It's the last day of 2015 and I want to address a few things going into the New Year. I'm going to either piss a lot of people off or I'm going to make people nod their heads collectively in agreement. Then there's the third option where I get a combination of both. I'm personally banking on the latter, so we'll see in due time.
Livetweeting Wrestling Broadcasts in 2016
As you guys know, I have cut down my livetweeting considerably at the end of this year, mainly due to the fact that WWE was burning me out with watching RAW and Smackdown. Hopefully in the New Year the broadcasts will be better and actually worth my time going into WrestleMania season. I can guarantee that I'm going to get back to watching Impact Wrestling since they are moving to POP! TV and I actually have that channel, as well as continue watching Ring of Honor, NXT, and Lucha Underground in the new year.
I don't go back to work until Jan. 5th, so I might stay up late and watch Wrestle Kingdom 10 live at 3AM EST on Sunday so stay tuned on that. I need an excuse to renew my New Japan World account anyway. I'm not going to be watching on a shitty pirated stream that's for sure. NJPW is providing an English commentary alternative for those interested, so it's definitely worth checking out. I need to do a better job of keeping up with New Japan's product in 2016 as well.
One thing is certain though...
In 2016, I'm not going to allow unruly and disrespectful people on social media to ruin my personal enjoyment of what I love about professional wrestling. I have started to do so towards the end of the year and it's going to be heavily enforced in 2016 as I'm blocking anything that comes tagged to any of my social media accounts as offensive or disrespectful. I'm done preaching that if you don't like the product stop fucking watching. There's MORE than enough wrestling out there to suit anyone and everyone's taste.
You guys know that I love to joke around about the ladies on here, so I don't understand why so many females got butt-hurt over me making fun of their fixations on Roman Reigns. Ya'll like the guy don'tcha? So what's the problem? It's not like I'm trying to stab the guy during his entrance. Sex sells, whether you like it or not. That's why the porn industry is still around. I'm not going to play coy and act like I'm ignoring the sexual attractiveness of anyone in this business. C'mon, WWE completely understand that appearances will bring more new viewers than the "pure wrestling" loyalists. I would be a billionaire if I had a penny for every time I ran into a fan who said that they were only watching just to see the hot women or the guys that they are fawning over. There's NOTHING wrong with admitting that! I know someone is going to read that and take it as an insult when it's not meant to be one. Hell, I like the competitive aspect AND the smokin' hot women. I get to kill two birds with one stone with my wrestling.
If I wanted to see ugly girls fighting all the time I would be watching ghetto brawls on WorldStarHipHop or more MMA in general... Just being honest here.
The Divas Revolution & the So-Called Supporters of Women's Wrestling
I could make myself mad tonight writing a novel about this but I'm going to limit myself to a few bullet points.
Which Sasha Banks vs. Bayley Takeover Match is the Best?
Easy choice here - their match at Takeover: Brooklyn was the classic Dusty Rhodes narrative. Babyface overcomes EVERY obstacle in her way to earn the big win in the end over the vile heel. Outside of involving Bayley's super fan Izzy, their rematch in the Ironman Match pales in comparison. Not to mention a lot of sloppy spots and horribly executed moves.
Is Sasha Banks vs. Bayley the Greatest Match of All-Time?
For NXT Divas? Yes. For WWE Divas as a whole for all-time? Not really. That's not a fair argument in the least. Different time periods, different crowds, and different styles of women's wrestling. On top of that, women's wrestling on the independent scene has been in the vein of this VERY SAME style that Sara Amato (formerly indy women's wrestling sensation Sara Del Rey) is training the next generation of WWE Divas to showcase down on NXT. Just because you haven't watched anything outside of WWE's style of women's wrestling don't be so quick to regard this performance (while amazing in it's own right) as the greatest of all time.
Why isn't WWE pushing Sasha Banks?
Note: This is a direct copy & paste from the same topic discussed on this blog's Facebook page.
They know they have a potential goldmine with her after her success on NXT. After moving her onto the main roster, it seems like she's been simply cast aside. One could say it's the glass ceiling that WWE obviously has for black/African-American wrestlers in their company (You have to be retarded or incredibly naive to believe otherwise), one could say that she's not that really attractive (seriously she looks like Jackalman from Thundercats to me 70% of the time to me... I know I'm going to get heat for saying that but oh well I don't give a flying fuck) - we ALL know WWE is an appearance-heavy marketing company, or you could credit it to the fact that they are simply WAITING FOR THE BEST OPPORTUNITY.
I'm leaning towards all of the above, but mainly the latter because look at Paige and Charlotte's careers on the main roster. Both had MASSIVE success on NXT as former Women's Champions. Both had a speedy push to the top to overthrown the then "top Divas" shortly after their arrivals onto the main roster. If WWE did that, everyone would be just as bored as they are right now with Paige and Charlotte. All flash and no substance. WWE didn't give them a chance to get a slow climb or chase to the top. Imagine if they give Sasha a solid storyline to build off of that carries her throughout WM season and ends with her against whoever the champion is at WrestleMania? Wouldn't that be worth waiting for?
Slut-shaming on the WWE Divas
All year I've been hearing Diva marks talk about #GiveDivasAChance when they are the same ones who don't want to give anyone but their token favorites the chance to shine. They weren't happy unless AJ Lee was on top, wasn't happy after Nikki Bella got knocked off her throne, wasn't happy after they got what they wanted with Charlotte as champion, Eva Marie couldn't wrestle and she's actually getting training and people are STILL aren't happy. For the love of all things holy if it's one damn thing I'm going to distance myself from in 2016 is these marks who complain just to complain who are ruining my personal enjoyment of this sport. I'm pretty sure these same "fans" won't be happy when Sasha wins the Divas championship either.
When/where Sasha wins the title isn't going to matter, nor whether or not if the title is the Women's title nor the Divas title. Fans claim they want change but they aren't willing to accept change completely and willing to change their own personal receptions of how they view women's wrestling. If the fans aren't willing to change then everything that women like Sasha are doing are all for nothing.
That's one thing that differs my opinion on women's wrestling than the bulk of the people I encounter online. I may not like how every woman in WWE looks but I respect their efforts and I'm willing to give them the benefit of a doubt to improve and impress me in the ring. I don't sit here completely ruling out these women out of some petty hatred I have manufactured from reading "drama" from dirtsheets or from my own insecurities.
Closing Words
I'm going to continue enjoying professional wrestling in my own way, whether it be watching in the privacy of my own free time or among my fellow passionate fans on social media. I'm going to continue to write about wrestling - what I love about it and what I wish would change in the new year. Wrestling has been part of my life for a long time and I'm going to continue loving it, one way or another.
See you guys in the New Year where I plan to do my usual wrestling wishlist for the year sometime into the new year before the Royal Rumble.
The coolest thing to come out of the Civil War trailer. I can't wait to
see Tony get that arrogant smirk beat off his face.
Whew, this has been a crazy last few weeks in terms of gaming and movie news, huh? This is the last article I'm going to knock out here before the New Year rolls around so bare with me that this is going to be pretty long with me wrapping up a few loose ends.
Fall Mid-Season Finale Reactions
The Flash Season 2
Unlike most people, I'm REALLY being let down on this show's second season. The multiverse plot was promising at first glance but now it's just boiling down to the same dynamic as last season with the villain of the week formula followed by Harrison Wells taking center stage as the most charismatic actor out of the entire cast. Seriously, if it wasn't for him I doubt I would have been watching this show this long.
At least Iris West doesn't annoy me as much as she did in the first season. Same goes for the rest Flash life support team outside of Cisco. The whole subplot about Joe's son wasn't that interesting but I guess we had to give Iris something to overreact about like last season as she's not a pivotal part of the Flash life support team, or rather Scooby gang here.
I don't know why but I have a feeling that they are setting us up for a HUGE letdown with the final battle against Zoom. I was letdown on how they handled the Reverse Flash situation last season and now it seems like they are retreading the same territory here to lackluster results. Even the Flash/Arrow crossover team-up wasn't as exciting or as noteworthy as the one in previous season.
Agents of SHIELD Season 3
I just don't know what to say about this shit. I'm beyond fed up with Ward as the villain. Kill this dude off or make him into the Taskmaster if they want to keep paying the guy. I want to go into detail about my personal disgust on how the MCU treats it's villains but I'm going into that in a separate article that I have been sitting on for a while. Just expect that sometime in the new year.
FF7 Remake News - New Gameplay Trailer
My best friend and I have had this discussion ever since E3 this year when it was first announced and I'm still pretty indifferent about it.
