Full Career Retrospective and Greatest Moments for Melina

The mid-2000s saw the rejuvenation of women's wrestling in WWE, and few Divas enjoyed the success and championship glory that Melina did.

Debuting in 2005 as the manager of MNM, she wasted little time in becoming one of the breakout stars of the SmackDown brand. A talented talker and a beautiful woman, Melina had a presence about her that captured the attention of the fanbase.

As devious, deceitful, cunning and dangerous as she was absolutely smoking hot, she became one of the top villains on either WWE show.

When she finally was allowed the opportunity to step inside the squared circle on her own, she showed flashes of brilliance.

A talented worker whose hard-hitting style set her apart from the former Diva Search competitors who had infiltrated the company, Melina was a throwback to the likes of Sherri Martel and Luna Vachon, both of whom had experienced considerable success both as wrestlers and managers.

Excelling as a heel but finding considerable success as a babyface as well, Melina is likely to go down in the annals of World Wrestling Entertainment as one of its most underrated and underappreciated Divas ever.

In celebration of her decorated and acclaimed career, here now is a look back at her greatest moments and matches.

MNM

Alongside Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro, Melina made her main roster debut with WWE in April 2005 during an episode of SmackDown. Interrupting a Carlito's Cabana talk show segment involving then-tag champion Rey Mysterio, Melina poked fun at the masked luchador and eventually earned her men a shot at the titles the following week.

As they had done during their stay in Ohio Valley Wrestling, MNM wasted no time establishing themselves as the top young tag team in the industry, defeating Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero to claim the titles.

Soon afterward, Melina followed the example of her teammates and entered the squared circle for her first match, squaring off against a young and inexperienced Michelle McCool.

The match was not pretty, but the fiery Latina did manage to score the win, stacking McCool up in the corner and using the ropes for leverage.

In late 2005, MNM found themselves booked in a WWE Tag Team Championship match against world heavyweight champion Batista and partner Rey Mysterio. In an attempt to get the challengers to back out of the match, Melina tried seducing The Animal during a backstage segment.

It appeared to work, with all indications being that the two had sexual relations. Batista, however, decided to go through with the match and eventually captured the titles with his friend.

Melina claimed sexual harassment and recruited the assistance of Mark Henry, who attacked Batista and helped MNM regain the gold. Unfortunately, an ill-timed injury to Batista halted the storyline and brought to an end what may have been the highest-profile program of Melina's young career to that point.

Going It Alone

After splitting up MNM and heading to Raw with Johnny Nitro, Melina saw an opportunity to enter competition in the Divas division and, potentially, add to her own resume my becoming the WWE women's champion. 

Melina was no stranger to championship competition.

Late in 2005, during her time with SmackDown, she challenged Trish Stratus for the women's title at the Survivor Series. She, like so many who opposed the future Hall of Famer, was unsuccessful in her quest to dethrone Stratus.

On February 19, 2007, with more in-ring action under her wing and momentum on her side, she defeated Mickie James to capture the championship. It was, to that point, a defining moment for the lead heel in the Divas division and one that set her up to rule the sport for the remainder of the year.

Or so one would have thought.

Instead, her first championship program involved Diva Search winner and Playboy cover girl Ashley Massaro. The WrestleMania 23 match between them was not pretty, disappointing fans of the champion, who had wanted to see her demonstrate her skills and abilities against an actual wrestler, not some former model.

Her feud with Mickie James continued after WrestleMania, leading to a quality match at the Backlash pay-per-view in April.

With the company searching desperately for a new standard bearer in the Divas division in the wake of Trish Stratus and Lita retiring the previous year, the company opted to run with Candice Michelle in the summer of '07.

To her credit, the Diva had made tremendous strides in the ring and was looking like someone who could carry the mantle for women's wrestling well into the future. To do so, she defeated Melina at Vengeance: Night of Champions, ending her run with the gold.

From there, Melina would spend nearly a year floating aimlessly through the Divas division, watching from the outside as the debuting Beth Phoenix took her spot as the top villain on the roster.

Babyface Turn

In June 2008, miscommunication between Melina and Phoenix led to a babyface turn for the once-despised Diva. Unafraid of the physically imposing Glamazon, Melina threw caution to the wind in attacking her, setting up an "I Quit" match between the two at Extreme Rules.

The contest was a hard-hitting affair that saw Melina pull out everything she could to try to slow down the former women's champion. Unfortunately, it was not enough. She would be folded in half in what was truly a gut-wrenching display and forced to submit.

An injury would remove her from television for months, slowing the momentum she had begun to acquire following her role change.

She picked up right where she left off, though, returning in November and immediately throwing her name into title contention.

At January 2009's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Melina defeated Phoenix to regain the Women's Championship.

It was around this time that Michelle McCool, the very same McCool Melina had defeated in her televised ring debut some four years earlier, had really developed into one of the finer wrestlers on the roster. At The Bash pay-per-view in June, McCool unseated Melina, capturing the women's title in an impressive contest.

After a brief stint with the SmackDown brand, Melina returned to Raw, where she captured her first Divas Championship.

Unfortunately, she suffered a serious knee injury that forced her to the sidelines. 

Sadly, injury and backstage drama would lead to Melina taking a backseat to some of the other Divas in the company. She would never again reach the heights or success that she had prior to her debilitating ACL injury.

Legacy

It became clear sometime around late 2007 that WWE never really understood what it had in Melina. Performers, whether male or female, who can successfully mesh outstanding mic skills with tremendous in-ring ability are incredibly rare. They should be pushed to the moon as soon as possible because those are the stars who form the backbone of a roster.

For whatever reason, be it backstage politics or considerable stupidity on their part, the WWE writers never really got behind Melina as the star of the Divas division. They were always worried about trying to create the next Trish Stratus with any number of model types, even though the beautiful Canadian was simply a once-in-a-lifetime find.

Instead, they should have focused on Melina and building her as the centerpiece of women's wrestling in the company.

They did not, and by the time 2008 had approached, they made the ill-fated decision to turn her babyface in order to set up singles matches with Beth Phoenix. While the contests between the two were phenomenal, it took away Melina's ability to be the great heel everyone knew she was.

It stunted her growth as a performer and put her in a role she never really appeared comfortable in.

At least not as comfortable as when she was infuriating the fans as one of the most hated characters on Raw or SmackDown.

When historians look back on the period of 2005-2010, one of the most glaring misuses of a talent will be Melina, who was excellent for the company. She should have been a star on the level of the greatest Divas ever and simply was not, thanks to questionable booking on the part of WWE Creative.