For months now fans and pundits have questioned whether AEW star Kenny Omega’s reign as Impact Wrestling Champion has been good for the promotion. In an interview with Busted Open Radio, Impact Knockouts legend and producer Gail Kim stated she’s been perfectly fine with Omega’s reign and feels it’s done nothing but help Impact on the whole.
“I’m okay with Kenny being our champion right now,” Kim said. “I think it’s been beneficial. We’ve been doing it now since, when did Kenny start, a couple months now. I feel like it’s only been a positive outcome so far. The fans are loving it and ultimately that’s who you want to please. So I haven’t seen anything negative.
“People, if anything, it’s just growing and growing. This last Slammiversary was an indication of how much its growing. People are so excited that they got representation, I think, from four different companies all on one show. And Impact is the one that’s kind of an essential part of all of it, which is great. I think as long as, in the end, we’re getting the benefit of it, but I don’t feel like the boys are upset about it in any way.”
Busted Open co-host Bully Ray pressed Kim on the subject, wondering how it would benefit Impact once stars like Omega and New Japan’s Jay White left Impact programming. Kim believes that Impact will be fine because of the creative and management process Impact has working for them.
“I think if they do things right, and I do trust the creative and management process right now,” Kim said. “I think they’ve done a really good job. Just a couple years ago, people hated us. For years! It was very hard to get that stink off, we’ll call it. And we’re getting viewers back, we’re getting people talking about it. I just recently talked to a guy who has a store, a wrestling store. And he was talking about how he could see the difference in sales and people asking for Impact merchandise. We’re making those steps and I think it’s been so positive.
“I think as long as they intertwine all of these stories, and like I said, I trust the creative team. They’re great. Any person that’s on our roster is used. That’s what I love about this company. If you have a contract with our company, you’re being used. And that in turn creates a very positive locker room. People are not feeling like ‘oh my god, yada yada yada, competitive, backstabbing’ or whatever you want to call it, the drama.’ Everyone feels good because they’re doing what they love. So I think, ultimately, I would trust this management team right now, the creative team. And I think we’re making the moves in the right direction.”