I'll admit that I'm glad that Square Enix aren't using the same voice actors from Advent Children (at least that's not what it sounds like this far) and it looks like the battle system is taking a more of an action-RPG approach, much like how Kingdom Hearts, NIER, and the upcoming Final Fantasy XV are utilizing. I could be wrong, but that's what it looks like at first glance. We won't know how much of this would change between now and the final product.
Why does Barrett looks so SMALL? Did Blade (Marvel Comics) and Raven (Tekken series) get the memo that they have a twin with a machine gun arm? Also, did anyone spot that one of the menus says "Summon" during the gameplay? It's been forever since I have played the game, but I could have sworn that you don't get a summon until AFTER the fight with the scorpion robot.
FFVII Remake MayWILL Be Episodic
The fanboys and fangirls can fall for Square Enix's processed PR bullshit excuse all they want, but this is the SAME company that has been milking the Kingdom Hearts series for roughly 15+ years with no REAL sequel/finale to this series in sight anytime soon. Great, they keep showing us footage for Kingdom Hearts III, but it's hard to get excited for a game that should have been out WELL over a decade ago. Why don't you guys see that Square Enix are hungry for their stupid fans' money who won't let go of nostalgia?
If they split the game up into "episodes" how's that going to work? You buy a stripped down version of the remake that is essentially the beginning Midgar portion of the game then they sell you the rest of the game's narrative as DLC on an insanely expensive "Season Pass"? Oh wait, could it be like Final Fantasy XIII and it's MANY sequels, where you would have to buy each "episode" separately for a full retail price of $59.99 each? Then don't forget to slap on potential DLC prices. Thanks, but no thanks.
I'm with a lot of you guys. Final Fantasy VII and most of the PSone era RPGs were my first "formal" introductions to the genre, but much like most things in gaming nowadays, I rarely fall for the hype anymore. Call me pessimistic or whatever, but I'm sick of the gaming industry trying to cash in on my nostalgia and classic gaming memories, whether it be by remakes or re-releases or merely reselling games that I have already played before. I loved Final Fantasy VII back in the day. I did like a lot of gamers did back then. I played through it on multiple occasions, planned my entire gameplay up to the Gold Saucer event to get the date with Tifa (screw Aeris, man...), beat all of the WEAPONs - save for that fucker Emerald, who I never bothered to level grind to beat, got all of the Level 4 Limit Breaks (Omnislash FTW), got a Gold Chocobo and Knights of the Round, and recruited all of the party members. To this day, Vincent is still my favorite character to come out of Final Fantasy VII. If I'm honest with myself, I don't even want to go through that horror of getting a Gold Chocobo again or that clusterfuckery that was the segment where Cloud had to cross dress as a woman.
As much as I enjoyed Final Fantasy VII, there was a LOT of bullshit in that game that fans tend to gloss over with tunnel vision. For example, no one talks about how Disk 2 was pretty much revisit all of the past locations from Disk 1 before returning back to Midgar to confront Hojo and setting up the stage for Sephiroth's "true" resurrection. Or what about how Disk 3 was pretty much a waste of disk as there wasn't much else to do other than go to the Crater to confront Sephiroth and finish the game if you haven't done everything else to this point (FFVIII did the same thing with Disk 4 but that's a discussion for another day). In most cases, players have as most players tend to over level and grind to an insanely high level early into the game for the rest of the game to be a cakewalk. Or what about the entire final battle seems pretty awkward when AVALANCHE splits up into 3 teams of 3, but one team has only 2 members as if the game's creators were conflicted about bringing back Aeris to join you all at this point. Or how about how pathetic Sephiroth is in the final battle - either one-turn kill him with Knights of the Round or cast DeBarrier and hit him with Omnislash and that's pretty much it. If you're lucky, you can pull that off before he even casts Wall and Meteor.
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool: The Movie Trailer Impressions
Here's the thing being a Marvel fan. Every single time that DC Comics does something for their universe, whether it be for their TV shows, comic books, cartoons, or films, everyone expects Marvel fans to instantly shit on it because it's not their beloved heroes, especially now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in full swing.
I don't have "hate" for DC Comics, it's just that over the years of being a comic book fan (especially during my teenage years and early adolescence), I just find Marvel Comics more entertaining. It's not a shot against DC Comics, but that's just how it's been. Sure, I can point out faults in both Marvel and DC but it doesn't stop me from finding enjoyment from their characters and storylines.
As for this trailer, I felt that Warner Bros./DC Comics showed FAR too much to say it was just a trailer. Seemed like they spoiled the bulk of the movie for us.
Here's the thing. I'm not going to shit on this... BUT I'm not as excited for this as I am for Civil War. I'm VERY happy that I didn't have to sit through two episodes of Jimmy Kimmel just to see both of these trailers too.
I'll admit that this is looking better with every new trailer but let's go over a few things here in this trailer:
1. Clark and Bruce's first meeting - Dying to see that scene play out entirely in the film as call me nuts, but Affleck has me sold on him playing Bruce for the ti...me being. The shots of him in costume look better and better.
2. Batman vs. Superman - It looks like they've spoiled the core dynamic of this encounter that the film is named off of with Supes saying "If I wanted you dead, I would've done it already." Sorry WB, you lost me there. Way to go on killing the vibe that they would be throwing down the entire movie. Of course, I know as a comic book fan that they wouldn't be fighting the ENTIRE movie, but one could hope that they could have kept this conflict grounded between them and come to an understanding without the "oh shit, end of the world dilemma" cliché coming in and forcing them to get on the same page.
3. Lex Luthor - Why is he giving me this strange Joker-esque vibe here? That's wrong VERY, VERY wrong... unless they plan on throwing a monkey wrench into the plan and making Lex become the Joker in this continuity somehow. Someone on Twitter mentioned that Jesse Eisenberg is acting like Max Landis and I TOTALLY can't unsee that now.
4. Zod and... Doomsday? I dunno who or what that Abomination looking dude is supposed to be but damn they spent some low budget effects on that guy. Definitely not as bad as X-Men: Apocalypse's leaked photos but geez someone needs to be fired in the CG department.
5. Wonder Woman - Gal Gadot STILL doesn't have me sold on this character. She looks too skinny to be playing an Amazon, especially one who is supposed to be Diana's build and stature. I know there's going to be girls who get mad at me mentioning that but c'mon, if I was cast in these superhero films - not matter what gender I was - I'd be hitting the gym hardcore and at least TRYING to make myself look the part instead of looking like a normal person wearing a cosplay costume. (Laughs) We've got Yaya Han and Jessica Nigri for random bimbos cosplaying...
Couldn't Gal Gadot get on a workout plan or something to at least TRY to bulk/tone up to at least ATTEMPT look like an Amazon for this movie? Does she understand that she's playing freakin' WONDER WOMAN? Yes, I understand that Linda Carter wasn't a built like a tank too but c'mon. Wonder Woman is supposed to look as "godly" as Superman does. Seeing her standing next to Batman and Superman in... the trailer looks like a bad cosplay costume.
Seriously, you would think that more actors would take these superhero roles more seriously now. Perfect example, take Chris Pratt's preparation to play Starlord for Guardians of the Galaxy. He went from the chubby guy from Parks and Recreation transforming into a hero that looks just as iconic as Chris Evans does as Captain America or Chris Hemsworth as Thor.
I hate to be nit-picky about stuff like this, but as someone who has spent the bulk of their lives reading, watching, and admiring these characters while anxiously awaiting to see them brought to life on the silver screen, I have pretty high expectations that these characters, especially the Trinity, are supposed to look larger than life - NOT like average people wearing their costumes.
WHY IS BATMAN HOLDING A GUN!!??
(Calms down) I know Batman has used a gun in the past and made "exceptions" to his rule but this is a bad way to start off his "rebirth" in this DC Cinematic Universe, especially on how non-savvy fans tend to act like the films and cartoons are law in terms of where their core knowledge on these characters comes from.
Here's one last thing that people don't understand that are jizzling themselves off of this trailer. WB/DC Comics have done the single STUPIDEST thing at the end of this trailer.
They showed off the Trinity (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman) AS ALLIES. Wasn't the entire selling point of this movie supposed to be Batman VERSUS Superman? I don't know about anyone else but I didn't want to see pretty much 60% of the plot already spoiled potentially in ONE trailer.
Now we know going into the film that it's literally the foundation/backbone to Justice League and they are trying to rush ALL of this in ONE movie to play catch-up with the Avengers and the rest of Marvel's Cinematic Universe.
