TNA Hall of Famer Gail Kim has recalled the precise moment she knew she needed to retire.
Kim, in an interview with “Toronto Sun,” stated that watching others wrestling and feeling their pain is when she knew she needed to call time on her profession.
“I wish that my body felt like what I felt like in my 20s and even my early 30s because I remember feeling invincible, as a variety of them do. You realize, you see them doing crazy stuff after which because the years go your body starts — that is how I knew I used to be going to retire because right on the very end, within the last couple years, I’d watch, say, the monitor of another person wrestling and I’m going, ‘Oh [grimaces]’ and I’d react like I felt the pain. I used to be like, ‘Why am I reacting like that? I never had that response before,'” she said. “So once I began to feel the pain of other wrestlers watching them do something that looked painful, it was sort of my first red flag, you realize, ‘Why am I reacting that way before?'”
Kim stated that while she misses wrestling and hasn’t closed the door on a return to the ring, the prospect of coaching for a match feels daunting to her.
“In fact, I miss the game of wrestling. I miss having that adrenaline rush. And I do not mind performing some physicality spots here and there if I’m ever booked for anything. A full match is something entirely different. I guess I’d say ‘never say never,’ but it might need to be something really, really special. And for me to get conditioned for a full match, I do not think people realize how hard it’s to train for the cardio of an expert wrestling match,” she added.
The TNA legend recalled training for her last singles match, which took place in 2019 against Tessa Blanchard, saying her cardio sessions were intense, even climbing 60 flights of stairs multiple times, which she still felt wasn’t enough.