Taya Valkyrie discusses Gail Kim's influence backstage and her journey with Johnny Impact.
IMPACT Homecoming was a monumental night for Taya Valkyrie. On that night, Valkyrie became the Knockouts Champion, defeating Tessa Blanchard in a bout where Gail Kim served as the special guest referee. Though Gail Kim retired from the IMPACT ring in November 2017, she continues to work backstage as an agent for the Knockouts division. Kim is one of the most respected voices in wrestling and looked up to by many female wrestlers competing today.
Speaking to Diva Dirt's Kristen Ashly, IMPACT Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie offered her opinion on Kim's leadership.
"Having Gail backstage as an agent is really one of the best parts of being a Knockout," said Taya. "She wants the best for each and every one of us ladies. She gives the best advice and always stands up for us in every aspect. It’s an honor to be working with a legend that has so many years of knowledge and advice.”
Later in the night, Valkyrie's husband Johnny Impact successfully defended his IMPACT World Title against Brian Cage. In one of the final moments of the show, Johnny and Taya stood side-by-side, holding up their respective titles.
“It was amazing. I love that we get to share this crazy journey together. But, it’s our individual careers that brought us to this point and also brought us together," said Valkyrie about her relationship with Impact. "I’ve never met someone so supportive, inspiring and motivating as John. I’m beyond proud of him for everything he has been through, his failures, successes and everything in between. Us holding those titles at the end of the night really was the exclamation mark on many years of hard, hard work between us both.”
While Homecoming looked to be a perfect moment for the couple, things didn't end well as Killer Kross powerbombed Valkyrie into the crowd to close the show. Johnny Impact will look for revenge against Kross on tonight's episode of IMPACT Wrestling.