If that Abomination looking dude is supposed to be Doomsday then it's going to take the entire League to take him down if they want this to be believable. The more I think about this trailer the more it's turning me off to having any anticipation for seeing this. Sure, I'll watch but it's not like a "must-see" now.
Onto Captain America: Civil War first premiere trailer... Anyone who knows me personally knows that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is HANDS-DOWN my personal favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe film to date. That means a lot to me as I don't consider myself a Captain America fan. Never liked the guy outside of acting as leader of the Avengers' many teams and factions over the last few decades, but that film sold me onto the character his worth to the MCU as a whole from the impact that film had on the entire scope of the MCU up to that point. I really hope that Marvel Studios doesn't fuck this up and do same here. After the disappointment that was Age of Ultron, I feel like Marvel needs to shake up the foundation again. We're closing in onto the Infinity War and some BIG shit needs to hit the fan.
I'm honestly trying NOT to watch a lot of these trailers as I don't want to have 90% of the movie spoiled for me as I have a feeling that a lot of the good jokes have already been spoiled already. Cool to see that the X-Men have a presence in this film. At this stage, I doubt that FOX can mess this up and it will end up being the successful gamble like how Guardians of the Galaxy played out for Marvel Studios. The only thing that I'm dreading are the droves of bandwagon Deadpool fans coming out of the wood work after this drops. It's already bad enough that we're going to have to deal with the bandwagon Harley Quinn fans once Suicide Squad comes out...
Capcom Cup 2015 & Street Fighter V News
While I didn't watch ALL of Capcom Cup on Sunday, I did see enough that I did enjoy for the most part. Glad to see Street Fighter IV go out in style in what I'm understanding the last "formal" event for the game as Capcom are going to fully support Street Fighter V for Capcom Cup next year. That's asking a lot of players who stuck around for the long-haul across multiple updates and different consoles to pick up a brand new console (either the PlayStation 4 or PC - that's it) just to play the next entry.
He reminds me of Hsien-Ko from Darkstalkers crossed with Voldo from Soul Calibur and Solomon Kane from Sym-Bionic Titan.
If I had one favorite match out of everything that I saw at Capcom Cup, it was this match. As a Chun-Li player myself, I tip my hat to Infiltration's play against The Beast himself. Infiltration didn't do anything wrong - he played with Chun's strengths by keeping it purely a battle of footsies. Daigo still managed to comeback from what looked like defeat in one round with a comeback that people will be talking about for years to come. (Whistles) And people are STILL talking about Daigo is losing his touch?
My End of the Year Confessions
Despite all of my friends who RAVE about it being the best film of 2015 next to Star Wars, I didn't much care for Mad Max: Fury Road.
Outside its BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING cinematography, costumes, and special effects, I have to honestly say that from a narrative perspective it was all flash and no substance. I watched the film twice and I still don't see what was supposed to be the big deal of it all.
Glamorizing being a nerd/dork like a fashion statement pisses me off to no end.
Seeing celebrities and some of the same people who ridiculed me when I was growing up parading around to this label to be "cool" in their adolescence just downright disgusts me. Roughly a decade and a half ago, society frowned upon everyone who loved anime, comic book superheroes, and video games. Now society has taken a complete 180 to that mindset. I should be happy but I dunno it just comes off as people just trying to be accepted when I was used to being an outcast on Nerd Island for so long.
Screw it, watch this episode of Freakazoid and you'll get what I'm driving at.
Despite my distaste for The Walking Dead brand as a whole - from the graphic novels to the television series (and spin-off) to the video game(s) - I actually do watch the show from time to time. Not particularly crazy about it but I watch it.
I get that people love the survivalist aspect or the whole idea that humanity turns to the worst of their characters in this ruined world, but you could take out the zombie apocalypse dilemma and it's just as bad normal ordinary life. The older I get the more pessimistic it seems I get to this world and the people in it, so I tend to not like to be reminded that "Oh yeah, just about everyone you know is out for themselves, there's next to no good people left, and there's NO happy endings." I like watching TV and immersing myself into fiction for the LIES that this shit isn't true, not to be fucking more depressed than I already am from my own real life dilemmas and day to day ordeals. Frown on me for not liking this stuff for that reason, I don't give a fuck but c'mon, I know you guys are realistically watching this show for the reason that I am - I'm dying to see when it comes down to the point where everyone just gives up and kill themselves and quit lying to themselves about there's a happy ending to this shit when there's no way in hell it's going to end well, no matter how many ways you slice it. It's funny. I can tolerate an "apocalyptic" world like Attack on Titan when it's the same premise, but I can respect that narrative more because everyone is fucked and the death toll is so high and not everyone is presented as a bad ass and instantly ready to deal with this situation. Don't give me that crap about people in TWD are like that too, but when they are they are killed off so fast that it doesn't even matter that they existed period in the footnotes over the course of the story.
After thinking about it for a long time, I have to agree with Max Landis' statement about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Rey is the quintessential example of the Mary Sue archetype in cinema. On top of that, I don't think that the film was particularly great either.
I'm going to review Star Wars: The Force Awakens early into 2016, so I'll keep this short for the time being. The only thing I'm going to put out there is that I feel like Disney played it too "safe" for this first journey back into Star Wars after the buyout from George Lucas. While the kid in me loved the nostalgia, I couldn't help but feel like nothing in this film was "original" everything came off as a recycling everything that "worked" in the original trilogy to repackage everything for this younger audience. It was literally Hollywood's version of the current trend in video games of re-releasing games you already played a million times as a "collection" and selling you it as something BRAND new.
I don't get why people got mad at Landis for saying that Rey is a Mary Sue. She beat Kylo Ren in what many wrestling fans could refer to as "LOLCENAWINS" with NO prior Jedi training and little effort.
'Nuff said, folks.
Closing Words
No idea what's in store for the New Year as I'm still recovering from my oral surgery from the week of Christmas and I head back to work next week, so I'm going to take this one day at a time. More Ramblings to vent my frustrations and rant on random topics and hopefully some more movie and gaming reviews. Who knows, I might get a current gen console and finally be able to stream some stuff again? I dunno what's in the cards for me at this rate. (Shrugs) Who knows what 2016 will bring as I know I had no idea that 2015 was going to play out like how it did...
If you're out drinking tonight, be safe and call a cab home. Wishing you all a happy New Year.
Well there you have it, folks, we're on the last candidate for this ongoing feature for 2015. I'm going to take a break at the start of 2016 before continuing, so treat this as my last article for a bit. I hope everyone has been enjoying this for the last two months as I've had a blast doing it.
Since starting this feature on this blog, this is the woman who I've REALLY wanted to write about since Day 1. Anyone who knows me personally knows that she's my personal favorite (active) women's wrestler right now and I honestly rank her high and above just about anyone else out there, so color me a bit biased. (Laughs) She wouldn't know it but she helped renew my passion for the sport at a time where I really considered walking away from it for good. More on that later though, as
Melissa Anderson (born August 17, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name, Cheerleader Melissa. She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she worked as Alissa Flash and Raisha Saeed. She is currently performing on the independent circuit for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Revolution and Shimmer Women Athletes, where she is a former two-time Shimmer Champion. In 2013, Anderson was ranked #1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual Top 50 Females list.
Training
While training at Billy Anderson's school, she met the Ballard Brothers (Shannon and Shane) who were using the gimmick of hockey players, similar to the Hanson Brothers from the film Slap Shot. They were looking for a valet and due to their sporting gimmick, Anderson took on the role of a heel and the gimmick of a cheerleader. They toured the West Coast, mostly appearing with All Pro Wrestling (APW) where she would interfere in matches, often using high-flying moves. As Cheerleader Melissa she also received training from Christopher Daniels for a short period of time before moving on to APW where she trained under the tutelage of Robert Thompson and "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson.
After gaining experience from ring side, Cheerleader Melissa eventually had her first proper match on her 17th birthday against Lexie Fyfe in a losing effort at an outdoor carnival event. In 2001 she entered into Ultimate Pro Wrestling and lost a tag team match alongside Looney Lane which led to a feud between the two. The first lost in the tag team match would be her only one with the company as she went on to win a grudge match between the two followed by a succession of mixed tag matches, first with Shannon Ballard and then alongside both Ballard Brothers, beating Lane and Frankie Kazarian in the mixed tag team match as well as Nova in the final six-person intergender tag match. The following year, in the summer of 2002, Anderson was personally invited to wrestle and train for three months in Japan for the promotion Arsion. She was selected alongside Taylor Matheny who had recently received exposure in World Wrestling Entertainment's Tough Enough program, and thus Anderson received much internet attention by association. Among the rigorous training schedule she wrestled what she claims to be some of her favorite matches, particularly a 15-minute draw against Rie Tamada and her loss to Mariko Yoshida. Also as a present for her 20th birthday, she was allowed to tag team with veteran female wrestler Lioness Asuka.
