings for TNA. She left the company in 2008 over a pay dispute and resigned with WWE for the next three years. She then re-debuted in TNA, regaining the Knockouts Title belt, winning the Knockouts Tag Team Title Belts, again becoming one of their top female talents.

* FinishingMove: Among the more notable is the Necktie Breaker (like the Regal Cutter with two arms), which she used in TNA. Eat Defeat, an innovative jawbreaker done with the foot which she first did in her second WWE run and then carried to her TNA return. Sometimes the Flying Dragon/Christo, a headscissors into an arm bar[[note]]She didn't innovate it, but since she's the first WWE wrestler to use it she often gets credited for doing so. The move was originally done by Dragon Kid of Toryumon[=/=]{{Wrestling/Dragon Gate}}. Gail ironically would end up in Toryumon Mexico in between WWE and TNA.[[/note]]. She formerly also had the air raid crash, known to WWE viewers as the Celtic Cross of Finlay or to latter viewers. White Noise of Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}.

* GirlinessUpgrade: Increasingly gravitated toward fancier gear and hair styles as her career progressed, excepting her long coat&[[SunglassesAtNight night shades]] "Matrix" gimmick. She's also gradually made more appearances not related to her next match, something she used to vocally refuse.

* RedBaron: The Queen Of Cats as La Felina.

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gail_1355839a_6723.jpg]]

** A minor example. On TV she choked out Derrick Bateman when Daniel Bryan suggested she show him her technique.

** Another one was her mini-push against Victoria in 2004. She gained three submission wins over her (while she was Women's Champion) - and was set to challenge her for the title at ''Bad Blood''. Suddenly however she lost to Lita on Raw and the match was suddenly changed to a Fatal 4 Way, including Lita and Trish. This was used to further Trish and Lita's feud and Gail was mostly forgotten about afterwards.

* MarriedToTheJob: Perhaps it was just to cut the GLORY interview short but she claimed her only interests outside of wrestling was anything that would make her better at pro wrestling.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: She thinks she is a natural heel. She is also very nice at autograph signings.

* {{Kayfabe}}: La Felina threatened physical violence toward inteviewers asking personal questions(like what's your favorite color) and claimed to have no hobbies that didn't involve helping her get better at wrestling in some way(it'd be year four years before she relented on that stance). Gail Kim believed in preserving it to the point she was proud that various TNA wrestlers kept approaching her and asking if she and Jackie Moore really hated each other. Ditto for Awesome Kong. She said she was annoyed when Melina admitted on Twitter that the "horrible friend" thing was just a storyline.

* GirlynessUpgrade: Increasingly gravitated toward fancier gear and hair styles as her career progressed, excepting her long coat&[[SunglassesAtNight night shades]] "Matrix" gimmick. She's also gradually made more appearances not related to her next match, something she used to vocally refuse.

She returned to the USA for Michigan's All World Wrestling League then signed with Wrestling/{{TNA}} in 2005 to help build up their fledgling women's division. Kim received rave reviews for her in-ring work which paid off in 2007 where she was crowned the first ever [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tna/tna-wm.html TNA Knockouts Champion]]. A feud with Awesome Kong followed, which was highly praised by critics and helped draw a huge amount of ratings for TNA. She left the company in 2008 over a pay dispute and resigned with WWE for the next three years. She then re-debuted in TNA, regaining the Knockouts Title belt, winning the Knockouts Tag Team Title Belts, again becoming one of their top female talents.

* AllAsiansLookAlike: WWE also kept pushing her to have an "Asian" gimmick, e.g. a racist stereotype who speaks {{Engrish}}, a sexualized Geisha, or something similar ("OH HERRO PWREASE I AM MOST HONORABLE GAILU KIMU. I KUNG FU WOOMAN CHAMPEON LONG TIME!") and she was like, ''what are you talking about, I'm [[CanadaEh Canadian]]. So gross.''

* CanadaEh: Trained in both Toronto's "School Of Pro Wrestling" and "Squared Circle Gym". When WWE was in Toronto it started billing her as "A Native Of Korea"(she's not) which was either to help along her FaceHeelTurn or in the trend started in 2003 to remove Canadian hometowns). Still called a "Canadian Hero" by Tim Baines of the Ottawa Sun though.

* AllAsiansLookAlike: WWE also kept pushing her to have an "Asian" gimmick, e.g. a racist stereotype who speaks {{Engrish}}, a sexualized Geisha, or something similar ("OH HERRO PWREASE I AM MOST HONORABLE GAILU KIMU. I KUNG FU WOOMAN CHAMPEON LONG TIME!") and she was like "what are you talking about, I'm Canadian. So gross."

* StalkerWithoutACrush: Went to Japan after learning [[Wrestling/CarleneMoore Jazz]] was there, as she had never gotten a one on one match with her. When Jazz returned to the USA, Gail Kim followed her there too, eventually catching up with a pinning her.

* SpitefulSpit: During one of TNA's crossover shows with the United Wrestling Federation in 2006, Gail spat in the face of Amber O'Neal, who had earlier tried to prevent from interfering in a James Gang vs America's Most Wanted match.

* TheWorfEffect: To her benefit during Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Korea attack when she got two first year wrestlers to work over. To her detriment when she was first squashed by Awesome Kong in TNA, which disturbed all the other Knockouts.