The WWE Highlights of Melina

here's my latest obsession. it's a little feature i do for past WWE Superstars and Divas where i list my five favourite segments from their career and then their ten best matches, with some visual aids of course. here's my latest one, for Melina

http://betterwithbob.blogspot.ie/2012/07/wwe-highlights-of-melina.html


As I seem to do whenever I come up with a new entry for the site, I just have to find other ways to use it over and over. It's obviously not a good idea to do this for wrestlers that are still in WWE since they do have a lot more opportunities to give us, so for my next edition I looked back to some past employees and you can bet I'll be churning out the entries for about a dozen past WWE Superstars. This edition is centred around Melina Perez. She tried out for the third season of Tough Enough (where she met future beau John Morrison) and didn't make the cut in favour of one girl who eventually went psychotic in the house. She showed up in WWE three years later anyway, this time as the arrogant A-List Diva who was known for being one of the best bitchy heels the company ever had. After she was turned face she became one of the most beloved babyfaces, which ain't nothing to sneer at in today's WWE. A combination of injuries and backstage drama led to a fall from grace and her ultimately being released in August of 2011. We'll always have the memories so here they are, five segments and ten matches.

Segments:
An A-List Debut - Smackdown 2005:
Melina made two appearances on Raw in late 2004, first doing a striptease for Randy Orton and then secondly in a limbo contest with Chris Jericho. After WrestleMania 21 was when WWE fans got their first introduction to the A-List Queen. During an edition of Carlito's Cabana with WWE Tag Team Champion Rey Mysterio, they were all interrupted by a team of paparazzi, a role of red carpet and a trio of people in fur coats and sunglasses strolling down to the ring. Melina's splits entrance opened Carlito's eyes and he declared that this new team was definitely cool. Melina took the mic and introduced them as MNM. Certainly an impressive debut, not just for Melina, but for the team as a whole. They had quite a good run on Smackdown if you ask me and Melina did a lot for them as their manager. Who could forget the time she broke up a pin simply by screaming in the ref's ear?


Thanks For The Warm Up - Smackdown 2006:
Sure, now AJ gets to have full blown storyline relationships with two world title contenders at the same time these days but Melina got to do it first. After all, when you get to have a storyline with the man who main evented WrestleMania, you know you're in for a big career. Batista found a new home on Friday nights in 2005 and looked to help Rey Mysterio out by teaming with him to challenge MNM for the WWE Tag Team titles. Melina looked to use her God-given talent to persuade Batista not to work the match. Unfortunately for her, he simply said "thanks for the warm-up" and went out there to get the titles anyway. Melina always had great comic timing and this was a fun little segment. Did we mention it was with a multiple world champion?


The Foley Chivalry Scam - SummerSlam/ECW 2006:
It's no secret that Mick Foley and Melina had a little friendship behind the scenes. Melina was reportedly very shy backstage and didn't talk to many people at first but Mick Foley said she always had a smile for him, and he put her over in many of his blogs. The two were actually featured in an angle back in 2006 where he was due to face Ric Flair in an I Quit match at SummerSlam, Melina being worried about his well being. During the match, Melina ran down to the ring and threw in the towel for Foley who had already been brutalised beyond recognition. Flair was having none of that and continued the match, producing a 2x4 wrapped in barbed wire and intending to hit Melina with it. Foley quit the match to save her but you know what they say about beautiful women...



Melina's Got The Glamazon's Number - Raw 2008:
After not doing much of anything for a while on Raw, Melina's partnership with Beth Phoenix took a nosedive when Melina accidentally cost her the WWE Women's Championship. Beth responded by walking out on her in a tag match and then brutally attacking her backstage, effectively kicking off Melina's face turn. As Melina ended up becoming massively over as a face, it was quite a significant moment in her career since it showed the creative team invested a lot of time and effort into her. This of course led to the infamous I Quit match among other things.


An A-List Return - Raw 2010:
Melina had an unexpected ACL injury while she was Divas' Champion, forcing her to take time off and relinquish the belt before she had even appeared on WWE TV in 2010 (sans a backstage segment at WrestleMania 26). When she did return, she picked up right where she left off. Divas' Champion Alicia Fox was in the ring bragging about how she had beaten all of the other Divas, how she was the most dominant Diva ever, yadda yadda yadda. Cue Melina's music, the red carpet and we had ourselves an exciting return. While the matches and the feud itself didn't live up to expectations, the first night where Melina returned was still a nice moment.


Matches:

10) vs Jillian Hall - Judgment Day 2006:
People know that Melina and Jillian were heel BFFs on Raw, even going out on a double date with two midgets. They also know that Melina and Jillian technically feuded in late 2009 over the Divas' Championship, as well as a one-off in 2010. But before that, Jillian entered WWE as a fixer for MNM. Her publicist career took a sharp U-turn as JBL fired her and that allowed Melina to gloat. One make-up table catfight later and the two got a match at Judgment Day. An interesting situation to see with the face/heel roles the other way round and one I think I much prefer considering this way they both got taken seriously.


9) vs Alicia Fox - Superstars October 14th 2010:
It is indeed this very match that Tough Enough contestant Ariane Andrew (now Cameron, the other Funkadactyl) listed as her favourite of all time. Fans curious enough can check it out below. Of course while I wouldn't label it as my favourite match ever, it's still quite watchable and kicks their dreadful SummerSlam match and the trainwreck of a rematch on Raw out of the water. Melina herself stated that she felt it was PPV quality. I'm inclined to agree and I'd like to see Alicia hit that Gory Bomb again.