ChickFight Tournaments (2004–2007)
After Anderson returned from Japan, she became a full-time wrestler. Moving on from her pre-Japan feud with Nikki, she continued to wrestle for APW winning its Above The Law Championship from Robert Thompson in July 2004. Under her reign it was renamed the Future Legends Championship, the title under which she lost it to Daizee Haze the following year before winning it back and retiring the belt. In October, APW associated itself with the newly formed, all-female tournament-cum-promotion ChickFight (CF). In the first event, staged under the APW banner for their Halloween Hell weekend, Anderson made it through two rounds only to be defeated in a steel cage match for the final round by luchadora Princess Sugey.
She would become a staple of ChickFight, appearing at the first ten of their major events, missing the eleventh event due to injury sustained less than a week before the show. She made the final in the first two tournaments but exited the third in the first round after a double disqualification during a match with former rival Nikki, now under her better known name Sara Del Rey. Melissa won ChickFight V tournament, beating Jazz in the final, and she also went on to win ChickFight VII: The UK vs The USA tournament when it moved from the United States over to the United Kingdom pinning "The Jezebel" Eden Black in the last match. However, the focus of ChickFight VII was on the controversial ending to her first match that saw Sweet Saraya's head hung in the ropes, Anderson continued to assault her despite being trapped until the referee ended the match and Saraya was stretchered from ringside. As Anderson celebrated her tournament victory Saraya reappeared and threatened her. The feud was cut short during a pre-match brawl for Real Quality Wrestling (RQW) in June that saw the two brawl both in and outside of the building and ended with Anderson winning shortly after Saraya was thrown on an already utilized aluminum can, tearing through her ligament and leaving her hospitalized. She was forced to forfeit her ChickFight IX: Our Final Chance match the following day and would not wrestle again for six months.
Feud with Wesna (2007–2009)
Meanwhile, Anderson had begun a new feud. She did not participate in the tournament at ChickFight VIII but instead had a rematch against Eden Black for the newly created Transatlantic Women's Championship, which she won. Later in the show she successfully defended the title against Croatian wrestler Wesna Busic. The two had met years previously when her internet celebrity saw her invited to German Stampede Wrestling to face Wesna in a losing effort at International Impact I. After defending her Transatlantic Championship at ChickFight VII, their next CF meeting saw Wesna defend her RQW Women's Championship fought under ChickFight Rules (no disqualification and falls count anywhere) which saw the two go to a forty-five-minute time limit draw. This left the two at 1–1 and so a decisive match was to be held at ChickFight X but this ended in controversy when Wesna claimed that her tap out was merely an attempt to grab the rope for a rope break; their rematch later that night saw Wesna pick up the victory leaving them drawn again at 2–2. CF XI was originally slated to be a two out of three falls match to find a decisive victory until Anderson pulled out due to injury.
Their feud was picked up the following year for Shimmer Women Athletes at Volume 23 in May 2009. The company preluded the match with a video package showing their matches in Europe and announced that the winner would go on to face the Shimmer Champion at a later event. Towards the end of the bout, Annie Social came to the ring to distract Anderson allowing Wesna to use her CB4 Driver to pick up the victory. Wesna lost her championship match at Volume 25 and, owing to the controversy of their previous match, Anderson wrestled Wesna again in Volume 26 in a Knockout/Submission match where Anderson picked up the victory, making them level once more.
Pro Wrestling Revolution (2008–present)
Back in her home state of California, Anderson competed for the National Wrestling Alliance's Pro Wrestling Revolution (PWR) promotion in a series of matches fought under the ChickFight banner. After her first loss in an NWA World Women's Championship match against MsChif, (see below) she went on a winning streak under the gimmicks of both Cheerleader Melissa and Raisha Saeed. This streak included a victory against Lacey Von Erich in one of her first matches, as well as double victories over Christie Ricci, Christina Von Eerie and Rain, the latter two under both characters. This long series of wins led to her, under the Alissa Flash name, competing against the luchadora Lady Apache to crown the inaugural PWR Women's Champion on January 30, 2010. In losing her first match in 20 months, she lost out on the championship A year later, on February 5 she wrestled in Shantelle Malawski's retirement match, picking up the victory. On February 23, 2013, Melissa defeated Dark Angel to win the vacant PWR Women's Championship for the first time. She lost the title to Ivelisse Vélez on April 21 at a pay-per-view held by the Puerto RicanWorld Wrestling League (WWL) promotion. She regained the championship three weeks later at a PWR event on May 11. On February 22, 2014, Melissa lost the PWR Women's Championship to Christina Von Eerie in a three-way match, which also included Savanah Riley.
Shimmer Women Athletes
Storyline with MsChif (2005–2010)
Melissa and MsChif as a tag team in Shimmer
After the success of ChickFight, Dave Prazak and Allison Danger set up Shimmer Women Athletes, a promotion with ties to Prazak's Ring of Honor intending to raise the credibility of women's wrestling on an international scale. Her first match with the promotion was on November 6, 2005, for Volume 1 in a losing effort to MsChif, starting a wild feud between the two. The loss saw Anderson demand a special attraction rematch—the match would be Shimmer's first hardcore match, fought under Falls Count Anywhere rules and helped Anderson gain the victory after nearly thirty minutes of wrestling on February 12, 2006, at Volume 4. MsChif took her revenge at Volume 5 by distracting Anderson during a match with Allison Danger, causing her to lose the match. Naturally the rivalry was not abated and their next match, main eventing Volume 6 on May 21, was declared a Last Woman Standing match with MsChif eventually coming out on top. Further interferences took an interesting turn at Volume 7 when Anderson came out during MsChif's match against Rain. However, before she could interfere, Rain's partner Lacey pushed her to the ground while trying to distract the referee in order to allow Rain to use an illegal weapon; an incensed Anderson fought back against Lacey in time for the referee to see the foreign object in the ring and declare MsChif the winner via disqualification. After Anderson had won her main event match, Lacey and Rain (The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew), ambushed her with a beat down until MsChif ran out, saving her nemesis before leaving her to celebrate the victory. The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew had threatened Anderson for involving herself in their plans against MsChif and similarly threatened MsChif for being in the way of ambushing Melissa and, after declaring themselves the best tag team in the world, demanded a match with the two for Volume 8 which became the penultimate bout of the evening. The Home Wrecking Crew's experience won out over MsChif and Anderson when a double team maneuver led to MsChif being pinned; after the match Anderson and MsChif shook hands as a sign of respect. The two soon showed they could work as a team though when they beat veterans The Experience (Lexie Fyfe and Malia Hosaka), with MsChif pinning Hosaka.
The two would meet again three months later in England for RQW's 2007 No Pain, No Gain event challenging Eden Black for the RQW Women's Championship but both came up short. The match served to build up interest for the aforementioned ChickFight VII: The UK vs The USA where Melissa would secure a victory against Black. She also beat MsChif in the semi-final. At RQW's Taking On The World the three met again with MsChif and Black teaming up in a losing effort against Anderson and Black's nemesis Jetta. In May 2008 MsChif put her NWA World Women's Championship on the line during Pro Wrestling Revolution's debut show but Anderson did not win the belt.
These series of bouts against each other did not stop them teaming together when they main evented Volume 17 on April 26, 2008, taking on an erstwhile enemy of Anderson again in the form of Sara Del Rey, alongside her Dangerous Angels partner Allison Danger. This time it was Melissa making the pinfall after an Air Raid Crash. Despite these string of successes, the tag team did not compete during the Volume 21 tag team gauntlet for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship, but they reunited when MsChif was threatened by both Kong and Del Rey for her Shimmer Championship. With both Kong and Del Rey wanting title shots, the two tag teams were actually booked for a contendership match for the Tag Team Championship during Volume 24 on May 2, 2009, which Anderson and MsChif lost. After this loss, Anderson went on a four match winning streak, including avenging a loss to Wesna Busic (see above). On April 10, 2010, at the tapings of Volume 29, Anderson and MsChif received a shot at the Shimmer Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the defending champions Nicole Matthews and Portia Perez. The team's two back-to-back tag team losses led to Melissa dissolving her team with MsChif in order for her to focus on her singles career.
