Melina Interview

[Black Widow]

March 19, 2008 - Among the people most excited for WrestleMania would be WWE diva Melina, who will be competing in a four-way match for the women's title emceed by none other than Snoop Dogg. A life-long fan of the business, Melina's enthusiasm for what she does and what she'll be doing next Sunday is absolutely infectious, so our conversation with her is peppered with exclamation points. She held court on everything from rappers to wrestlers to, yes, getting naked.


IGN: You're going to be part of the BunnyMania Lumberjack Match in WrestleMania XXIV, with Snoop Dogg serving as the MC. Are you excited about working with him?

Melina: Yeah, it's really interesting to see what kind of role he'll have and even how I'm gonna react! It's so cool that he's a part of it. It's refreshing to get people from outside the business and have them come in and see what we're about, and we give that to them too. They're excited about what we're doing and they walk away with something they'll remember and hopefully think "Wow, these people are friggin' awesome!"

IGN: If you could've chosen the MC, who would you have wanted it to be?

Melina: I have no idea! I welcome everyone who wants to come see what we do.

The thing is, I don't know what exactly [Snoop] is gonna do! I'm just interested to see what he's gonna bring. Is he going to bring his entourage? It'll be a surprise to me.

IGN: Speaking of Playboy, you've actually spoken before about making a decision to not be in Playboy. Why is that?

Melina: I'm not going to say "Never say never", because if I ever chose to, then people will say "Oh, well she said she never would!", but at this point and time in my life, I won't do it. One, I want everyone to see my wrestling and that I have to more to offer. That's my choice and I want people to respect me for that. Other people can do that and it's great for them, but it's my choice. Second, I don't want people to come up to my dad or my brother or the person I'm dating and say, "Hey, can you have your daughter [or sister] sign this!" And then, for my body, I'd like the person I'm with in a relationship to see that.

IGN: Does your family have a lot of people come up to you now and ask them about what you did on Raw?

Melina:Yeah! My brother, my mom, and my dad get people coming up to them a lot. They're really proud. My dad wanted me to be a boxer, but now he's like ok, yeah, this works. He's totally stoked on it. My mom worries, but she's really proud of me and impressed with what I can do. My brother just takes credit for beating me up.

IGN: So did you watch wrestling with your brother when you both were younger?

Melina: That's the only time he didn't beat me up! I would jump around as a kid thinking "Hey, I can do this!"

IGN: One of the other famous storylines you worked through was the angle with Mick Foley being your friend and you devilishly turning on him. Was that a storyline that Mick came up with and pitched to you? How did that process go?

Melina: Mick talked to me about it, and basically wanted to see if I approved of the story and felt comfortable doing everything. He's a really nice guy, he's such a sweet person. I said everything was cool, of course, and that I was comfortable with everything, and I was so excited! He believed in my abilities and that was really refreshing. Sometimes, you have people just see a girl and you think "Oh, she's not really a wrestler, she's just a girl in the business", and fortunately, not everyone thinks that way. You get people and fans who see that, and [Mick] saw what I could do, and I really appreciate that because he saw talent. It was an honor for me to be involved and I felt very proud to be able to do all the stuff he pitched. I mean, I got to work with Ric Flair and Vince McMahon! I loved working with all these people.

IGN: Speaking of, there exists the distinct possibility that Ric Flair might have his final match at WrestleMania. What are your thoughts on his possible retirement, and what was it like to work with him?

Melina: His decision to retire is one I respect. I love watching him; he's always so entertaining and charismatic. He's so sweet! I'm so happy to meet all these people who are so eager to work with me and willing to help me. I'll be sad when he does retire, but I was so honored to be able to work with him and his energy. He's always so upbeat and energetic all the time and always puts a smile on my face, whenever I see him.

IGN: As a wrestler, is there anyone, male or female, who you pattern yourself after?

Melina: I always pick little bits and pieces of all the people I loved watching because that fits me. I'm not the…I could look at Trish Stratus and say that I'm not really built, but not really tiny…she's a tomboy and I'm similar to her, but I can't be her or her character or her way of moving. She's Trish and I can never be that. I'm totally different and have a totally different style and way of moving and fit bits and pieces into my own style.

I don't model myself after people but the one person I do idolize is Sherri Martel. I'm not a replica of her, but I look at her and see everything she did. The male wrestlers respected her as a worker, not just as a girl. They saw a girl who had charisma, talent, and was aggressive -- as aggressive as the guys -- and you didn't mess with her. She wrestled, she managed, she was always big, she entertained, and she made you watch and wonder what she was going to do next. She was the total package and was awesome.

IGN: On the managerial side of things, how difficult is it for you to try and make your presence known and remain an integral part of the match experience without taking attention away from what's going on in the ring?

Melina: When I first started, I didn't understand it, but then it started to click. It's an art in itself to have your moment, but to be able to put attention on the guys…they bring their own attention because they're the wrestlers, but if the fans aren't into it, I have to bring the focus back to them. It's an art to be able to do that. At first it was like,"What?", but then it clicked and it became an instinct. I don't know if I took to it, but in a bit of time I got better at it.

IGN: Have you ever tripped on the red carpet?

Melina: No! If I did, it probably wasn't big. There have been paparazzi, though, who have totally tripped because they're backing up and walking backwards down the ramp.

IGN: What's it like to see yourself in a video game?

Melina: It's funny. Even my action figures are crazy to see because I still see myself as a normal person, a fan of wrestling, and to see all these things is just so weird but so cool. When I hear little kids say that they play as my character, it's so weird. When I see me doing moves in the video games, I think "That's sweet! I look sweet!"


IGN.com

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the interview.