Brett Lauderdale Opens Up About Gail Kim’s GCW Debut: “We Do Have A Mutual Respect”

Lauderdale discusses Gail Kim’s arrival to GCW.

There was a social media exchange between Game Changer Wrestling promoter Brett Lauderdale and TNA Hall of Famer Gail Kim. Kim shared her opinion about a clip she saw from a GCW event, and her comments led to the aforementioned exchange.

Kim would end up being announced for GCW’s Fan Slam event, and later in the day, Kim debuted for Game Changer Wrestling at their ‘Dream On’ show. Kim berated the fans in attendance before having a verbal back-and-forth with Joey Janela.

Kim’s appearance was discussed by Brett Lauderdale on The Business of the Business podcast. Here’s what he had to say about it:

“Gail’s such an interesting case, especially right now because in some circles she’s just so respected and revered and she’s women’s wrestling royalty in a lot of people’s eyes, and also at the same time, there’s this group of people who just do not like her, at all, and part of that is her recent Twitter adventures. So, she’s a lot like GCW in some ways where you either hate her or you love her. So I think in that respect, she has a lot in common with GCW… In terms of her role and whatnot, I think it’s just one of those things where sometimes the planets align, even if it’s by accident, and you end up in a situation where it’s a what if and sometimes it’s almost too convenient not to see what could happen, and I think that’s what happened here with Gail Kim and I thought that her interaction with Joey (Janela) was fun and kind of unpredictable, and honestly, truly unpredictable. I had no idea what was gonna happen when those two got in there and I thought it was fun and I give Gail credit, she’s a good sport and she was very easy to work with, and whatever, we’re all entitled to our own opinions, and I don’t care whether Gail likes GCW or not. But I think, at the end of the day, she does respect us. She respects me, she respects Joey, she respects our fans, and the feeling is mutual. No matter what we say in a tweet on any given afternoon. We might say, ‘Oh, well, she sucks’ but you know, you can’t disregard the type of career she had. Just like she can’t disregard the type of history GCW has had so I think at the end of the day, we do have a mutual respect.”

It was in early 2025 that Kim was let go from her role at TNA Wrestling. The promotion’s President, Carlos Silva, went on to speak about Kim’s departure and to read Kim’s response to Silva, head over to this link.

If the quote in this article is used, please credit The Business of the Business podcast with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.