PWP’s Matthew Hollie discusses why the recent signing of Cheerleader Melissa to Lucha Underground is a perfect fit for one of the top independent female wrestlers in the world
While her TNA work is far from impressive, her independent work is the most stellar in recent years. With the theory of bringing in talent from the indies is a good thing for the company, Melissa’s arrival will be just as promising than her TNA run.
As we all have learned from Diva Dirt, one of the many sites that cover women’s wrestling to the highest degree, Melissa will take on a role that is going to be very important, and hopefully not Lucha Underground’s version of either Raisha Saeed and Alissa Flash. It’s a totally new character that is very mysterious and will have a mask.
Let’s hope it’s a lot different than one of her alter egos. What Dave Meltzer‘s Wrestling Observer Newsletter said about her playing the sister of Marty “The Moth” Martinez is off-key and totally false. Diva Dirt’s report about this is something I believe, and hopefully this run will get her back on television screens in the coming months.
Based on what a few fans said about the former 2-time SHIMMER Champion, Melissa is believed to have lost her passion for this industry and has issues with promo skills and selling. That statement was met with harsh criticism as Melissa has made her mark in the wrestling industry. She never lost her passion for this industry and deserves plenty of respect from people who have made comments like that.
Promo skills & selling are her primary weaknesses, but at least she’s trying her best each time she gets an opportunity. She’s got a lot on her mind and she says how she feels, and that’s something to be impressed about.
If there’s one thing about Melissa’s weaknesses, it’s the fact she’s getting better every time. Nobody has to do the talking for her. When it comes to selling, she takes plenty of damage and does her best to make it look good. While passion, drive, motivation or whatever you want to call it are subjective to those without direct knowledge of that individual’s state of mind, you can’t argue that Cheerleader Melissa is one of the biggest names in SHIMMER history, let alone the best women’s wrestler in the world in this decade.
I hope this run in Lucha Underground will shut her critics up about her passion.
While a few are still unimpressed with one of the pioneers of American Joshi, plenty support her through her hard work and her dedication. And not just because of her looks either, as many would tell you. Lucha Underground seems like a perfect fit for her once everything is in place.
Her TNA run was completely wasted, but this is a place to have a reboot of sorts and hopefully attract more viewers into the product. With the departure of Alberto Del Rio, Lucha Underground is in a small rebuilding mode where getting a few names will get them farther, and hopefully expand a bit more.
Marketability is key, and this promotion will get very far with the names they have. But with the addition of Melissa on their roster, it gets even better and hopefully it pays off in spades.
It takes a lot to get to where Melissa is today, being from just another girl on the independent circuit to a big name on the indies, that’s saying a lot. Now that Lucha Underground will give Melissa an important role in their promotion, let’s hope she doesn’t mess this up, and hope that the promotion uses her talents properly than that of TNA.
