Though he didn't work a match at Backlash or the SmackDown preceding it, Mia Yim, like many fans of the WWE Universe, sat back and watch a white-hot crowd in Puerto Rico turn good matches into great ones and Bad Bunny's match with Damian Priest into one of the true highlights of the Paul “Triple H” Levesque era of The Fed.

Taking part in an interview on The Bump as part of AAPI awareness month, Yim discussed with Matt Camp and Kayla Braxton what the type of representation meant for fans in Puerto Rico and how leaning into what makes wrestling across cultures special is a great way to make folks feel seen.

“It’s just to educate everyone,” Yim said. “Like last time I was in the studio, explaining my name, ‘Michin,' it’s Korean for ‘crazy,’ I just want to educate people. You see a lot of wrestling, like Puerto Rico was insane! There’s Lucha in Mexico, and then there’s Joshis in Japan. I want to showcase a lot of different cultures that, you know, a lot of people may not be able to see, unless you see some of it in K-dramas or specific movies or things like that. So it’s just bringing more awareness and representation to a wider audience.”

Asked if she would like to see WWE bring a “Premium Live Event” to South Korea, bringing the show to Seoul or elsewhere for a show or maybe even a few shows in the future, Yim agreed, stating that Korean wrestling is picking up some serious traction.

“Listen, like I said before, there’s so much wrestling in Japan and Mexico, Puerto Rico was a big thing,” Yim said. “I’ve never heard of a big promotion going to Korea, and I know that wrestling is starting to really grow over there. Wrestling is growing in China, in Korea, and I’ve gotten DMs from several Korean wrestlers over in Korea, just thanking me for putting Korea on the map, in a sense. If we had a show in Korea, I would fly my mom out. I have family over there, so I would fly my mom out and bring all my family. Even if it was just a small show, it would mean so much to me because you don’t hear much about wrestling in Korea. Any amount of recognition is enough for me, and it would mean something so special to me because when I first started wrestling, that was something I’ve always wanted to do and something on my bucket list that I have yet to check off.”

Though there isn't a particularly expansive history of wrestling in South Korea, WCW did hold one of the most notable wrestling events of all time in North Korea, when they ran Collision in Korea, headlined by Antonio Inoki versus Ric Flair at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in front of between 150,000 and 165,000 fans, according to Dave Meltzer. While WWE may not want to lean into that history too much, expanding its reach outside of the mainland US could lead to plenty of excitement down the line, as Puerto Rico proved at the beginning of May.

Mia Yim has long dreamed of wrestling in Korea.

Continuing to discuss the prospects of wrestling in Korea, Mia Yim acknowledged that she has never wrestled in Korea before but would love to check that off of her bucket list, as she would love to have her “Zelina” moment.

“Even when I was doing the independents, I never had a chance to wrestle in Korea, so it would just be cool to have my family that’s out in Korea, my mom fly out, and to be able to watch with her family, with my aunts and uncles, and to really, like how Zelina felt. It was really cool to see just how she was so welcomed by her people, and her family was there. There’s just that special moment, that special connection you have with your people, with your environment, with your land. That is definitely on the top of my bucket list.”

Whether Yim gets her wish and WWE books something in Korea, the promotion instead leans into Santos Escobar's suggestion to bring a top-tier event like WrestleMania 39 to Aztec Stadium in Mexico City, or even just goes back to Puerto Rico for Backlash in 2024, there's a clear demand seemingly from all corners of the world to bring wrestling entertainment to a stadium near them, and Levesque would be wise to lean into that hype moving forward.