| Melissa Coates | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Melissa Coates[1][2] (The) Bag Lady[1][2] Mistress Melissa[1] Mile High Melissa[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[1][2][3][4] |
| Billed weight | 150 lb (68 kg)[1][3] |
| Born | June 18, 1971 [2][4] Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada[1][2][4] |
| Resides | McDonough, Georgia[1] |
| Billed from | Los Angeles, California[1] |
| Trained by | Killer Kowalski[1][2][3] Ultimate Pro Wrestling[1][2][3] Ohio Valley Wrestling[1][3] Wild Samoan Training Center[3] Deep South Wrestling[1][3] NWA Anarchy[3] |
| Debut | 2002[1] |
Melissa Coates (born June 18, 1971)[2][4] is a Canadian professional wrestler, bodybuilder, fitness model and actress.[4] She is perhaps best known for appearing in the first two seasons of the Game Show Network show Extreme Dodgeball.[5]
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Prior to wrestling, Coates aspired to become a professional tennis player after watching Martina Navratilova. In order to train effectively for tennis, Coates began weightlifting at 15, and during that same year, she entered her first tennis competition in 1984, where she lasted until the finals. She re-entered the following year and won the Mid-Canada Junior Girls Championship. However, she soon began to shift her attention from tennis to bodybuilding and entered her first contest in the early 1990s, where she won the overall lightweight category of the Windsor Physique Contest. After she began making prominence, Coates decided to move to Los Angeles and worked for two gyms and two bars to finance herself. After being granted professional status in 1995, she won the Jan Tana Classic in 1996.[6] In 1999, she took a leave from bodybuilding and subsequently began working as a model.[7]
She also competed in the first two seasons of Extreme Dodgeball on the Game Show Network.[6] Her team, the Barbell Mafia team, qualified for the playoffs in the first season but failed to qualify the next year.[6][8]
| Melissa Coates | |
|---|---|
| Personal Info | |
| Born | June 18, 1971 Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada |
| Professional Career | |
| Pro-debut | 1994 Canadian Nationals, 1994 |
| Best win | 1996 January Tana Classic Champion, 1994-1996 |
After training at both Killer Kowalski's training school and Ultimate Pro Wrestling's Ultimate University, Coates moved down to Louisville, Kentucky to begin training in World Wrestling Entertainment's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling.[2] Coates then made an appearance at WWE's Backlash, taking part in Chris Masters' "Masterlock Challenge" segment, where he offered $1000 to anyone who could break his Master Lock, which she failed to do.[1][9] She was then placed in OVW as an official trainee and became the "head of security" for Kenny Bolin's stable "Bolin's Services". Soon after, however, Coates left both OVW and WWE and went to work for World Xtreme Wrestling.[1]
After defeating Krissy Vaine in WXW, where she also competed in the prestigious Elite 8 tournament and had a cage match against Mercedes Martinez, Coates returned to OVW, albeit not under a WWE developmental contract, and soon began facing off with several of the OVW Divas, including Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Melina Perez, and Jillian Hall before becoming the bodyguard of Jillian Hall. Then, along with Hall, she acted as a valet for the Toland Brothers (Chad and Tank Toland).[10] After training in OVW, Coates then moved over to Deep South Wrestling and debuted for the territory as The Bag Lady, a homeless woman who became the love interest and eventually the valet of The Freakin' Deacon.[11] On February 22, 2007, the Bag Lady debuted a new Diva-esque look and defeated Angel Williams in their subsequent match. The Bag Lady then began feuding with both Williams and Krissy Vaine before leaving DSW to wrestle on the independent circuit.[1]
In her first appearances on the indy circuit after leaving DSW, Coates made her debut for Georgia's Great Championship Wrestling on May 29, and won the NWA/GCW Women's Championship from Daffney. Coates continued to remain champion until the title was seemingly forgotten and then deactivated in late 2007. Coates also made several appearances for other Georgia-based wrestling promotions in both a wrestling and managerial role. On July 7, she made her debut for NWA Anarchy as a heel, challenging and defeating several male wrestlers in intergender matches. At NWA Anarchy's Fright Night event, Coates teamed up with fellow DSW alumnus Tony Santarelli to defeat Todd Sexton and referee Wes Grissom, the latter of whom Coates was feuding with.
On December 15, Coates began an angle with Don Williams after Coates attacked Williams and his tag team partner Brodie Chase. All three were then entered into an Anarchy Battle Royal to determine the number one contender for the Television Championship, but both Coates and Williams were simultaneously eliminated and Williams began showing affection towards her.[1] On December 29, Williams publicly declared his affection towards Melissa, going as far as to say "I'm smitten like a kitten" before Coates struck him in response. However, Williams continued his tirade by saying "That's what I love the most about you. It's the foreplay."[12] The angle between the two continued until Williams' tag team partner Brodie Chase revealed that he and Coates were together, effectively turning Chase into a heel. On May 31, 2008, Chase, with Coates in his corner, defeated Williams.[1]
In April 2008, Coates took on a managerial role under the name Mile High Melissa, a flight attendant gimmick. She was soon joined by "Captain" Mike Flyte and the pair became known as The Flight Crew and in July 2008, they were joined by "Captain" Jason Static. After a few months, Static left the group.[1]
On August 23, 2008, Coates made her debut in Women Superstars Uncensored and defeated Autumn Breeze in her debut match. Beginning in October, she formed a tag team called the Badass Beauties with Trixxie Lynn.[13] The team made its debut on October 10 in a victory over Annie Social and Rick Cataldo. The following day, the Badass Beauties lost to the Beatdown Betties (Roxxie Cotton and Annie Social) in the first round of the WSU Tag Team Championship tournament.[1]
On December 31, Coates made her !Bang! debut at their Hell's Bells event in a losing effort to Claudia "The Claw" Reiff in a match for the promotion's Women's Championship.[14] On May 3, 2009, she returned to the promotion for their Hard-Core Brawl event and lost an intergender tag team match with Blain Rage to Reiff and Johnny Romano.[14] On September 5 at Fall Brawl, Coates and Reiff lost to The Wasilla Wrecking Crew (Charlotte Mahoy and Rachael Moore) in a match for the Women's Tag Team Championship.[14] At Morbid Power on October 17, she and Reiff defeated The Wasilla Wrecking Crew for the Women's Tag Team Title.[14]
Despite being partners, Coates and Reiff wrestled in a three-way match for Reiff's Women's Title that also involved Rachael Moore at Turkey Shoot on November 21, which Moore won.[14] On December 31 at Hell's Bells, Coates competed in a gauntlet match for the Women's Championship, but was unable to win as Reiff reclaimed the title.[14]
After winning a number of singles matches in Women Superstars Uncensored throughout 2009, Coates gained a title shot at the reigning WSU Champion Mercedes Martinez April 3, 2010, but was defeated by Martinez.[15] On November 6, Coates wrestled in a six-person gauntlet match for the WSU's unsanctioned All Guts, No Glory Championship, but was unsuccessful as Angel Orsini, the title's creator and holder, retained the championship.[15]
Coates' mother was a nurse and amateur actress while her father is a doctor.[7] She is the youngest of four children, having a sister and two brothers.[7] She also earned her Bachelor of Science in biology from Lakehead University, due to originally wanting to become a veterinarian.[3][4][7]
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