Melina Perez

Melina Perez
File:Melinaperez.jpg
Born	March 9, 1979 Los Angeles, California
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Melina, Kyra, Melanie Little Deer
Billed height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Billed weight	122 lb (55 kg)
Trained by	Jesse Hernandez, OVW, Dave Finlay
Debut	2001; November 29, 2004 (WWE)

Melina Perez (born March 9, 1979 in Los Angeles, California), better known simply as Melina is a Filipino-American professional wrestler and manager, currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment on the SmackDown! brand.

Melina's ring entrance is a display of her flexibility. Standing beside the ring, she will lift her right leg onto the apron, then her left leg (at this point she is doing a split on the apron), then bend her upper body under the bottom rope. Michael Cole and Tazz were quick to label this "The greatest ring entrance in the history of sports entertainment". Recently, Melina has added a high-pitched scream during matches, which Tazz enjoys (and has labeled the "primal scream") and Cole dislikes.

Career

WWA/EWF

Melina Perez enrolled in Jesse Hernandez's School of Hard Knocks in the summer of 2001, her gym bag was not packed with cosmetics and g-strings, but wrestling boots and tights. She came to work eager to prove that coming down a ramp to face an opponent in combat bore no resemblance to a cat walk. In her early matches Melina exhibited a high flying feistiness in the ring that belied her feminine frame, and fans immediately gravitated to her as the most exciting newcomer on the West Coast Indy Circuit. Offers began to pour in to her mail box by promoters eager to take advantage of a woman of such obvious charisma and drive, perhaps the most significant being from Josh Milton and his colleague, the legendary Selina Majors, who were attempting to get the Women's Wrestling Alliance off the ground floor and create a successful environment for women wrestlers in California and it's surrounding areas. WWA fans were never rewarded for their patience with a live fed, but for many months Melina served as it's greatest ambassador, interacting with fans with her own irrepressible brand of optimism and charm, and consecrating a fan base that will stay devoted to her forever. A brief respite from the ring followed the folding of the WWA, but when Jesse Hernandez called Melina in December of 2002 in the capacity of an agent of the newly formed CRUSH federation, as well as his own EWF, Melina was more than receptive to resuming her training at The School of Hard Knocks. If anything, the time off was more of a reinforcement of Melina's love of wrestling than an interruption, as it allowed her reflection on what the sport meant to her as a complete entertainer. Fans, friends and family are so proud of the lengths this graceful and gentle woman has taken to improve the environment for women in this sport, choosing the high road over the low. As a finalist in the Tough Enough Three competition, Melina drew praise from veterans Al Snow, Ivory and chief WWE Scout Tom Pritchard, all of whom predicting she would join their ranks as a colleague in the near future. As Melanie Little Deer in CRUSH, she has brought an integrity and depth of character that transcends the stereotypes and creative limitations of writers. In UPW, she has faced the onslaught of the powerful Melissa Coates and her large fan base, and has prevailed. And, in EWF, her crusade of style over substance continues to enlarge her faithful wherever she roams.

WWE

Perez made her WWE debut on November 29, 2004 in Baltimore as Melina, the newest Diva, being signed by the GM for the night, Randy Orton. Orton booked her in a "Diva Lingerie" fashion show. The following week on RAW, she took part in a game of Limbo booked by the week's GM, Chris Jericho. She was sent to OVW for further training.

Melina redebuted as a heel on SmackDown! on April 14, 2005 along with Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury, with whom she formed the group MNM. After leading Nitro and Mercury to the WWE Tag Team Championships, she began a feud with Michelle McCool after assaulting McCool's friend Heidenreich with the assistance of Nitro and Mercury. The following week on SmackDown!, Melina went on to win her first match in WWE after a devastating powerbomb and an illegal pin on McCool.

File:Melina confronts Torrie.jpg

Melina confronts Torrie.

Melina next began a feud of her own with Torrie Wilson. The pair would finally meet in the ring at The Great American Bash in a Bra and Panties match with a special referee--Candice Michelle, Melina won the match.

