Born on March 9, 1979 in Los Angeles, California, Melina Perez began as a model after winning the Miss California beauty contest. She modeled athletic wear for Nike and later decided to become a professional wrestler after having a conversation with Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF) superstar Mike Henderson in 2000. She was trained at Jesse Hernandez's School of Hard Knocks in San Bernardino, California and made her professional debut in April 2002. She initially became part of California-based promotions until she became part of WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in March 2004. While with OVW, she occasionally appeared on WWE television, such as the Thanksgiving episode of Smackdown in 2003, where she dressed up as a Native American. She made her first appearance on Raw on November 29, 2004.

Melina's official WWE in-ring debut was on June 30, 2005 against Michelle McCool, whom she defeated. She also won against Torrie Wilson in Melina's first pay-per-view Bra and Panties match at the Great American Bash. On May 29, 2006, Melina and Johnny Nitro performed in Raw, where they were defeated by WWE Champion John Cena. She also served as Nitro's manager during his successful stint for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

In January 2007, Melina rose as the number one contender for the WWE Women's Championship, and introduced her finisher from the independent circuit, The Kyrapractor. She also pinned Mickie James in a mixed tag team match and later challenged the same opponent for the title. In February, Melina won the Women's Championship from James and retained the title in a rematch during the first ever Women's Falls Count Anywhere match in WWE history. Melina later battled Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson, who both lost to her. She also won over Ashley Massaro in a Lumberjill match to retain her Women's Championship.



(Photo courtesy of WWE)