During Melina‘s time with WWE she was definitely a quintessential Diva during her tenure. Although she is currently often overlooked by the company from her successes she is a former two-time Divas Champion and a three-time Women’s Champion. She also was a top tier manager of the MNM stable.
Recently, Melina spoke on Instinct Culture with Denise Salcedo about her time with WWE and if she would ever return if asked. She says she used to struggle a lot of the time because her heel persona presented something she wasn’t in real life. The character she portrayed was one that the audience was supposed to hate. This oftentimes found her depressed.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, everyone hates me.’ The depression happened more so because when I was a little kid, I wanted to be a doctor. My heart was like, I want to save the world, I want to help people… But when I felt like nothing I was doing was right, that’s the way I felt.
I thought everybody hated me, that I wasn’t touching people’s lives, I wasn’t making a difference in this world. I wanted to be a part of charities when I saw people doing all the charity stuff in WWE. I wanted to be a part of that but because I was a heel, I couldn’t, so it felt like I wasn’t doing anything.”
From her heel persona many rumors started circulating about her. When there is an individual you don’t like, it generally becomes easier for the rumor mill to spin. She says she is generally a private person, so it caused people to make up things instead.
“It was a weird time for me where saying my name was never a good thing,” says Melina. “It’s also associated with the heel character and the rumors and all this stuff… Because I was such a private person, people wanted to know about me. They were intrigued but they didn’t see anything except the character. So, rumors get created and all this stuff, and I was raised to never talk about your personal life and it’s okay as long you know the truth. Which are all great things to say and to believe in, but the reality is if you don’t educate people on who you are they are left to believe whatever they want to believe.”
She continues, “15 years later, I hope people see who I actually am as a person,” Perez said. “But it’s been tough. It was hard for me to show people who I was. I was raised like a normal life [with] family and friends. And to go from that to being the most hated person, it was like, ‘Where can I connect?’ I wanna hug people, I wanted my fans to be family and hug them and thank them, but you have kayfabe and kayfabe is like, ‘No, you can’t be nice to people’.
And it was so isolating that it just became depressing for me. I couldn’t talk to anybody; I couldn’t show love. And I was just Melina the heel character. And sometimes my co-workers believed it too because I never talked. I was shy…. I couldn’t tell my family because I didn’t want them to worry, so in my mind, it was all about the work.”
Melina made a surprise appearance in WWE for the first time in eight years as she appeared in July 2019 at the RAW Reunion. She was seen backstage in a 24/7 Championship segment as a referee to declare Candice Michelle 24/7 Champion prior to Alundra Blayze taking the title.
She was also asked if she would ever return to WWE if she was asked. This is what she had to say:
“I always say everything will happen if it’s meant to happen. If an opportunity shows up, of course. Like, who wouldn’t? But if there’s never an opportunity, I am okay with that too. I am thankful for what I’ve been able to do because I didn’t even think I would be able to do that.
She continues, “I never in my wildest dreams ever thought that I would be on TV, or that I would have a video game or an action figure, or be in magazines in England, Australia, Mexico and different parts of other countries… I never thought I could do that, that that would be me. So all this, I am happy. I am very grateful.”
Currently Melina has been working with NWA.
What would you think of a return to WWE for Melina? Who would you like to see her face on the present-day roster? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Transcript credit: Wrestling Inc.
