{"id":50831,"date":"2019-07-22T11:51:30","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=50831"},"modified":"2019-07-22T11:51:30","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:51:30","slug":"melina-returns-to-raw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/07\/22\/melina-returns-to-raw\/","title":{"rendered":"Melina Returns to RAW!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Just a few short days ago, it was announced that<strong> Melina Perez<\/strong>\u00a0would be appearing at this Monday&#8217;s <em><strong>RAW Reunion<\/strong><\/em> show.\u00a0 This both wowed and shocked fans, as Melina hasn&#8217;t made a <strong>WWE<\/strong> appearance since 2011.\u00a0 Melina made her WWE debut on the April 15th 2005 edition of <em><strong>Smackdown<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 She originally debuted alongside <strong>Joey Mercury<\/strong> and long-time boyfriend <strong>Johnny Nitro<\/strong> (Johnny Mundo). Melina would quickly go on to establish herself as one of the more memorable heels of the Divas division of the time.\u00a0 She then left the company in January 2011 and has since continued working independent shows, where she remains a relative attraction.\u00a0 With the most recent Melina related news being that she is returning to RAW for at least one night &#8211; with tonight being the RAW Reunion show &#8211; join us as we take a short trip down memory lane and pay tribute to the Scream Queen.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WWE Superstars: Melina vs. Alicia Fox\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tcNzhFUGafI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Melina got her WWE start in 2005 &#8211; as the leader of<strong> MNM<\/strong> with Morrison and Nitro.\u00a0 MNM, then a trio of Hollywood wannabes (complete with red carpet), beat down <strong>Rey Mysterio<\/strong>.\u00a0 If you go back and compare Melina&#8217;s start with that of<strong> Trish Stratus<\/strong>, you won&#8217;t find too many differences.\u00a0 Both were excellent heels &#8211; able to rely on their good microphone work, as well as their sex appeal (Melina still has arguably one of <em>the most<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/n-4jsF4hZ3Q\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>entertaining<\/em><\/a> entrances of all time) to keep crowds booing.\u00a0 What many don&#8217;t realise, however, is that &#8211; like Trish &#8211; Melina actually became a solid worker.\u00a0 In the age of Divas, Melina was a cut above most, alongside the obvious likes of Trish, <strong>Lita<\/strong> and <strong>Mickie James<\/strong>, to name just three.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WWE MNMs Debut on Smack down!\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Nrjdt-DfhjI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Just one week after their debut, Mercury and Nitro would have their in-ring debut.\u00a0 They would defeat <strong>Eddie Guerrero<\/strong> and Rey Mysterio to begin their first reign as WWE Tag Team Champions.\u00a0 Melina herself wouldn&#8217;t debut until another five months later, when she would defeat <strong>Michelle McCool\u00a0<\/strong>(who would become an integral part of Melina&#8217;s career).<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/5LbufKycj4g<\/p>\n<p>2006 saw Melina move to solo competition on RAW.\u00a0 She befriended hardcore icon, <strong>Mick Foley<\/strong>, and the two began an on-screen friendship.\u00a0 This, of course, prompted a short-lived face turn &#8211; culminating in Melina turning on Foley, after he joined the infamous &#8220;Kiss My Ass Club&#8221; to save her career.\u00a0 Melina low-blowed Foley, gaining her tremendous amounts of heat and parachuting her into a feud for the Women&#8217;s Championship.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Melina, Mick Foley &amp; Vince McMahon Segment\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/14yno-uPXaE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Melina&#8217;s hunt for the Women&#8217;s Championship would result in a feud with her most famous rival &#8211; Mickie James.\u00a0 The two women were the perfect fit for a feud; Mickie the beloved fan-favourite and Melina the ultimate, conniving villain.\u00a0 Melina would fail in her first attempt to win the championship from Mickie.\u00a0 Melina, however, would go onto win in her second attempt against James &#8211; earning her her first ever Women&#8217;s Championship on the 02\/19\/07 edition of RAW. This feud saw history made, too, as James&#8217; failed rematch was the first ever women&#8217;s falls count anywhere match in WWE history.