Then came a brief feud with Sharmell which led to a mixed tag match pitting Melina & fellow MNM member Joey Mercury vs. Sharmell & husband Booker T. Melina's team was successful with help from Jillian Hall.

Melina would go on to feud with Christy Hemme, gaining a victory over Hemme thanks to Mercury and Nitro. After the match Mercury and Nitro would set Hemme up for their Snapshot finishing move, but the Legion of Doom 2005 made the save for Hemme, setting up a match at No Mercy where MNM would face LOD & Hemme in an intergender 6-person tag match.At No Mercy, MNM was defeated by LOD and Christy, when Christy hit the Doomsday Device on Melina; this was Melina's first loss in WWE.

On November 14, for the special Eddie Guerrero RAW tribute show, Melina participated in an Interpromotional diva battle royal, eliminating WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus for the victory. On the November 25 edition of SmackDown!, Melina debuted her new finishing move: the spinning facebuster, defeating Christy Hemme in Christy's last match in the WWE, and two nights before her match with Trish Stratus. At Survivor Series, although Melina managed to block two Stratusfaction attempts and a Chick Kick, Stratus defeated Melina with the interference of Mickie James. This match was proclaimed as the best Divas Match of the year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

File:Mercury Nitro Melina.jpg

MNM on the cover of the September 2005 edition of SmackDown! magazine.

On the December 16 edition of SmackDown!, Melina attempted to get MNM out of their title match by seducing Batista. Her plan backfired, which humiliated Melina and caused the fans to chant "slut" during the match later on in the show. Two weeks later, Melina gave a press conference annoucing that she had filed a (kayfabe) lawsuit for sexual harassment against Batista. In this same edition of SmackDown!, Melina teamed up with Mark Henry to attack Batista, which helped MNM regain the Tag Team Championships for the third time in under a year. The sexual harassment storyline has recently been dropped with Batista having to take time off because of injury. On the January 20 edition of SmackDown!, Mark Henry and Daivari attacked Kurt Angle and announced that Melina turned over Mark Henry to the managerial services of Daivari. The next week on Smackdown, Melina accompanied MNM to the ring for a Champions vs. Champion handicap match against Kurt Angle. Melina tried to interfere several times in the match, but Angle was still able to gain the victory. During a match between MNM and the Mexicools, Melina (who supposedly had a broken ankle after getting the ankle lock from Kurt Angle the previous week) clocked Super Crazy with her boot as he mounted the top turnbuckle. The referee didn't see it and MNM were able to get the victory. Melina continues to accompany MNM to the ring as they defend the WWE Tag Team Titles, and usually gets involved to help them win matches.

At Wrestlemania 22, Melina accompanied William Perry out to the stage during the Wrestlemania WWE Hall of Fame 2006 Ceremony.

Finishing and signature moves

As Kyra

• KyraPractor (Sickle hold)
• High Crossbody
• Kyranium Buster (Diving neckbreaker)
• Divastator (kicking combination)
• Flowing DDT

As Melina

• Spinning facebuster
• Surfboard submission
• Double axe handle; from second turnbuckle
• Forearms to the head while straddling an opponent
• Spear
• Headscissor in the ropes

Signature illegal moves (as Melina)

• Pulling the hair of an opponent
• Pinfall attempts while using the ring ropes for leverage
• Choking an opponent using the ring ropes
• Using other MNM members Mercury and Nitro to help while distracting the referee

Personal information

• Melina is currently dating Johnny Nitro, as confirmed by Melina herself and the owners of her official site.
• According to Mick Foley's blog on WWE.com, Melina was said to have comforted the children of Eddie Guerrero before WrestleMania 22.

Achievements

• Melina was the second Diva to crack the Power 25 (in her solo spot) at number 24, for week starting November 26, 2005.
• Her Survivor Series 2005 match against Trish Stratus was proclaimed as The Divas Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

External links

• Official Site
• WWE Profile
• Melina Flare (Fansite)