Melina Nava Perez (born March 9, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in WWE under the ring name Melina. Perez most recently wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
In 2000, Perez began training to be a professional wrestler at Jesse Hernandez's School of Hard Knocks, and made her debut in 2001. In late 2002, Perez auditioned for WWE's reality show Tough Enough III, but was eliminated in the first round, and was inspired by Al Snow to continue pursuing her wrestling career. In March 2004, Perez signed a contract with WWE, and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's developmental territory, where she began managing Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury, dubbed MNM, to three reigns as WWE Tag Team Champions, as well as Nitro to two reigns as WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Perez is a three-time WWE Women's Champion, and a two-time WWE Divas Champion. After winning her second WWE Divas Championship, Perez became the first woman in WWE history to become a multiple-time champion with both the Women's and Divas titles.
Famed for her flexibility, utilized during her entrance and in her in-ring maneuvers, Perez was called "one of the best wrestlers in the world" by Bret Hart, and cited by WWE as having "perhaps the most impressive arsenal of offensive maneuvers in Diva history."
Early life Melina Nava Perez was born on March 9, 1979, in Los Angeles and was raised in the High Desert. Perez is of Mexican descent, and speaks English and Spanish fluently.
Modeling career Perez began her career as a beauty pageant contestant, winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic, Anaheim. During her modelling career, she has won many modelling competitions such as Group USA Bridal Show, Group USA Fashion Show, and Ms. California Belleza Latina. Melina was body painted by artist Mark Greenawalt for a modeling photo shoot in 2007 where she posed with her WWE Women's Championship belt.
Professional wrestling career Early career (2001–2004) Perez began training at Jesse Hernandez's School of Hard Knocks in San Bernardino, California, and made her in-ring debut in November 2001. Many officials stated that she had the most natural ability of any woman who came through their school. In late 2002, Perez auditioned for World Wrestling Entertainment's reality show Tough Enough III, making it through to the final twenty-one, before being eliminated in the final cut of the first episode. After she was eliminated from the contest, trainer Al Snow encouraged her to keep trying to pursue her dream as a wrestler. On November 27, 2003, episode of SmackDown!, Melina was seen as a Native American alongside John Cena during a feast.
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2004–2011) MNM (2004–2006)
Perez debuted in WWE's then-developmental territory OVW in March 2004, being placed in a storyline as John Hennigan's ex-girlfriend. The storyline had Matt Cappotelli introduce her to the ring as a way to taunt Hennigan. Melina, however, turned on Cappotelli and aligned herself with Hennigan, who later changed his ring name to Johnny Nitro. Soon after, the duo began teaming with Joey Matthews, later known as Joey Mercury. The trio became known as MNM and on November 10, Melina managed Mercury and Nitro to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, holding it for over two months. During her time in OVW, Melina, Nitro, and Steven Adkins came up with Melina's trademark split ring entrance.
Melina made her first Raw appearance on November 29, 2004, when Randy Orton was the guest General Manager and hosted a Diva lingerie fashion show. She made another Raw appearance in December, participating in a limbo contest when Chris Jericho was General Manager for the night.
Melina made her official debut in WWE as a heel, resuming her role as the manager of MNM, on the April 14, 2005, episode of SmackDown!. The team interrupted the first ever Carlito's Cabana interview segment, where one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, Rey Mysterio, was a guest. Melina insulted Mysterio and had Mercury and Nitro attack him, leading to MNM's in-ring debut the next week on SmackDown! in a title match. The team won the match against Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, starting their first WWE Tag Team Title reign.
While managing the Tag Team Champions, Melina's character was developed to be more egotistical, as she declared herself "the most-dominant Diva in WWE". She made her official in-ring debut on June 30 against Michelle McCool, and had her first pay-per-view match against Torrie Wilson at The Great American Bash in a bra and panties match, winning both matches. In the same night, MNM dropped their championships to the Legion of Doom, prompting a new storyline where Melina hired Jillian Hall, a fixer, to assist them. MNM regained the titles on October 28 in a fatal four-Way tag team match. On the Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show, Melina won a Divas battle royal by eliminating the Women's Champion Trish Stratus. The next week, as a part of a new storyline, MNM kidnapped Stratus, tied her up and gagged her for Melina, who then challenged her to a match for the Women's Championship. The two fought at Survivor Series, with Melina losing to Stratus with the help of Mickie James.
