Bodybuilding
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. In 1999, she took a leave from bodybuilding and subsequently began working as a model.
She also competed in the first two seasons of Extreme Dodgeball on the Game Show Network. Her team, the Barbell Mafia team, qualified for the playoffs in the first season but failed to qualify the next year.
Professional wrestling career
Training and debut (2005–2006)
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. 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. 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.
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 villain, challenging and defeating several male wrestlers in intergender matches. At NWA Anarchy's Fright Night event, Coates teamed up with former fellow DSW wrestler Tony Santarelli to defeat Todd Sexton and referee Wes Grissom, the latter of whom Coates was feuding with.
Coates works primarily for WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk Jr.'s promotion !BANG! in Ocala FL during 2009. She is currently one half of the !BANG! Ladies Tag Team Champions with Claudia Reiff. She has defeated former IUWA Diva's champion EKW on 2 occasions for the Indiana based independent promotion IUWA, and is currently the Diva's champion there. March 21, 2010 she was on the winning end of the first ever bikini contest at IUWA, and got the pin on EKW in the first ever women's tag match at the promotion. She has worked for Big Time Wrestling in San Jose, for Pro Wrestling Revolution in northern California, and for several promotions in Georgia such as Atlantic Wrestling Association where she has a running feud with Veronica Fairchild, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Canada as well.
Championships and accomplishments
Bodybuilding
* 1991 Windsor Physique – 1st (LW)
* 1992 Eastern Ontario – 1st (MW)
* 1993 Ontario – 1st (MW)
* 1994 Canadian Championships – 1st (MW)
* 1996 Jan Tana Classic – 1st (Overall)
* 1996 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 9th
* 1997 IFBB Ms. International – 6th
* 1997 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 11th
* 1999 IFBB Ms. International – 13th
Professional wrestling
* !Bang! / Funking Conservatory
o !Bang! Women's Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Claudia Reiff
* Great Championship Wrestling
o NWA/GCW Women's Championship (1 time)
* Other titles
o IUWA (Indiana) Diva's Championship (1 time, current)
o DRAGON'CON Women's Championship (1 time)
Personal Info
Birth : June 18, 1971 (1971-06-18)
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Professional Career
Pro-debut : 1994 Canadian Nationals, 1994
Best win : 1996 January Tana Classic Champion, 1994-1996
Ring name(s) :
Melissa Coates
(The) Bag Lady
Mistress Melissa
Mile High Melissa
Billed height : 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Billed weight : 150 lb (68 kg)
Resides : McDonough, Georgia
Billed from : Los Angeles, California
Trained by : Killer Kowalski
Ultimate Pro Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Wild Samoan Training Center
Deep South Wrestling
NWA Anarchy
Debut : 2002
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