Brie Bella has offered high praise for Gail Kim while reflecting on the wrestlers who helped shape her early WWE experience.

Speaking on The Nikki & Brie Show, Brie looked back at the women she shared the ring with during the beginning of her WWE career. Gail Kim stood out immediately in Brie’s memories, with the former Divas Champion describing Kim as a uniquely fluid, inventive performer whose grasp of match construction made working together feel easy.

Kim’s reputation as one of the most technically capable and influential women wrestlers of her generation has long been established among peers and fans alike. For Brie, however, the admiration was rooted in direct experience. The Bella Twins worked alongside Kim on WWE programming in 2009 and 2010, including several tag team matches, before they found themselves on opposing sides of matches in 2011.

Brie said that time around Kim gave her an up-close look at how naturally the veteran could combine movement, creativity and ideas inside the ring.

For more background on this topic, read Brie Bella Says In-Ring Return Is Still “Far” as Scapula Rehab Continues.

“Gail Kim, I learned so much from her. The way she moves in the ring and the way her brain works—she’s so fluid, she’s so creative. At the same time, I was always in awe of her wrestling. I was like, ‘You make it look so easy.’”

That sense of ease is often one of the highest compliments one wrestler can give another. The most polished performers can make difficult timing, athletic movement and detailed match layouts appear natural to an audience. Brie’s comments suggest Kim brought that same quality to the collaborative side of wrestling as well, helping less experienced talent feel comfortable while putting matches together.

Brie expanded on that point by saying Kim consistently brought useful ideas to the process and had a gift for making her partners feel capable of doing more than they may have expected.

“Even when we put a match together with her, it was always easy with Gail Kim. She always had incredible ideas; she made every move look easy. She made you feel like a high-flyer, even if you never did it in your life. She was one of those talents that I don’t think gets enough credit because she’s absolutely incredible.”

Gail Kim’s Role in the Bellas’ Early WWE Years

The Bellas entered WWE at a time when the company’s women’s division was very different from the one that would later become defined by longer television matches, expanded in-ring opportunities and the Women’s Evolution branding. Brie and Nikki Bella initially arrived with a presentation built around twin-switch tactics, charisma and their dynamic as a unit. As their careers developed, both worked to establish themselves individually in the ring and as personalities on WWE television.

Veterans such as Kim were important figures for younger talent navigating that environment. Kim had already built considerable experience in the ring before joining WWE, and she brought a more diverse range of wrestling influences to her work. In addition to her athleticism, her ability to structure sequences, communicate in the moment and create confidence in a partner made an impression on Brie.

The Bellas and Kim were aligned in a number of WWE matches during 2009 and 2010. Those encounters placed them together in tag team settings, where timing and trust are particularly vital. A wrestler has to understand not only their own positioning but also when to enter, when to create space, when to direct attention and how to set up a partner for a successful sequence. Brie’s recollection that Kim made the process simple speaks to the value she saw in Kim’s experience.

By 2011, the three women had also met as opponents. Their changing on-screen positions provided another perspective on Kim’s abilities, as Brie could experience both the teamwork and the challenge of working across the ring from her.

Brie did not focus on any one specific bout in her comments. Instead, she emphasized the broader impact Kim had on her learning process. That distinction matters. Rather than simply praising a memorable move or an isolated match, Brie credited Kim’s full approach: the way she moved, the way she thought about wrestling, and the way she made a partner feel during the process of assembling a match.

‘She’s So Fluid, She’s So Creative’

Brie’s description of Kim centered on two connected strengths: fluidity and creativity. Fluidity in wrestling can refer to the physical smoothness of transitions, but it also applies to a wrestler’s ability to adapt. Matches are built around rhythm. The best performers can recognize when to speed up, slow down, adjust positioning or make a moment feel more meaningful for the crowd.

Creativity, meanwhile, extends beyond simply inventing moves. It can mean finding a better transition between spots, creating a character-driven sequence, identifying what will make a partner look strong or adapting a match to the time available. Brie’s comments point to Kim being valuable in all of those ways. Her praise that Kim “always had incredible ideas” is particularly notable because it addresses Kim’s work before and between the physical moments audiences see.

The remark about making someone “feel like a high-flyer” also captures a key part of effective in-ring leadership. A seasoned wrestler does not merely showcase their own talents. They help their opponent or teammate perform with confidence and come across as a bigger threat, a more dynamic athlete or a more complete character. Kim’s ability to make others feel elevated was evidently a lasting takeaway for Brie.

That quality is especially meaningful when considering the circumstances of the Bellas’ emergence. They were learning on a highly visible stage, often in short segments and under the pressure that comes with national television. Having someone who could offer structure and reassurance could make a significant difference in a developing performer’s confidence.

Brie Bella Calls for More Recognition

The strongest part of Brie’s reflection was her belief that Kim deserves greater recognition for what she brought to wrestling. Kim has received praise throughout her career for her body of work, but Brie’s assessment was personal rather than ceremonial. She remembers Kim as someone who was “absolutely incredible,” both as an athlete and as a collaborator.

Professional wrestling legacies are often discussed through championships, major events and signature rivalries. Those accomplishments are important, but wrestlers also leave a mark through the people they help develop. Brie’s comments add to that part of Kim’s legacy. They portray her as a trusted presence whose knowledge and instincts could raise the level of those around her.

For Brie, the lesson was not simply that Kim could execute impressive offense. It was that Kim understood how to make wrestling work: how to move with purpose, how to generate ideas, how to build a match with another person and how to create an environment where a partner could succeed.

Those are the types of skills that are not always obvious in a highlight clip, yet they are central to the craft. A wrestler may receive applause for an eye-catching maneuver, but the performer who can make every participant look comfortable, capable and important is often the one holding the match together. Brie’s recollection places Kim firmly in that category.

The Bellas went on to become two of WWE’s most recognizable stars of their era, with Brie winning the Divas Championship and building a long-running partnership with Nikki that extended beyond the ring. Looking back now, Brie has made clear that the wrestlers she encountered at the outset of that journey mattered. In Gail Kim, she saw a performer whose abilities were immediately apparent and whose generosity in the ring helped teach an important lesson.

Kim, in Brie’s words, made challenging work look easy. More importantly, she made the people working with her believe they could do more themselves.

Elsewhere in the discussion, Brie also addressed her ongoing injury rehabilitation. Her remarks about Kim, however, provided a warm reflection on a WWE colleague whose influence remains clear years after they first teamed together.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.