Shimmer Champion (2010–present)
Shimmer Champion Cheerleader Melissa.
On Volume 30, Anderson was defeated by Madison Eagles in a match, where the winner would receive a shot at MsChif's Shimmer Championship. The following day Anderson defeated Misaki Ohata on Volume 31 and Ayako Hamada in the main event of Volume 32, before demanding a title match from the new Shimmer Champion Eagles. She received her title match on September 11, 2010, on Volume 33, but was defeated by Eagles. The following day on Volume 36 Melissa pinned Eagles to win an eight woman elimination tag team match, where she, Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara and Serena Deeb defeated Eagles, Daizee Haze, Sara Del Rey and Tomoka Nakagawa. On October 2, 2011, at Volume 43, Melissa defeated Kana to become the number one contender to the Shimmer Championship. Later that same day on Volume 44, Melissa defeated Madison Eagles to become the fourth Shimmer Champion. During her title celebration, she was attacked from behind by Nicole Matthews. Melissa made her first two title defenses on March 17, 2012, defeating Nicole Matthews on Volume 45 and Portia Perez on Volume 46. The following day, after successfully defending the Shimmer Championship against Jessie McKay on Volume 47, Melissa lost the title to Saraya Knight on Volume 48. After pinning Knight to win a ten woman elimination tag team match on October 28 at the tapings of Volume 50, Melissa was granted a rematch for the Shimmer Championship the following day on Volume 52, but was defeated after being hit with the title belt. On April 6, 2013, at theVolume 53 internet pay-per-view (iPPV) in Secaucus, New Jersey, Melissa defeated Knight in a steel cage match to win the Shimmer Championship for the second time. Melissa made her first successful title defense a week later on April 13 at Volume 54, where she defeated Mercedes Martinez. Later that same day on Volume 55, Melissa made another successful title defense against Courtney Rush. The following day on Volume 56, Melissa made her third and final title defense of the weekend by defeating Kalamity. Later that same day on Volume 57, Melissa took part in Allison Danger's retirement match, where she and Ayako Hamada faced Danger and Leva Bates. Melissa initially submitted Danger for the win, but the decision was reversed when Melissa turned heel and refused to let go of the hold after the match. Post-match, the evil Melissa completed her heel turn by attacking Hamada. On October 19 at Volume 58, Melissa made her fourth successful title defense against Leva Bates. Post-match Melissa attacked both Bates and the retired Allison Danger, before being chased away by LuFisto. Later that same day, after another successful defense against Hiroyo Matsumoto on Volume 59, Melissa was again run off by LuFisto, who was, as a result, named the next challenger for her Shimmer Championship. The title match between Melissa and LuFisto took place on the following day's Volume 60 and saw Melissa retain the title. Following the match, Melissa was taken to a local hospital, where she received ten stitches above her left eye. As a result, Volume 61 became the first Volume in Shimmer history, which did not feature a Cheerleader Melissa match. On April 5 at the Volume 62 iPPV in New Orleans, Louisiana, Melissa successfully defended the Shimmer Championship against LuFisto in a two out of three falls match, following outside interference from Mercedes Martinez. A week later on Volume 64, Melissa made another successful title defense against Japanese wrestler Yumi Ohka. On April 13, Melissa first successfully defended the Shimmer Championship against Mia Yim on Volume 65, before teaming with Mercedes Martinez to unsuccessfully challenge the Global Green Gangsters (Kellie Skater and Tomoka Nakagawa) for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship on Volume 66. On October 18, Melissa first made another successful defense of the Shimmer Championship against Kana on Volume 67, before losing the title to Nicole Matthews in a four-way elimination match, also involving Athena and Madison Eagles, on Volume 68.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Raisha Saeed (2008–2009)
Raisha Saeed (Cheerleader Melissa) acting as Awesome Kong's manager.
On the January 10 edition of TNA Impact! Anderson made her Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut as an unknown woman wearing a niqāb, later named Raisha Saeed and billed from Syria. She was in Awesome Kong's corner when Kong defeated Gail Kim to win the TNA Women's Knockout Championship. Her first pay-per-view appearance with the company was again in Kong's corner at Against All Odds, distracting Kong's opponent ODB to help her retain the Knockout Championship. The situation with Kim and ODB intensified, leading to Anderson's first match as a competitor with the promotion. At TNA's all-steel cage event Lockdown, she and Kong took on Kim and ODB in a tag team match, where Saeed was pinned by ODB. On the July 3, 2008 edition of Impact!, Saeed lost a match against newcomer Taylor Wilde which saw Wilde become number one contender for the Knockout Championship despite outside interference from Kong.
In September her costume became a focal point for angles as Saeed became a more regular in-ring performer. On September 4's Impact! ODB pinned her and then chased her backstage, coming out later with the burqa. Kong hit ODB in the back of the head while Saeed ran to reclaim her attire, her face masked by her hair at the time. Later that month Roxxi used a burqa to disguise herself as Saeed while Kong was facing newcomer Mercedes Steele. After the match Roxxi removed her disguise and attacked Kong with a steel chair, while Saeed appeared at the top of the entrance ramp bound in ropes (implying that she had been abducted by Roxxi prior to the match). Kong took revenge, pinning Roxxi in a tag effort also involving Saeed and Wilde, respectively, but Roxxi would make a return pin on Saeed in a singles match weeks later.
The Kongtourage
Kong and Saeed soon aligned themselves with Knockout Rhaka Khan. On the November 6 edition of Impact! Khan substituted for Roxxi as Wilde's tag team partner against Kong and Saeed in a match. In the event, the evil Khan turned against Wilde during the match to help Kong make the pinfall, but her good luck was short lived as Kong and Saeed, with Khan in their corner, lost to Wilde and Roxxi in a tag team match at Turning Point. Saeed lost to Christy Hemme on the November 27 edition of Impact!, allowing her to challenge for Kong's belt at Final Resolution but Saeed caused a disqualification, giving Hemme the win but retaining the belt for Kong. Through December Khan and Saeed were joined in their support for Kong by newcomer Sojourner Bolt; the group dubbed themselves the Kongtourage and took on ODB, Roxxi and Hemme in a losing effort during a Street Fight on January 15. Hemme was scheduled for a rematch at Genesis, however, she suffered a legitimate injury prior to the match and the Kongtourage impromptu number one contender match was made at the pay-per-view with ODB picking up the victory, teaming to gain a future title shot. The Kongtourage finally picked up a victory over ODB in a four-on-one handicap match on January 29's Impact!. The Kongtourage rapidly fell into disarray, though, when Bolt won a number one contender battle royal in early February, and a fortnight later Khan expressed her dissatisfaction with the group leading to a tag match that Khan and Bolt, who were being portrayed as fan favorites now, won. Saeed's attempts to interfere in the Knockouts Championship match at Destination X were unsuccessful but Kong still managed to retain her title.
Kong eventually dropped the title to Angelina Love at Lockdown 2009. After this loss, and with Kong unable to regain the championship, the team of Saeed and Kong were entered into the tournament to decide the inaugural Knockouts Tag Team Champions. In the first round, the team beat The Main Event Mafia's team of Sharmell and Traci Brooks. Saeed scored the pin over Brooks, tagging herself in after Kong had done much of the work causing Kong to stare angrily at Saeed. They were less successful in the following round, losing to the eventual tournament winning team of Taylor Wilde and Sarita. After inadvertently costing Kong the Knockout title at Bound for Glory, the two of them faced off on the October 22 edition of Impact! with Saeed now being referred to as a former manager. Kong won the match and then Awesome Bombed her through the entrance stage.
Alissa Flash (2009, 2011, 2013)
Melissa's unmasked gimmick in TNA.
On the May 1, 2008 edition of Impact!, Anderson appeared as her signature Cheerleader Melissa gimmick and defeated Daizee Haze in a singles match that was billed as a "try-out" for both women. However, she reappeared as Saeed later that night. At the May 26, 2009 Impact! taping, Anderson wrestled as "Future Legend" Melissa Anderson in a dark match where she was defeated by Awesome Kong. Her television return occurred on the July 16, 2009 edition of Impact! as she wrestled under the revised name of "Future Legend" Alissa Flash, losing to the debuting Sarita and attacking her afterward. Flash's losing streak continued in the first round of the Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament where she and Daffney lost to Sarita and Taylor Wilde. As Flash, Anderson had a new outfit which included a streaks of make up around her eyes in tribute to Sherri Martel.
