Gail Kim Pushed IMPACT Wrestling To Sign Masha Slamovich As Her Knockouts Knockdown Match Was Happening

Gail Kim says Masha Slamovich‘s IMPACT Wrestling contract offer really came down to the wire.

Ella Jay of SEScoops spoke with Gail Kim, who shared some new details about Masha Slamovich signing with IMPACT Wrestling. Slamovich worked a match as the surprise opponent of Deonna Purrazzo at Knockouts Knockdown (aired on October 9), but the real surprise came when she was offered a contract after the match.

Fightful Select reported that Slamovich’s contract segment didn’t originally air on the pay-per-view because the deal wasn’t finalized at the time of the air date. The contract ultimately went through and IMPACT aired the segment on social media at a later date, and now Gail Kim recently shared just exactly how unplanned the contract offer really was.

“I mean, honestly, just like when I was wrestling, my passion and that love for women’s wrestling has never wavered. And when I see new talent like at Knockouts Knockdown, when I saw Masha, I wish people could have seen what was going on backstage because it was probably the highlight, what was going on backstage,” Gail explained.

“It was like — I knew Masha. She did a match, what we call an enhancement match, against Havok years prior, and then to see her a couple of years later to what she became and that chemistry with Deonna in there, I was like, ‘Oh my God, we need her. We need her. Get Scott.’ And there’s Jimmy Jacobs backstage. I mean, there’s a crowd backstage and we’re like, ‘Let’s make it happen. Let’s make it happen’, as the match is happening. So I knew the match was ending soon, I was like, ‘Make up your mind. We’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do this, we’ve got to make the call.’ And they’re like, ‘Well, what if she says no?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, we got to take the chance.’ So we went ahead and we did it,” Gail noted, “and now she’s working for us, and I just see the brightest future for her. And I think we’re all excited to see what she’s got.”