TNA’s Direction Questioned After Gail Kim’s Shocking Termination

Matt Hardy is just as stunned as everyone else about Gail Kim’s sudden exit from TNA Wrestling—and he’s not holding back on how he really feels.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the TNA Tag Team Champion reacted to the company’s decision to let go of Gail Kim earlier this week as part of a major front-office shakeup. Hardy, who’s worked closely with Kim for years, didn’t hide his disbelief.

“The Gail Kim departure was definitely shocking, very unexpected,” Hardy said, adding that Ariel Shnerner’s exit also caught him off guard. “Huge shock. And even reading that news, it was hard to believe that it actually went down.”

For Hardy, the release hits even harder because of how much Kim meant to TNA’s Knockouts division and the locker room as a whole.

“Gail Kim’s someone who was, like, universally loved. The women felt blessed to have her,” he continued. “She was such an iconic, trailblazing women’s wrestler, right? And she was great with working with them and she really fought hard for the women’s division.”

As for why she was let go, Hardy admits he’s out of the loop: “There’s some new ownership that just came in. So they’re reformatting, and it’s just above my pay grade, for sure. It’s just stuff that I am not really in the know about.”

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kim’s firing wasn’t exactly out of nowhere behind the scenes. “Once they stopped having Gail produce matches or work in Talent Relations, the writing was on the wall,” said one source. “She was elevated to work alongside Carlos and head up ‘Special Projects.’ Being assigned to Special Projects is the corporate kiss of death.”

Kim, who spent 17 years in TNA and was a pioneer for the Knockouts division, later released a heartfelt message of her own. “This will not end my passion or my love for wrestling and this is not the end of Gail Kim in the wrestling world,” she wrote. “You don’t put in 17 years in one company and stop when you are this passionate.”

She’s taking some personal time now, but it sounds like fans haven’t seen the last of her just yet.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.