D1 - Chyna versus Gail Kim

[Dave]

Day 1 of the inaugral WrestleZone International Cup begins with tag team matches that pit Team U.S.A against Team R.O.W in randomly assigned matches. Who will gain the early advantage in the Cup and who will let their team down? Let the debate begin!

Boards are open for 1 day for discussion and then polling will begin in 24 hours. Polling lasts for 48 hours afterwards. The winning team gets the point. In the event of a draw, teams will half a point each.

 

[Dave]

Gail Kim is a very fine wrestler. I always thought that she was a lot better than the WWE gave her credit for. And at least when she went to TNA, they treated her as if she were a fine wrestler.

That said, Chyna would steam roll 90% of the women in this competition. Chyna wrestled men long beofre it was trendy to do so because no woman realistically had the chance of beating her. I honestly cannot remember a time when she was pinned clean by a woman and that is not the case with Gail Kim.

Chyna is a juggernaught and she deserves the win here.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Mismatch of the century.

Chyna has done more for women's wrestling than Gail Kim ever could. I like Gail Kim - she managed to keep her head above the water in a successful women's divison. But Chyna defied gender norms. In a time when divas were just there for teenage boys to discover themselves, Chyna broke the mold and was beating capable men left and right. She's a feminist icon. Even today men vs. women is treated like a comedy bit. Not so when Chyna fought. She was ahead of her time.

Sadly, I think Gail Kim's place in history will go forgotten while Chyna's will only grow. That's why I am pulling for The Ninth Wonder of the World, and I'll likely support her throughout this Cup.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I might be in the minority here, but I'm going with Gail Kim. You know, the woman who actually could wrestle instead of the one who spent much of her career standing around making us wonder whether or not she was really a man.

Some consider the peak years of her career when she was more feminine. You know, had all the various surgeries to restructure her jaw to look like someone who wasn't born with a penis, breast implants, dropping some of her muscle mass, etc. Even then, she never struck me as anything more than a valet involved in some comedy stuff, some lousy booking decisions to actually give her a man's championship and Eddie Guerrero's girl. For me though, the peak of her career was during her days as DX's female enforcer.

Gail Kim is not going to be remembered as being as big of a star as Chyna and that's a shame because she was a far better wrestler and someone who can make a legit claim as someone who laid the groundwork for women's wrestling to be accepted as something people actually want to see in the United States. Before the Women's Evolution on the main roster in WWE, before the women's division in NXT, Gail Kim was one of the women who made via TNA's Knockout Division.

 

[Bernkastel]

Chyna was a novelty wrestler. Nothing more. She did help advance the public image and reputation of women in wrestling during the modern era, but she owed her success to the people that she knew, rather than her own talents.

Women were fighting intergender matches decades before Chyna was even born. It was commonplace at the turn of the century. Mildred Burke fought in approximately 150 intergender matches and didn't lose a single bout. Madusa fought in several intergender matches in WCW, though she didn't gain nearly the exposure that Chyna did.

That aside, Chyna did fuck all for actual women's wrestling. When she won the women's title she squashed all of her opponents, and didn't put anyone over. All of her competition was made to look like a joke in comparison. Then she took her figurative ball and went home before vacating the title, basically leaving the division on life support until Trish Stratus saved it.

Years before the Divas revolution there was another group of women making waves in the wrestling world. The TNA Knockouts. At one point the Knockouts were so popular that they were getting higher ratings than the men. And that was against a roster filled with bonafide legends like Kurt Angle and Sting. The Divas division was absolute shit in comparison, so fans took notice. And Gail Kim was the face of that. If she can defeat Awesome Kong, then she could beat Chyna. Because lets be serious, Kong would have annihilated Chyna.

Face of a boom period in the short annuals of women's wrestling history trumps a novelty act.

Gail Kim over Chyna.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

Gail Kim eliminated herself from a battle royal once because she was "over it". Fuck her. I mean, I'd go with Chyna over her anyway given that she's more important than Gail Kim could ever even dream to be, but that will rub me the wrong way forever.

Chyna is one of the biggest stars in the history of women's wrestling. Even if it was a novelty, it's better than not mattering at all. People who don't watch wrestling know who she is/was. Gail Kim could walk into any room in America with a name tag saying "I'm Gail Kim!" and the vast majority of people who saw her would STILL have no idea who she was.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Women's wrestling was and still is considered a novelty among many people, including longtime fans. Calling Chyna a novelty act really isn't even a negative for her. She wrestled and defeated men and it looked legit enough. If there is someone else in mainstream wrestling that did that, I'd like to see it. Ironically, Chyna "looking like a man" in the time of tits and ass played to her advantage. She stood out in ways Gail Kim hasn't nor ever will.

Chyna is also known outside of hardcore wrestling circles. Whether from porn, reality TV, or being part of the most interesting stable of the Attitude Era, people who don't watch wrestling heard of her.



Can the same be said for Gail Kim?