She picked up her first victory on the September 17 edition of Impact! by defeating Cody Deaner in an intergender Lumberjack match. The win, though, was largely due to interference from all the other Knockouts who were lumberjacks. Frustrated at her lack of meaningful victories, Flash interrupted an interview with newcomer Hamada by voicing her frustration at the lack of fanfare her arrival in the company received in comparison to foreign Knockouts Sarita and Hamada. Flash then began to brawl with Hamada, throwing her down the bleachers of the empty arena. The two met weeks later on the October 8 Impact! in an eight-woman elimination tag team match; when both were legal members in the ring they brawled out onto the floor until they were counted out and eliminated. The following week on Super Impact! the two met in a Falls Count Anywhere match which Flash lost after taking a moonsault from Hamada through a table. She finally scored an unassisted singles win on November 12 against Traci Brooks. After not being used by the company thereafter, Anderson requested her release which was granted on January 21, 2010. On March 14, 2011, at the tapings of the March 17 edition of Impact!, Anderson, as Alissa Flash, made a one night return to TNA, unsuccessfully challenging Madison Rayne for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship as part of her open challenge series. On March 17, 2013, Anderson made another one night return to TNA to take part in the taping of the Knockout Knockdown pay-per-view, where she, as Alissa Flash, was defeated by Gail Kim.
Other promotions (2005–present)
As well as being a regular for APW, ChickFight, Shimmer and TNA, Melissa continues to tour the independent circuit working for a number of different promotions. She has had two stints in the National Wrestling Alliance affiliate Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling. In her second run, during September 2005, she had a short feud with Nattie Neidhart, taking her on in a singles match where Neidhart won using her Sharpshooter after some interference from Belle Lovitz. Enraged by interference, Anderson formed an impromptu tag team with Tiffany called Girls Gone Wrestling (GGW) and pinned Nattie after an Air Raid Crash. The following day she lost a SuperGirls Championship match against the reigning Rebecca Knox due to some interference, this time from Scotty Mac. GGW teamed up again to take Mac and his partner Ladies Choice in a Men vs Women tag match that Anderson won with a pin.
Also in 2005 she wrestled at Givin Em The Bizness for Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA: Mid-South) in a six way elimination match for the NWA Midwest Women's Championship against champion Ariel as well as MsChif, Mickie Knuckles, Sara Del Rey and eventual winner Daizee Haze. In March 2006 she wrestled a string of matches for Pure Wrestling Association winning their Elite Women's Championship in a match against 21st Century Fox and defending it successfully against her but losing it back to her in a three way match, also including Misty Haven.
On January 7, 2007, Anderson won Pro Wrestling World-1's inaugural Queen's Cup tournament. After beating Melissa Strips in the first round, she received a bye through to the final to face Allison Danger. During an autograph session, she attacked Danger to the point where she was said to not to be able to compete, though Danger fought through her injury. By winning, Anderson earned herself a number one contendership for the AWA World Women's Championship.
In an attempt to build a strong women's division, Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) opened 2009 with January's Female Revolution. Under her Cheerleader gimmick, she beat Nikki Roxx and later appeared as Raisha Saeed also winning against Ariel. She appeared again in May losing a return match to Roxx but staying undefeated as Saeed against Daizee Haze. She was scheduled for a rematch with Roxx on November 16 but after Roxx pulled out she defeated Hailey Hatred to earn a match against Sara Del Rey for the JAPW Women's Championship. Anderson won the match by disqualification after Hatred interfered, leading to a no-disqualification Three Way match in January 2010 at Back Where It All Began for the title in which Anderson was pinned by Del Rey. Anderson met Del Rey later in 2010, on July 25, under the guise of her Raisha Saeed gimmick. It was during her Chikara debut in a tag team match, where she and Amazing Kong were defeated by Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Haze and Del Rey).
On July 3, Anderson appeared as Alissa Flash for the Texas based promotion River City Wrestling (RCW). At Declaration of Champions, she wrestled RCW Champion Joey Spector in the main event to become the first female champion of the company. The result was however nullified on July 12, after RCW Commissioner Jeromy Sage announced that the contract for the title match stipulated that the length was supposed to be 15 minutes, but the match was 15 and a half minutes long. A rematch was scheduled on August 7 with no time limits or disqualifications, Flash won the match and the championship. On May 5, Flash teamed with Darci Drake to defeat San Antonio's Most Wanted in a lumberjack match to win the RCW Tag Team Championship. They would hold the title for four months, before being defeated by Gulf Coast Connection (AJ Summers and Rudy Russo) on September 3. As a result of being pinned in the title match, Flash had to leave RCW for 90 days. On February 4, 2012, Flash became River City Wrestling's first female Triple Crown Champion, when she defeated Rick David for the RCW International Championship. She was stripped of the title on March 5, 2013. On August 10, Flash defeated Angelina Love to become the inaugural RCW Angels Division Champion.
In October 2010, Anderson began extending her profile internationally by making two appearances for Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, under her Alissa Flash ring name, picking up tag team victories over the Moreno sisters (Cynthia and Esther) and the Apache sisters (Faby and Mari). On November 5, 2011 she made her debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling in Taiwan, teaming with Black Bushi and Dark Dragon in a six person tag team match, where they were defeated by Bushi, Makoto and Último Dragón. The following day, Melissa defeated Makoto in what was billed as the first ever women's wrestling match in Taiwan. In December 2011, Anderson took part in TNA's Indian promotion Ring Ka King, performing as both Alissa Flash and Raisha Saeed.
On March 16, 2014, Anderson, working under the ring name Melissa, returned to Japan to work for World Wonder Ring Stardom, unsuccessfully challenging Io Shirai for the World of Stardom Championship. From August 24 to September 23, Melissa took part in Stardom's 2014 5★Star GP. After two wins, one draw and two losses, she failed to advance to the finals of the tournament. During the stay, Melissa was also appointed the president of Stardom's newly established American branch. She would mainly be involved in booking foreigners for the promotion. She returned to the promotion on June 14, 2015. On July 11, Melissa teamed with Chelsea under the team name California Dolls to unsuccessfully challenge Thunder Rock (Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani) for the Goddesses of Stardom Championship.
My Thoughts:
From Melissa and MsChif's fabled feud in Shimmer as Melissa shows why it's not a good idea to pay for the cheap seats at wrestling live events...
Like previously mentioned, you guys are going to have to forgive me that I'm a little biased here while writing about my personal favorite female wrestler to date. When it comes to women's wrestling, I have TONS of favorites over the years, but Cheerleader Melissa is always at the top of the list.
Back during my personal "break" from watching WWE after the Invasion storyline left me with so much disgust and disappointment that I was questioning continuing to support the sport that I have loved for so long, I began to look at alternatives. I was lucky that it was the early 2000s and while my college roommate was downloading music via Napster and Limewire, I was downloading whatever video alternatives to WWE that I could find scattered across the Internet. When I wasn't doing that, I was visiting my local video store and picking up miscellaneous non-WWE wrestling VHS tapes and DVDs. During that time, I discovered a lot of wrestling - some good, some bad, and some downright ugly. Among all of that I stumbled upon an all-women promotion called Shimmer. I had found some tapes of the original G.L.O.W. and I was expecting it to be like that. Boy, I was wrong - VERY wrong. These girls weren't your catfighting girls that I have become accustomed to from WWE. These women could FIGHT. Keep in mind this was well over a decade before the "Divas Revolution" in WWE and NXT. It was then that I was exposed to women, such as Amazing Kong (Awesome Kong/Kharma), Beth Phoenix, Nattie Neidhart (Natalya) Shelly Martinez, Angel Williams (Angelina Love), Talia Madison (Velvet Sky), MsChif, Mercedes Martinez, Nikki Roxx (Roxxi Laveaux), Sara Del Rey (current head trainer of the NXT Divas, Sara Amato), Daizee Haze, and more importantly, Cheerleader Melissa. The first match of hers that I had the pleasure of seeing was from Shimmer Vol. 1, where Melissa and MsChif sparked a feud that would be legendary among Shimmer fans. After following that feud, I had to see more from this woman.
I found myself buying even more Shimmer DVDs, Melissa's Future Legend personalized DVD (consisting of mostly singles matches against male wrestlers, and even a few of the ChickFight volumes to see more from this sensational talent. I wasn't disappointed either. Through my discovery of the greatness that is Cheerleader Melissa, I was exposed to even more amazing female wrestlers. It was win/win in my eyes. While I was researching more about my favorite female wrestler, I was simultaneously exposing myself and learning more about a side of women's wrestling that I haven't seen until now. Thanks to Melissa, I can credit her for my profound respect and admiration for women's contribution to the sport.
