Lucha Underground star Cheerleader Melissa, who plays Mariposa on the El Rey series, was a recent guest on the Women’s Pro Wrestling Weekly podcast to discuss the current season, her favorite wrestling character that she’s played and explains why she would like to go to the WWE as a non-talent. Highlights of the interview below, courtesy of After Buzz TV.
On how the Mariposa character came about: So, basically when I first met with Lucha Underground, they had already had in mind that there was going to be I think 5 or 7 Tribes. And each Tribe was going to be “The Snake Tribe” and the This Tribe and That Tribe, and two of the Tribe Leaders were female…and they did actually open the door to give me an option whether do I want to go this direction, or do I want to go that direction? So I ended up choosing The Moth Tribe. My personality and my wrestling style fit what they needed for the character specifically. So it was a character that they had already came [sic] up with, they just needed somebody to fill the role
On why she wants to go WWE as staff instead of talent: I’ve learned about myself over the years, and I really, really enjoy helping people and I’ve really gotten to get a lot of experience working behind the scenes, and I just feel like I’d be more valuable to the company doing that. Especially being female wrestler with my experience I would be able to focus on helping the girls. If they ever needed or wanted guidance, I would love to be that person for them.
On what separates Lucha Underground from other promotions: First of all, Lucha Underground is not a “wrestling company.” It’s a TV show and it’s treated like a television show. For example, WWE, there’s no Seasons when it comes to WWE. And with Lucha Underground, it’s a television show — we film seasons, and then everybody’s off and back to working other jobs and taking other gigs. So, first of all, it’s a television show — it’s treated like a TV show in the aspect of not just the unique storylines but, I mean, we have characters! We have dragons and witches and people are “immortal” and hell, I mean on Season 2 when I debuted I “killed” five people! So, it’s an exaggerated TV show with Lucha Libre being almost kind of like the supporting character of the show, if you will. And that’s how it’s really separated out. And another thing that makes it stand out if you go to a live event, which I absolutely love, is the experience doesn’t start once the show starts. The experience starts from outside when you’re coming to a taping, it’s in an older building, it’s kind of dirty (laughs) — it’s got a real underground feel as you’re walking in, and when you’re in The Temple, just down to the little details and the lighting, really really brings in that different experience than what you would have at a normal wrestling show.
On her favorite wrestling character: I would say Raisha Saeed was my favorite and not favorite. Not Favorite because, the mask HOT and it was impossible to breathe in that thing. But, my Favorite because there were a lot of times where I was on TV and all I had to do was manage. And I’ll be honest I’d be up there and I was like ‘Yeah, I’m standing here and this is payday, I don’t have to do anything!”
Cheerleader Melissa also discusses wanting to wrestle Asuka, her time with Impact Wrestling and which five wrestlers she would like to wrestle again.
You can watch the full interview below:
What did you think of the interview? Have you been enjoying the Mariposa character on Lucha Underground? What do you think is in store for her during this current season? Let us know in the comments below!