During this time, MNM defended their titles against Rey Mysterio and the World Heavyweight Champion Batista. Melina was placed in a storyline where she tried to make Batista call off the match by visiting him in his locker room and attempting to seduce him. The storyline had the two engage in intercourse, after which he simply thanked her for the "warm-up" before leaving to take part in the match, where he and Mysterio defeated MNM for the titles. The storyline played over to the next episode of SmackDown! when, before MNM invoked their rematch clause, Melina held a press conference in the ring where she claimed that Batista had sexually harassed her. During the tag team match, Mark Henry aided MNM in winning back the WWE Tag Team Championship. The storyline with Henry continued into the next year. On the first SmackDown! of 2006, Melina announced that Henry was her personal protection against Batista. He accompanied her and aided the other members of MNM in matches against Batista and Mysterio.
At Judgment Day on May 21, 2006, MNM lost their titles to Paul London and Brian Kendrick. After the match, Melina and Nitro, as part of the storyline, attacked Mercury, blaming him for the loss. Later that night, Melina lost a singles match against Jillian Hall, and after slapping General Manager Theodore Long in anger, she and Nitro were fired from the SmackDown! brand. The team then broke up because off-screen, Nitro and Mercury did not get along, and WWE management decided to send Nitro and Melina to the Raw brand. Melina and Nitro debuted on Raw on May 29, with Nitro losing to WWE Champion John Cena.Foley, Mick. Hardcore Diaries (p.273) Melina continued to manage Nitro during his successful hunt for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and in another storyline with Trish Stratus. The storyline turned into a tag team feud when Carlito teamed with Stratus after he saved her from the attacks of Melina and Nitro. At Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII on July 15, Melina and Nitro lost to Carlito and Stratus in a mixed tag team match.
Women's Champion (2006–2009) After Melina's arrival on Raw, Mick Foley began to mention her in promos and on his WWE.com columns, playing on their real-life friendship, and they soon formed an on-screen friendship.Foley, Mick. Hardcore Diaries (p.26) At SummerSlam, Melina was involved in Foley's "I Quit" match against Ric Flair, when Flair threatened to hit her with a barbed wire baseball bat, causing Foley to quit the match to save her. The next night on Raw, the storyline had Vince McMahon order Foley to join the Kiss My Ass club. After begging Foley not to go through with it, Foley "joined the club" to save Melina's job, only to have her suddenly turn on him by delivering a low blow and firing him at the behest of McMahon.Foley, Mick. Hardcore Diaries (p.80-81) The storyline was concocted by Foley to refresh the idea of the Kiss My Ass club.Foley, Mick. Hardcore Diaries (p.365) It was also around this time that Melina added another characteristic to her gimmick: screaming loudly at ringside while managing or in tag team action, which became known as the "primal scream".
On January 29, 2007, Melina became the number one contender for the WWE Women's Championship after defeating Maria in a number one contender's match. On the February 5 episode of Raw, Melina received her title match against Mickie James but was unsuccessful. After pinning James in a mixed tag team match, Melina was granted another title match. On the February 19 episode of Raw, as part of her first major singles push, Melina defeated James to win the WWE Women's Championship for the first time in her career and became the first woman of Mexican American descent to win the title. The feud between the two Divas continued and Melina later retained the title in a rematch during the first ever Women's Falls Count Anywhere match in WWE history.
In March, Melina was placed in an angle where she became jealous of SmackDown! Diva Ashley Massaro, who was receiving attention because of her appearance in Playboy. The angle had Melina claim in her blogs that no Playboy cover models were capable of fighting her. This resulted in scheduled matches against former Playboy cover girls Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle, with both women losing to Melina. The storyline came to an end at WrestleMania 23, where Melina pinned Ashley in a Lumberjill match to retain her Women's Championship. After WrestleMania, Melina organized a photo op with the Women's Championship belt in the ring, but was interrupted by Mickie James, resulting in another storyline feud between the two Divas. On April 24, at a house show in Paris, Melina lost the Women's Championship in a Triple Threat match to James when James pinned Victoria, but on the orders of Jonathan Coachman, she was entitled to a rematch on the same night, where she pinned James by putting her hands on the ropes to regain the title and become a two-time WWE Women's Champion.
On May 7, 2007, Melina began feuding with Playboy cover girl Candice Michelle after she was defeated in a tag team match alongside Victoria against Candice Michelle and Mickie James. Melina continued to lose to Candice in various tag team matches, as well as in non-title bouts over the next few weeks. At Vengeance, Melina lost the Women's Championship to Candice, and failed to recapture the title at The Great American Bash. At SummerSlam, Melina participated in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the WWE Women's Championship. Melina scored two eliminations and lasted until the final four, before being eliminated by Torrie Wilson and Michelle McCool. On the December 29, 2007 episode of Raw, Melina once again challenged for the WWE Women's Championship in a triple threat match against then-champion Beth Phoenix and Mickie James. Melina was defeated and pinned after suffering a DDT from James, followed by a delayed fisherman suplex, while she was completely unconscious, from Phoenix.