Melissa is known for her moniker of the "Future Legend" when she's already a legend in my eyes from the first time I've seen her in action. She tears the house down fighting her fellow women, she fought men and made it look easy, and she's played the parts of both of a fan favorite and a villain without any problems. Whatever Melissa puts her mind to, she excels at gracefully with her talents coming naturally. Any promotion that has been smart enough to hire her are simply blessed with one of the best workers in the sport today.
My best friend still teases me about how much I marked out when I released that it was Cheerleader Melissa underneath the burqa of Raisha Saeed in TNA/Impact Wrestling. Nothing in mainstream wrestling for a LONG time hasn't matched my excitement and anticipation to see Melissa perform in TNA during that time period. Her role may have been short-lived but I loved every second of it. I only regret that I wasn't able to see her wrestle live during this time period like I have during most of TNA's boom period. I loved it so much that I went out of my way to even watch her work during TNA's partnership with the Ring Ka King promotion where she revived the Raisha Saeed character to manage the tag team of Daivari and his brother.
For me, Melissa represents a generation of women's wrestlers who ignited a revolution in the world of professional wrestling - WAAYYY before Bayley, Charlotte, and Sasha Banks were a glimmer in Triple H and most NXT fans' eyes. Every year it makes me a little sadder that women like Melissa from this generation (Mercedes Martinez, MsChif, Sara Del Rey, Daizee Haze, Allison Danger, etc.) continue to get little to no recognition for their accolades on the independent scene. While some of them have managed to make some appearances in mainstream wrestling, I feel like women like Melissa deserve more of the credit of this current "revolution" in WWE, as well as the rise of the TNA Knockouts back in the early years of that division. If it wasn't for women like Melissa, more women's wrestlers wouldn't be inspired and motivated to show that they are physically as capable and sometimes even better as their male counterparts in professional wrestling.
Melissa, I couldn't thank you enough as a fan. You renewed my faith and passion for women's wrestling and wrestling as a whole at a time when my hopes were almost completely extinguished and you continue to set the bar for what a female wrestler in this sport needs to be. I anxiously await your debut in season two of Lucha Underground. Keep doing what you do best and stay being awesome.
Handpicked Favorite Matches/Moments:
Note: Finding most of her matches online is rather hard as you're better off buying ChickFight, Shimmer/Ring of Honor, or Stardom DVD volumes to see her at her best. That being said, her run in TNA is well-worth the look as well.
WEW (Women's Extreme Wrestling) - Cheerleader Melissa vs. Mercedes Martinez
ChickFight IX - RQW Women's Championship - Wesna (c) vs. Cheerleader Melissa (45 mins.)
Bellatrix Female Warriors - Cheerleader Melissa vs. Saraya Knight
TNA Impact! 5/1/08 - Cheerleader Melissa vs. Daizee Haze
TNA Wrestling - Webmatch: Alissa Flash (Cheerleader Melissa) vs. Ayako Hamada
Another week, another edition of Women's Wrestling Wednesday. We're a few away from the Christmas holidays and I may or may not have time to write an article before my birthday Christmas. Much like last week's ever sweet, candilicious focus on women in professional wrestling, I wanted to focus on another model-turned pro wrestler with a similar background to the last woman I was glad to dedicate this ongoing feature on this blog to.
She accepted, and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) to train, beginning as the valet for Daniel Rodimer. When Rodimer was called up to WWE's main roster, Adams became focused on becoming a full-time wrestler. She made her in-ring debut in a loss to Angel Williams, at a DSW TV taping in December 2006. In February 2007, she was, in storyline, promoted to the position of Personal Assistant to DSW General Manager Krissy Vaine, with her main job being to protect Vaine from Angel Williams. This eventually led to another match between Adams and Williams, as ordered by Vaine. On March 15, Adams was fired from her position, as a result of Vaine and Williams forming an alliance together.
On January 23, 2007, Adams debuted on WWE's main roster on the ECW brand, joining the returning Kelly Kelly and the newly drafted Layla in Extreme Exposé. When Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) opened in the summer of 2007, Adams was transferred to the developmental facility for more training, as well as continuing her role on ECW. Extreme Exposé performed a weekly dance segment on ECW for the next several months, as a successor to the former Kelly's Exposé segment of a similar nature, until The Miz was placed on the ECW brand in the annual WWE Draft Lottery, at which point all three women began actively pursuing him. Later, Kelly shifted her attentions to Balls Mahoney, to the amusement of Miz and her Exposé sisters, who had been spending their time mocking his appearance, which resulted in Brooke and Layla transitioning into villainous characters. Brooke, along with the other ECW Divas, as well as the SmackDown and Raw Divas, competed in a number one contender's battle royal, where the winner would face Candice Michelle for the WWE Women's Championship at SummerSlam. However, Brooke was eliminated early by Victoria, with Kelly Kelly as the last ECW Diva standing. Brooke's last match with WWE was a tri-brand Divas Halloween battle royal on the October 29, 2007 episode of Raw; although Brooke was eliminated early, Kelly would eliminate Torrie Wilson and Victoria to get the win for ECW. On November 1, 2007, Adams was released from her WWE contract, and Extreme Exposé dissolved as a group.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Miss Tessmacher as TNA Knockouts Champion
Adams made her debút for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the March 29, 2010, episode of TNA Impact!, in a backstage segment portraying as Eric Bischoff's assistant, under the name Ms. Tessmacher, named after Lex Luthor's girlfriend and assistant in the first two Superman movies. On the September 30 episode of TNA Impact!, Tessmacher was put in charge of the TNA Knockouts division, as their new Knockout's Law but the position quickly went to her head, and she began being verbally abusive towards the Knockouts. On the October 14 episode of TNA Impact, Bischoff fired Tessmacher from her position as his assistant and Knockout's Law, after she had leaked information about his plans for Kevin Nash and "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero, stating that she needed to become a wrestler herself if she was to remain in TNA. On the October 21 episode of TNA Impact!, Tessmacher begged The Beautiful People to teach her how to wrestle, but they refused, due to the treatment they received from her when she was in control of the Knockouts Division. The following week, it was announced that Lacey Von Erich, of The Beautiful People, agreed to train Tessmacher to wrestle but she left the promotion on November 11, ending the angle abruptly.
On the December 16 episode of TNA Impact!, Tessmacher made her in–ring debut as Bischoff's hand picked partner for Mickie James in the first round match of a tournament for the vacant TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship, in which they were defeated by Madison Rayne and Tara. On December 25, Adams suffered a broken jaw in an out–of–the–ring accident and had wires and metal plates put in her jaw as a result. Tessmacher returned on the April 21, 2011 episode of TNA Impact!, stating that during her time away, she had been training to become the next TNA Women's Knockout Champion and received her first shot at the title, in her return match, two weeks later, where she was defeated by champion Mickie James. On the June 16 episode of Impact Wrestling, Tessmacher and Velvet Sky challenged Mexican America (Rosita and Sarita) for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship, but were defeated after outside interference from Sky's rival, ODB.
On the July 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Tessmacher and Tara, collectively known as TnT, defeated Rosita and Sarita to win the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship, which would be Adams' first professional wrestling championship. Tessmacher earned her first singles victory by defeating Madison Rayne on the August 4 episode of Impact Wrestling!. The following week, Adams' ring name was changed to Brooke Tessmacher. TnT went on to successfully retain the titles against Rosita and Sarita at Hardcore Justice in a rematch and against Angelina LoveandWinter on October 20 before losing them to Gail Kim and Madison Rayne on the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling. Two weeks later, both Tessmacher and Tara competed in a number one contender's gauntlet match but were both eliminated.
After pinning Gail Kim on three occasions, Tessmacher was named the number one contender for her TNA Women's Knockout Championship and receiver her title match on May 13, at the Sacrifice pay–per–view, which Kim won with her feet on the ropes. Tessmacher received another title shot on the May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, but was again defeated by Kim in a three–way match, which also included Velvet Sky. On the June 7 episode of Impact Wrestling, a week after Brooke Hogan's debut, Adams' ring name was changed to Miss Tessmacher and she then went on to defeat Mickie James, Tara and Velvet Sky in a fatal four–way match to earn another shot at Kim's championship.