8) vs Trish Stratus - Survivor Series 2005:
Newer WWE fans can pick their eyes up off the floor and I will say that yes you did read that right. Melina found herself getting a bit of a boost in notoriety as the top heel on Smackdown in late 2005. This escalated when she got the surprise win in a battle royal, eliminating Women's Champion Trish Stratus. The next week MNM kidnapped Trish as Melina challenged her to a match. Particularly in her 2009 face run, Melina was compared a lot to Trish (MNM, T&A etc) so it's interesting to see them actually have a match. It was surprising at the time as a lot of people knew nothing about Melina's indie experience and had assumed she was just another Diva Search girl. And that catfight with Mickie was the start of an epic relationship...


7) vs Mickie James [Falls Count Anywhere] - Raw February 19th 2007:
What's this? Divas in a gimmick match? A gimmick match that doesn't involve silly costumes you say? True that as when Melina suddenly found herself as Women's Champion in early 2007, her first big thing to do as the new champ was to face Mickie James in the first ever Divas Falls Count Anywhere match in history. The girls had a lot of fun running backstage, into their own locker room and going wild with the weapons. Not a technical balls-to-the-wall match or an amazing display of psychology but some good mad fun that you don't see a lot of in the Divas division. And a fun fact, while the TV audience got a black screen when Candice's towel got ripped off, the live audience did NOT and got raw Candice in prime condition.


6) vs Beth Phoenix - Royal Rumble 2009:
Melina and Beth's rivalry was cut short abruptly by Melina suffering an ankle injury in a tag match on Raw. Fear not though as when Melina returned the night after Survivor Series, they picked up right where they left off. Now though Beth was Women's Champion and, following standard wrestling logic, Melina won a battle royal to earn the right to face Beth at the Rumble. We saw a spirited and entertaining match-up between the two that even had Beth kicking Melina in the head with her own foot but in the end the A-lister got the surprise win to become a 3-time Women's Champion.


5) with Tyson Kidd vs Gail Kim & Daniel Bryan - Superstars March 24th 2011:
Before Melina went around claiming Gail Kim was a "horrible friend" they found themselves on opposing teams in matches after Melina's heel turn. This was one of the last episodes of WWE Superstars before the network axed it and it was relegated to WWE.com. This is truly one of the best mixed tag matches I have ever seen, and you know why? Because the women's action was every bit as solid as the men's. Melina couldn't really go like she used to after her ACL injury but she was on fine form here, taking Gail to her limit in a match that was beautiful to watch. Not much more I can say about it really.


4) with Gail Kim vs Michelle McCool & Alicia Fox - Smackdown June 26th 2009:
In a nice bit of mood whiplash, you now have Melina and Gail on the same side in a tag team match. This took place after Melina's move to Smackdown (taking the Women's title with her) and was the second to a previous tag featuring these ladies. The first was amazing and this one was no different. The reason I chose this match over the other tag is because Melina's selling ability was on full display. She got kicked in the jaw and sold it to perfection. The way she sold things like slaps, chinlocks and the way she was screaming in pain for Gail gave me chills. Excellent storytelling here.


3) vs Mickie James - Backlash 2007:
When Melina first became the Women's Champion, she wasn't faced with a lot of fan enthusiasm. Many felt she wasn't ready for a legit title run, having spent so long as simply a manager/valet. This wasn't helped with a trainwreck of a WrestleMania match with Ashley Massaro that happened at the last minute while Ashley had a broken foot. But after WrestleMania, Melina was given a worthy opponent and plenty of time to shine at Backlash. King called it at the start that he felt we would see a great wrestling match and he was right. When the bell rang he even wailed "is it over?" making himself clear that it was the wrestling he was enjoying and not the pretty ladies.


2) vs Michelle McCool - Night Of Champions 2009:
Once Melina was moved to Smackdown, she attracted the ire of the newly heel Michelle McCool who made it her goal to become the first woman to have held both the Divas' and Women's Championships. She accomplished that in a great match at The Bash and the stage was set for a rematch at Night of Champions. What followed was a surprisingly intense and spirited contest that ended up being one of the best overall women's matches of 2009. Seeing Melina's body just whip around like that in the belly-to-belly was one of the best images in the match among others. My writing can't do it justice.


1) vs Beth Phoenix [I Quit] - One Night Stand 2008:
What's this? Another gimmick match? Most Divas are lucky to get just one gimmick match in their career, and Melina got two. The aforementioned feud with Beth was intense and must-watch TV considering it didn't even involve the Women's title but the Divas got their lucky day when an all-gimmick match PPV rolled around the corner. True they could have done the standard I Quit match stuff with brawling around the ring etc but the direction they went in was so much more rewarding. If NOC was the best match of 2009 then this was the best of 2008.


So there you go. Melina has been called one of the most controversial women in wrestling but I like to think of her as one of the most passionate. While her in ring skills weren't the same after her injury, she still made an art form out of playing a great heel and telling a story in her matches. She was never bland to me and always got some form of character across as well as doing her best to become interesting in the ring. Like her or not, she was a big part of WWE and it's still a little unreal that she's not there anymore. Here's to you, Melina Perez.

i know, it was really hard for me to decide which one would be number 1. i went with I Quit simply because of the sick ending. i wanted to include The Bash on there as well but couldn't find room for it. i was tempted to put in vs Gail Kim on Superstars from last year too