Gail Kim

Gail Kim-Irvine was born on February 20, 1977, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Korean immigrants. She attended York Memorial Collegiate Institute and was a natural athlete, participating in various sports. She pursued higher education at the University of Toronto, majoring in kinesiology, before transferring to Ryerson University to study nutrition. Kim began her professional wrestling career in December 2000, wrestling under a mask as La Felina on the independent circuit in Canada, including for Apocalypse Wrestling Federation and Border City Wrestling, as well as in Quebec, Detroit, and Pennsylvania. She later wrestled under her own name after being unmasked in a \”Mask versus Hair\” match by Tracy Brooks.

Kim signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002, training for eight months at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and working house shows. She made her televised WWE debut on June 30, 2003, on WWE RAW, winning the WWE Women’s Title in a battle royal in her first match. She held the title for four weeks, successfully defending it against Molly Holly, before losing it back to Holly. Kim then turned heel, forming an alliance with Molly Holly against Trish Stratus and later Lita. She participated in her first pay-per-view match at WWE Unforgiven 2003, teaming with Molly Holly in a loss to Lita and Trish Stratus. Her initial run with WWE concluded in November 2004 due to cost-cutting, following a broken collarbone. In 2005, she made appearances for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Series Wrestling.

In September 2005, Kim joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), initially managing Jeff Jarrett and America’s Most Wanted (AMW) and becoming physically involved in matches. Her in-ring debut for TNA was at Victory Road in July 2006. After AMW’s dissolution, she began a singles career, becoming the inaugural TNA Women’s Knockout Champion in October 2007 at Bound for Glory. She held the TNA Knockouts Title six times in various runs, a record she shares with Angelina Love, and also held the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Title once with Madison Rayne. Kim was recognized as the number one female wrestler in the world by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 2012 and was the first woman inducted into the TNA Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. She wrestled her final match in 2019 after returning to Impact Wrestling as a producer and agent, eventually joining the creative team in February 2024 before her departure in March 2025.