A View at Gail Kim's Return to WWE

Now that we have a clearer picture of Gail Kim's return to WWE, we're going to dissect it.

Gail Kim's WWE Return

In the fall of 2008, reports began circulating that Gail Kim's contract with TNA was coming to an end. The first ever TNA Knockouts Champion was considering a return to WWE.

This stirred up a lot of excitement with WWE fans. Gail Kim is superior to most of the female wrestlers that were already on the WWE roster.

For those that hate TNA, this bit of news was appealing because WWE would take away one of the centerpieces of their female division, which was widely regarded as being superior to the WWE female division.

Gail Kim spent several weeks as the hot topic of discussion among wrestling fans.

Despite TNA owner Dixie Carter making a personal pitch to have Gail Kim stay with the company, the former WWE Women's Champion decided that it was time to head back north.

Gail Kim decided to return to WWE.

Underutilized

One of the reasons why wrestling fans were concerned about Gail Kim going back to WWE is how the company was going to utilize her.

TNA made her the centerpiece of a division, and she came through. Along with Awesome Kong, she had built up a credible female division for TNA that far surpassed what most people had expected.

Thanks to the success that she found in TNA, wrestling fans began to take notice of Gail Kim. Many were calling the top female performer in the United States.

A fear among wrestling fans was that WWE was signing Gail Kim just so that they can weaken the competition (which was the same belief wrestling fans had when Christian left TNA).

There were concerns that WWE wasn't going to push Gail Kim when she returned.

The Verdict

After seeing Gail Kim back for a couple of weeks now, the early verdict is that her return has been lackluster.

She made a couple of appearances on Smackdown that most fans have probably already forgotten. The 33 year old diva didn't exactly make a big splash in those appearances.

Gail Kim was then thrown into the divas battle royale at Wrestlemania 25, but she didn't play a vital role. The entire battle royale was basically used to set up the punchline for another Santino Marella joke.

After the WWE Draft Lottery brought WWE Women's Champion Melina over to the Smackdown brand, that leaves Gail Kim in an even worse position. She is a babyface stuck behind a babyface champion.

What's Next?

Even though WWE chose to pass up the opportunity to give Gail Kim a push to ride the momentum that she received from returning, it's not exactly impossible for them to give her a proper push.

To do that, WWE is going to have to put her right smack into the title scene. They're not going to help her much by having her feud with the likes of Layla El or Alicia Fox.

A feud with Michelle McCool over the WWE Women's Championship would be a good thing. Turning Melina or Candice Michelle into a heel could provide other options for Gail Kim as a champion.

None of these storylines are going to match what she was able to accomplish with Awesome Kong, but she can still be pushed.

Closing Thoughts

I really thought that WWE was going to use Gail Kim's newfound success to help elevate their own female division, but I guess I was wrong. They're more focused on using the division to help get Santino Marella over.