Gail Kim vs. Riho: Hypocrisy or Valid Criticism?

Kim v. Kong: Iconic, But Unbelievable

Kong stands at 5’11”, 276 lbs. Whereas Kim stands at 5’4”, 125 lbs. You tell me who you think is believably winning that fight. Out of their 17 encounters, Gail Kim won 10 of them and lost 7. (NOTE: this figure does not include a Triple Threat in 2015, where both women lost, or a battle royal in 2015, which both women lost.) This gives Kim a win rate of 58.82% over Kong.

Lastly, Gail Kim was a producer in TNA while Tessa Blanchard was their Men’s World Champion, and defeated many men almost double her size consistently. 

By combining all of our findings, we can infer that for this argument, Gail Kim’s stance is inconsistent. If Gail Kim really prefers ‘believable wrestling,’ her win rate against Awesome Kong would be much, much lower. Furthermore, her criticisms based on size would also extend to women who are around Riho’s size. These criticisms are nowhere to be found.

Presentation and Sexualization

The final bit of analysis will go over Riho’s presentation in AEW, as this was the main point of contention in Kim’s arguments online. Gail stated that she felt “uncomfortable” due to Riho “looking like a little girl,” and the upskirt shots of the camera. Riho wears regular wrestling bottoms that most female wrestlers wear, with a belt that has materials swaying down, which resembles a skirt.

The materials range from cotton to tulle and even denim. This style of frilly, lacy, girly, cute gear is commonplace in Japan. Many women have sported a similar look, including Tam Nakano, Mizuki, Maki Itoh, and even Starlight Kid, who wore the look at All-Star Dream Queendom at the end of 2024. 

Outside of Japan, Alexa Bliss is known to wear skirts to the ring and has wrestled in skirts numerous times. Especially during her time as Bray Wyatt’s ally in 2021, and further into 2022. Alexa also commonly wears pigtails, another thing commonly associated with young girls. Pigtails are a big trend in women’s wrestling right now, with wrestlers like Tatum Paxley, Liv Morgan, and Mia Yim wearing the hairstyle.

Yet, Gail has never made comments about this either. She also has little ground to criticize revealing gear or sexual presentation. Her red gear in TNA was iconic, but short, revealing, and lacy. Additionally, much of her gear from her time in TNA had deep V-cuts that displayed large portions of her chest.”

Gail Stays Quiet

“Furthermore, Gail Kim has said nothing about The Beautiful People’s entrance, which is arguably one of the most sexualized entrances in wrestling history. Kim watched as they performed suggestive movements on the ring ropes and as the cameras highlighted them up close. While The Beautiful People proved that women can be both stunning and intense, it is still worth noting that Gail has not called out Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, or anyone else formerly associated with the group.

In regard to sexualization, Gail’s stance appears inconsistent here as well. If she genuinely cared about how women were presented in wrestling, she would have been speaking out for a long time. But she has not.

Conclusion

From these findings, it is my opinion that Gail Kim’s criticism is inconsistent and lacks validity. This is not only because she has engaged in the very things she now speaks against, but also because some of her claims are misleading. Gail appears to be cherry-picking her points. What applies to Riho and AEW does not seem to apply to others.

This reflects a kind of tribalism, and perhaps even an undercurrent of bias. Jim Cornette has been notorious for making troubling remarks about Japanese women, and Gail aligning herself with him raises further questions. For Gail, this is especially contradictory, given that she herself experienced racism during her time in WWE.

That said, it is important to acknowledge that Gail, like every fan, wrestler, and content creator, is entitled to her opinion. More importantly, conversations like these can easily take a darker turn. Riho’s experience is a clear reminder that body-shaming online once drove her to deactivate her social media accounts.

Gail Kim remains a pioneer and trailblazer for women’s wrestling, and her contributions should always be respected. However, her recent comments come across as self-serving and inconsistent, and they deserve to be challenged.