Three days later at the Slammiversary pay–per–view, Tessmacher defeated Kim to win the TNA Women's Knockout Championship for the first time. Tessmacher retained her championship against Mickie James in June and against Gail Kim in July before losing it to Madison Rayne, on August 12 at Hardcore Justice, who had referee Earl Hebner on her side, ending her reign at 63 days. Four days later, on Impact Wrestling, Tessmacher regained the title from Rayne in a match refereed by the debúting Taryn Terrell. After winning the title, Brooke was defeated by her TnT partner, Tara, in a non–title match which led to a title match between the two on September 9, at No Surrender, where Tessmacher successfully defended the title. On the September 13 episode of Impact Wrestling, Tara turned on Tessmacher and officially disbanded TnT. On October 14 at the Bound for Glory pay–per–view, Tessmacher lost the championship to Tara, ending her second reign at 59 days. Tessmacher received a rematch for the title on the October 25 episode of Impact Wrestling, but was again defeated by Tara after an interference from her boyfriend Jesse.
On January 13, 2013, at Genesis, Tessmacher competed in a five–woman gauntlet match to determine the number one contender to the TNA Women's Knockout Championship, but was eliminated by Gail Kim. On the February 7 episode of Impact Wrestling, Tessmacher defeated Tara in a non–title match and earned another shot at the championship which she received during a fatal four–way elimination match two weeks later, but was eliminated by Velvet Sky. In April, Brooke was defeated by Mickie James in a number one contender's match.
After a four–month absence, Tessmacher returned as a heel on the August 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, revealing herself as Bully Ray's girlfriend, joining the villainous Aces & Eights stable. Tessmacher, now billed simply as Brooke, wrestled her return match on the October 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, defeating Velvet Sky in a number one contender's match for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship. On October 20, at the Bound for Glory pay–per–view, Brooke competed in a three–way match against ODB and Gail Kim for the championship, in which, Lei'D Tapa attacked both Brooke and ODB, helping Kim to win the championship. On the November 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Brooke managed Bully Ray, who faced Mr. Anderson in a no disqualifications match, which Anderson won, and as a pre–stipulation of the match, the Aces & Eights were forced to disband. On the December 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, in a backstage segment, Bully Ray ended his relationship with Brooke.
On May 10, 2014, after a six–month hiatus, Brooke returned at the tapings for the Knockouts Knockdown 2 pay–per–view (which aired on tape delay on November 7, 2014), defeating Deonna, while still working as a heel, but was eliminated from the gauntlet match later that night. Brooke made her televised return on the June 12 episode of Impact Wrestling, as a fan favorite, in an in–ring segment with Ethan Carter III and Rockstar Spud, where the two would attempt to get her to reveal Bully Ray's secrets, but she refused. Ray would come out and hug Brooke afterwards. Brooke was then sidelined with a torn ACL and after fully recovering, she took more time off to participate in The Amazing Race alongside Robbie E.
On January 7, 2015, during Impact Wrestling's debút on Destination America, Brooke returned to TNA and attacked her former boyfriend Robbie E, who insulted her upon his return. On the January 16 episode of Impact Wrestling, in her in–ring return, Brooke and Taryn Terrell lost to The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) in a tag team match, after Robbie caused a distraction. The feud between Brooke and Robbie continued throughout February and officially ended on the March 13 episode of Impact Wrestling, when Brooke defeated Robbie in an intergender match dubbed as the "Battle of the Exes", despite interference from Angelina Love and Jessie Godderz.
On the TKO: Night of Knockouts edition of Impact Wrestling on April 24, Brooke became the number one contender to Taryn Terrell's TNA Women's Knockout Championship after defeating Angelina Love, Gail Kim and Madison Rayne in a fatal four–way match. Brooke then unsuccessfully challenged Terrell for the championship on the Hardcore Justice edition of Impact Wrestling on May 1 and, on July 1, in a three–way match, which also involved Awesome Kong. In June, Brooke and Kong formed an alliance to compete against Terrell and The Dollhouse (Jade and Marti Bell), defeating them in a tag team and three–on–two handicap match at Slammiversary XIII. On June 25, during the tapings of Impact Wrestling, which aired on July 15, Brooke defeated Terrell and won the TNA Women's Knockout Championship for a third time, after interference from the returning Gail Kim. In her first title defence, Brooke retained the championship against Marti Bell, two weeks later. Brooke was scheduled to face Velvet Sky in a title match on the August 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, but the match, however, ended in a no–contest after interference from Jade and Marti Bell. In September, Brooke once again retained her title, this time via disqualification, after Lei'D Tapa interfered in her match against Kim and attacked Brooke. However, on the September 16 episode of Impact Wrestling, Brooke lost the championship to Kim in a fatal four–way match, which also involved Tapa and Awesome Kong. During October and November (taped in July), Brooke participated in the TNA World Title Series as part of Group Knockouts, along with Madison Rayne, Gail Kim and Awesome Kong; she scored 3 points and tied with Rayne, thus failing to advance to the finals.
On November 15, Adams announced her departure from the promotion.
My Thoughts:
When Brooke first debuted she was part of the Extreme Expose group as part of the revived ECW that acted as the third brand for WWE. She didn't get many opportunities to showcase her in-ring talents but that didn't stop fans like myself from loving her in this all-girl group. When the group splintered off after aligning themselves with The Miz and having Brooke and Layla go heel, that's where we really were given a chance to see what she was truly capable of. Brooke had a natural knack as a villain and it was great to see her coming into her own with this character. Unfortunately, WWE released her towards the end of 2007 and we wouldn't see her again in mainstream wrestling until she debuted for TNA Wrestling in 2010.
When she came into TNA Wrestling, she started off with an eye candy/non-physical role at first, but quickly shifted gears into an in-ring competitor. Much like Candice Michelle (who I wrote about two weeks ago if you missed out on that article), we saw this former Diva Search contestant rise to the occasion and mold herself into a very capable competitor. I thought that pairing her up with veterans like Mickie James and Tara (formerly WWE Diva, Victoria) were stellar ideas as she was able to work and learn from the best as she had the opportunity to grow into her own. We saw that come full circle as Brooke broke off from the pact once again and showed her maturation into a singles competitor. She quickly moved up the ranks and earned her place at the top of the mountain as she won the TNA Knockouts Championship as she managed to defeat the "Queen of the Knockouts" herself - Gail Kim.
If that's not an impressive victory and an achievement to be proud of then I don't know what is. Besting Gail Kim in the prime of her career isn't something to simply gloss over.
When she took to the sidelines and acted as the personal valet of Bully Ray while he led the Aces & Eights faction, I couldn't help but still love Brooke Tessmacher. She didn't allow herself to fade away into the background like most valets and managers in roles like this and showed us fans yet another layer to her multitude of talents.
Despite all of her improvements and success, Brooke, much like Candice Michelle, Kelly Kelly, the Bella Twins, and a lot of models-turned-wrestlers, tend to get overlooked by the eyes of overly critical fans because of her past. Brooke is a stellar all-round, fantASStic talent and is an asset to any women's division, whether she's heel or the fan-favorite babyface. She's one of the few talents who can switch between both roles seamlessly without any issues that take away from her abilities to entertain and perform in the ring. Her time in TNA/Impact Wrestling has come to an end as of this writing, but I wouldn't mind seeing her return to WWE for one more run with so much experience underneath her belt now. I'm positive that she would definitely make an impact among either the NXT Divas or among the main roster's Divas division - despite that scene being rather crowded right now.
Hand-Picked Favorite Matches & Moments:
Slammiversary 2012 - Gail Kim vs. Miss Tessmacher - Knockouts Championship
FWE No Limits - Winter (Katie Lea) vs. Brooke Tessmacher
Impact Wrestling - Velvet Sky vs. Brooke Tessmacher - (Brooke Twerking)
Bound for Glory 2012 - Brooke Tessmacher vs. Tara - Knockouts Championship Match
Impact Wrestling - Championship Thursday - Brooke Tessmacher vs. Tara - Knockouts Championship Match
TNA iMPACT WRESTLING! 03/13/15: Brooke Tessmacher vs. Robbie E
TNA Impact Wrestling 27/03/15 Brooke Vs. Awesome Kong
Tara and Miss Tessmacher Take on ODB and Jackie
Madison Rayne & Gail Kim vs Mickie James & Tara - Impact 26/7/2012
Tara and Ms. Tessmacher vs. Rosita and Sarita
Gail Kim/Madison/Rosita/Sarita vs TnT/Mickie/Velvet Sky
