IMPACT Almost Got Rid Of The "Knockouts" Term For Women's Wrestlers

During a broadcast of TNA 20 Years Later, Gail Kim spoke about a time when the name "Knockouts" for the Women's Division was considered for removal.

“I’m glad you brought this up because when it first became our name, the Knockouts, the Divas were happening in WWE. So it’s kind of like the Women’s Division was always this special division, which it still is, but we had our own name that kind of made us stand out from the bunch. So obviously, they got rid of that and kind of made it all one into a superstar kind of thing.”

“To be honest, a lot of fans don’t know this, but it was a topic of discussion probably in the last couple of years in terms of whether we change that name and kind of take that away. The Knockouts in my generation were very sentimental about it. We love the name. We thought it was still strong.”

“I guess, in a way of how the fans would interpret it, outsiders, but we loved it, because it felt like a strong, you know, someone who can knock you out, but also be a Knockout, the double meaning there. So we never felt like it was anything negative in any way. If anything, we felt stronger because of the name and more special.”

“So as the generations started switching over, Scott D’Amore had even brought it to us saying there was a discussion on whether this name was still something that we should be using right now. I felt strongly about it myself. I love it. I have a very sentimental attachment to it. I feel like all the girls do. So we took a vote. We had an open discussion about it. It was really a blended generation at that moment, maybe even now. Actually, it was more of a current generation to be honest. It was pretty unanimous. I would say 98% said they wanted to keep the name. That was because all these girls from the previous generation, who is the current generation, said, ‘I grew up watching the Knockouts. You guys were the ones that inspired us. We wanted to be a Knockout.’ So ultimately, as you know, we still have the name and that’s for a reason, because the girls wanted it. So I totally agree about this. I feel like we are still a special part of the company. It’s not like we can’t hang with everyone else. It’s just that we like being that special part.”