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"(720pHD): WWE RAW 02\/19\/07 WOMENS CHAMPIONSHIP - Melina vs Mickie James\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gNnQDg80X2w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Melina would lose the championship in April of 2007 &#8211; at a live event in Paris, France.\u00a0 She would win it back from Mickie James in that same night, after Mickie won the championship by pinning <strong>Victoria<\/strong>.\u00a0 Unfortunately, she would then lose the championship for her second time at the <em><strong>Night of Champions 2007<\/strong><\/em> PPV, where she was defeated by <strong>Candice Michelle<\/strong>.\u00a0 She wouldn&#8217;t reclaim the Women&#8217;s Championship until<em><strong> Royal Rumble 2009<\/strong><\/em>, which began her longest reign with the title &#8211; culminating in a defeat against Michelle McCool at<em> <strong>The Bash &#8217;09<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 This would be Melina&#8217;s final reign with the Women&#8217;s Championship.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Michelle McCool vs Melina The Bash 6\/28\/09\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mI76s4ZvaP8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Melina would also find relative success with the WWE Divas Championship, which she held two times.\u00a0 The first reign beginning with a win over former ally (and shrink for MNM) <strong>Jillian Hall<\/strong> on the October 12th 2009 edition of <em>Monday Night RAW<\/em>.\u00a0 This would mark the first time Melina had to vacate a title through injury.\u00a0 Melina would not reclaim the Divas Championship until August 2010.\u00a0 Just one month later, Melina would once again lose against Michelle McCool &#8211; with McCool now <em>the<\/em> heel and Melina a babyface.\u00a0 This <em>Night of Champions<\/em> bout was special for the unification of the Women&#8217;s and Diva&#8217;s Championships.\u00a0 Just twelve months later, Melina Perez was gone from the company.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Michelle McCool vs Melina: Divas Championship Unification Match, Night of Champions 2010\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BRQi7U9HqP4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Since her WWE departure, Melina has made a number of independent appearances.\u00a0 She has worked for <strong>Southside Wrestling Entertainment<\/strong>, where she captured the Queen of Southside Championship and was named Southside&#8217;s Queen of the Ring in 2016.\u00a0 Perez has briefly worked for <strong>Battle Championship Wrestling<\/strong>, where she captured the BCW Women&#8217;s Championship.\u00a0 She has worked for <strong>Maryland Championship Wrestling<\/strong>, where she has captured the MCW Women&#8217;s Championship.\u00a0 She was also inducted into the Empire Wrestling Federation&#8217;s EWF Hall of Fame in 2016.\u00a0 In addition to her indie career, she has made numerous appearances on the small screen.\u00a0 She appeared in such shows as Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp and Bad Girls Club.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bad Girls Club: Meet Melina\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BkYfvX7qqsY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Despite almost a decade of absence from the WWE, Perez remains a recognisable character.\u00a0 Her years feuding with Mickie James; managing MNM and even her babyface work makes her a talent capable of generating a pop.\u00a0 Whilst her reality TV career never quite reached the heights of her wrestling one, the Melina character was one laced in reality TV.\u00a0 Sure, it is possible that certain fans have moved on from her &#8211; and younger fans might not be familiar with her work.\u00a0 But it is a certainty that once she comes to the ring and hits the splits at <em>RAW Reunion<\/em>, she&#8217;ll have the fans back on her side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just a few short days ago, it was announced that Melina Perez\u00a0would be appearing at this Monday&#8217;s RAW Reunion show.\u00a0 This both wowed and shocked fans, as Melina hasn&#8217;t made a WWE appearance since 2011.\u00a0 Melina made her WWE debut on the April 15th 2005 edition of Smackdown.\u00a0 She originally debuted alongside Joey Mercury and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2482,"featured_media":50834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,317,4,3,320],"tags":[1764,345,3666,2086,201,333,4822,47],"class_list":["post-50831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-women","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-joey-mercury","tag-johnny-mundo","tag-melina","tag-michelle-mccool","tag-mick-foley","tag-mickie-james","tag-womens-championship","tag-wwe"],"modified_by":"Niklas George","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}